Northern Corries walk..

http://www.photoboxgallery.com/3436739 has all the pictures of this lovely day...

Although it was unbelievably warm in Aviemore, (warm enough to leave the crampons in the car) it was still hard snow on the plateau of Cairngorm (which made it a bad decision that I made...). We had got to the summit via the Ptarmigan restuarant and a bacon buttie stop!!

Once on the plateau we were confronted by an icy wind and some lovely views. The wind was manageable with the correct clothing and was not as strong as on Driesh nor as gusty..the views as you can see from the photo's were lovely indeed.

The real excitement of the day came on the final descent from the summit of Coire an Lochain. I should have made us use ice-axes and put the ski poles away....I don't know if Claire slipped or was bored of walking and thought she'd slide 100' down the hill!! No damage was done - and I actually enjoyed a lovely sitting glissade down the rest of the snow patch. Being serious for a minute - it was good to practice our ice-axe braking - the paramount skill for use in winter, especially in Scotland.

The weather and views were amazing throughout the day - and we actually moved pretty quickly as were back at Suilvan just gone 3pm with a lovely walk under our belts. I have been to the Northern Corries many times, largely to climb, and this was the best weather day I have ever had. It is also good to see how things 'fit together' in the Cairngorms - especially for Claire who had approached the hills she's done in the range from several different directions...