A Change of Plan

Cairn Lochan from the ascent of Meall a' Bhuachaille

Sleety rain slid down the windscreen. High above dark clouds hid the mountains. The car rocked as gusts of wind blasted into it. Did I want to venture out into this and slog up into the wet greyness? A few moments thought told me I did not. The forecast hadn’t suggested this. I restarted the car and drove back down the winding road to park in the forest.

I still wanted to go up into the hills. Meall a’ Bhuachaille, some 400 metres lower than my original aim, the Cairngorm Plateau, seemed a good choice. I needn’t be above the trees for long and the summit might be below the clouds.

As I set out along the track through Ryvoan Pass I soon overheated. The temperature was below zero but down here there was no wind. Hat, fleece, and gloves were removed and the many zips on my smock undone for ventilation. It was the first time I’d worn the Paramo Aspira 360° Smock as it had only arrived for testing a few days earlier. As my walk was now going to be shorter than planned I decided I’d make a little video about the smock, ideally on the summit. It would have to be with my phone as I hadn’t brought a tripod and I knew I couldn’t hold my camera steady at arm’s length for very long.

An Lochan Uaine

With all the zips undone the smock was perfect for keeping me warm but not too hot in the woods. There was no snow left – it had thawed in a warmer spell a week or so before and none had fallen here when the weather turned colder again – but An Lochan Uaine was frozen, the ice green and white, cracked and refrozen, dotted with stones and sticks, white air bubbles below the surface.

Just before Ryvoan Bothy I was passed by a man on an electric mountain bike. Soon afterwards I passed him as he’d stopped to push the bike up a steeper section of track. “Not very fit”, he said. At the bothy there were more bikes plus rucksacks outside. I turned up the path to Meall a’ Bhuachaille, soon meeting two walkers descending. I saw no-one else until the summit.

Looking down to Ryvoan Bothy

The ascent was accompanied by a slow adjustment in my clothing as the wind increased with the height. Soon the smock zips were closed. Then a hat went on, then, close to the top now and the wind savage, the hood went up and gloves were donned.

Lurchers Gully 

These changes involved a few stops, which were welcome both because I’m not that fit myself at present and because it gave me more time to watch the complex cloud structures racing across the sky above stark snow-spattered hills. A dramatic, sombre, cold, almost cruel-looking landscape drained of colour, any beauty harsh and hard. A landscape I love, whatever its moods. Whatever my moods.

Windy on the summit!

The summit provided little protection, the wind swirling round the cairn and the low rock walls that make a crude shelter. They’re designed to keep off the prevailing south-west wind, not this bitter blast from the south-east. I made an attempt at a video but soon realised the wind was too strong and cold. Two young men appeared, commented on the wind and the steepness of the ascent, and soon headed down.

Sgor Gaoith from the descent

Following them I soon dropped out of the worst of the wind. The clothing changes were reversed. Once in the woods I found a log to sit on and recorded a video about the smock, which you can see on YouTube. Any shakiness is due to me not the wind!