Trailstar duo in the Eastern Cairngorms May 18 Day 1

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Looking back at my old battered SMC book,where i used to tick off my munro peaks...i saw it was 93 & 94 when i first ticked off these stunning hills

Theres been many more hill miles between then and now,so i was excited to see what my head could remember as i wandered over these mighty hills again

The bank Holiday wknd loomed up and i plotted out a route for Lees Munro round, my wife dropped me off at Oxen holme and £11 lighter i jumped off at Penrith to wait for Lee..the Red Rooster supplied my tea, a spot we have had breakfast at before, great food as always 







Four and a bit hours later we rolled into Braemar and our first nights stay was in here, a nice help yourself breakfast set us off on full bellies





The day started dry with cloud sitting on some of the tops,it seems the tracks have grown some since my last visit, but they made for easy and steady progress 








Both my teas were New ones to me supplied by Basecamp foods to trial 








We left our micro spikes behind but choose to take an axe,it all fit well in my MLD Exodus pack


Even on the 1/25 there was no path showing up the front NE ridge of Carn Mhaim,but there was..and it was a cracker too, you can see it in the picture above 








As we climbed higher, so did the wind,but patches of blue were starting to show in the lifting cloud 





Just looked it up last time i stood here was 13-9-1994 !

Carn á Mhaim summit view



It is largely true that only in Scotland do you get to use the phrase   "We drop down 200m to 800m then we have a 500m climb again ! "


                    The views were stunning in all directions 


                            Spot the bothy on the left 








A few minutes before this picture was taken , the wind helped Mr Taylor along by gently lifting him off his feet,being a good mate i laughed and offered him some weight out of my pack to help him 















A few walkers descending from Ben Macdui 






I can,t find it,but i had my mate take this same pic of me 20 yrs ago too 


My route had us camped up high,to allow an "out and back" to bag Derry Cairngorm but the wind and snow melted ground had us drop down to Loch Etchachan











I sadly didnt get time to film it,it had been a long tough day, but the wind was blowing the ice sheets over to the far side,in between there were sea horses and the odd funnels being blown over the loch surface  





























Tea was a new make to me,from Basecampfoods and was very tasty,a new favourite for me 




 After tea and a few brews i had a stroll around camp,the ice must a have been over a foot thick..but the wind soon had be returning to my shelter for some protection and another brew
















I pulled these pics off some Gopro footage i took from putting the camera into the Loch













The red being Day 1 


Heres a video if viewing please watch on something bigger than a phone screen and in 1080 or at least 720 

                   Safe travels and thanks for looking


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