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| After sunset |
Between Christmas and New Year I managed a last overnight trip of 2025. Without much time and given the short hours of daylight plus a forecast for the weather to turn stormy by the end of the second day I didn’t plan to go far.
I did want a
high camp though, so I decided to head up into the Cairngorms and camp
somewhere near Cairn Gorm itself. I set off in sunshine, though the air was
chill in shadowed areas. Only patches remained of the last big snowfall,
several weeks ago now, as most of December had been wet and mild. Today the
ground was frozen though and the old snow rock hard.
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| Frozen landscape |
Rather than take my crampons on and off or blunt them on rocks I zigzagged around the bigger snowfields and crossed smaller ones by carefully treading on small patches of grass or stones protruding from them.
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| In the sunshine |
In the sunshine I needed dark glasses but not gloves or a hat. A light warm jacket was more than enough to keep off any chill.
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| Before sunset |
Out to the west the sun was turning the lower streaks of cloud orange as it neared the horizon. Soon the sunset was intense. Reaching the broad ridge north of Cairn Gorm I dropped my pack and wandered about watching and photographing the splendid colours in the sky. Finding a camp site could wait. This wasn’t to be missed.
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| View to Ben Nevis and Creag Meagaidh |
As the sky greyed and darkened I retrieved my pack and headed down into the bowl of Ciste Mhearad looking for a site out of the cold wind that had sprung up but not down on the floor of this little corrie where cold air would sink. A flattish area soon appeared that looked suitable. The ground was frozen hard. At other times I expect this is boggy and I’d never think of camping here but in the cold it was fine.
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| Beinn Mheadhoin after sunset |
As I expected the stream was flowing fast where it poured out of the steep side of the corrie so I had water and there was no need to chip off lumps of frozen snow to melt. Lower down where the burn slowed it was covered in ice.
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| Camp in the morning |
A cold night
ensued but I was warm in the tent and had plenty of food and a book to read
during the long hours of darkness. Outside a hazy moon appeared but the clouds
had thickened and there was no bright starry sky.
Frozen water
I left the
tent doors open, as usual if it’s not stormy, but even so by dawn there was frozen
condensation inside the flysheet and frozen dew on the outside. An intermittent
breeze was strong enough at times to rattle the ice-up tent. The overnight low
was -5.5°C. The water in my pot was frozen but soon thawed over the stove.
There was no
sunrise, just mist gradually turning a lighter shade of grey. I was in no hurry
to leave the tent. It was peaceful and relaxing just watching the shadowy landscape.
The sun almost shines
When I did go
outside I thought the mist might dissolve as a faint sun appeared shining high
above. That was the only sign of sunshine I was to see all day though. I shook
the crackling tent as I took it down, shedding as much of the ice as I could.
Fogbow
As I set off blue sky appeared ahead of me and, briefly, a pale fogbow. Then the mist closed in again.
Cnap Coire na Spreidhe
Not far from
my camp lay the granite tor that marks the summit of Cnap Coire na Spreidhe, a
subsidiary top of Cairn Gorm. That was my final hill of 2025. I had thought of
going over Cairn Gorm but in this mist I wasn’t going to bother. It was the
right decision as it didn’t clear. I only dropped out of it as I reached the
car park. It was a grey monochrome day. There were frequent light showers of
freezing rain, matting my beard with ice and coating my pack.
Frozen beard
The trip made
for a fitting end to the year though. I was glad I’d made it.
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| Icy pack |
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