Trois Valleys - Christmas

Wow did we have good luck! This year Aoum and I went to Val Thorens in the three valleys area of the French Alps. We had a week of snow and a week of sun. Every day of the first week there was a little new snow. Aoum was learning for the first time, so this was perfect. We stayed in Val Thorens and ended up boarding just about every km of the area. The second week, the sun came out and it stayed cold. The snow was soft and we explored Les Menuires, Mottaret, Meribel and Courcheval. Aoum went from nothing to making good turns on BLACKS! I enjoyed taking my GPS around and uploaded the tracks at the end of each day.



It could not have been better.

Clachnaben - At night

It is getting dark about 3:45 now and I was getting tired of eating dinner and "turning in" for the night at 5:00 pm. I talked Aoum into a night climb of Clachnaben. It is only 25 km drive, so it was easy to get to. The temperature was -2 c and I wasn't sure the road would be passable, but it wasn't too bad. The drive up looked like a winter wonderland. The trees were all heavy with snow from yesterday and low temps today. We donned our headlamps and started up from the car about 5:15 pm. It was DARK but the lamps were great. We never saw the ground as every step was into (sometimes deep) snow. The wind seemed dead calm until we got to the top where it was blowing snow at 25 mph. We tried to find a sheltered spot to sit and have a bite but the wind was swirling and we decided to just head down. It was slick coming down and we both had trouble keeping our feet under us even on flat ground. We got back to the car at 8:00 and were happy with our speed.

Loch Muick and the Waterfall

After eating (and drinking) a bit too much on Saturday for our Thanksgiving dinner, we got a late start on Sunday. We walked the length of Loch Muick and then climbed up along the waterfall towards Lochnagar. Anywhere there was water running along the path was solid ice nd made for a difficult walk. We got as high as 750 meters and the views across the loch and onto the Cairngorm Plateau were clear as a bell. The loch was very uncharacteristically smooth and gave a mirror reflection of the hills.


Dan leaving Loch Muick behind


Water / Ice fall


Aoum at the top of the falls


Loch Muick looking like a mirror

Clachnaben - In the snow

On November 22nd, we had a nice snowfall. The mountains were all white and beautiful. We decided late to get out for a walk and only had time for a quick walk. Aoum's feet were still sore, so Dan and I ran out to Clachnaben for a climb. The weather had passed and we didn't feel the wind until we were on the top. The temp was -4 c and with the wind on the top, it was COLD! We were going to take a new route down, but some dark clouds started to move in and we thought it best to race back to the car.


Crisp


Dan in some of the shallower snow on the way up

Carn a' Mhaim and Ben Macdui

Ben Macdui is the second highest Munro in Scotland. We picked a day with decent weather to make the climb. We took a route from the south to Carn a' Mhaim. We started at 7:30 am and a short 3 mile bike in saved a boring walk. The ascent was pleasant as the sun rose behind us. Aoum and I both wore our iPods and enjoyed climbing with some tunes. As we got above 700 meters there was a bit of snow and ice on the path but nothing that slowed us down. From Carn a' Mhaim we walked along the ridge towards Ben Macdui. The skies were clear and the views spectacular. Looking across towards Devil's Point and Angel's Peak, Dan pointed out the trail and ascent for that climb. As we began to climb towards Ben Macdui the path became ever icyer and difficult. The top 200 or 300 vertical meters were up a boulder field. The winds had picked up and with 30-35 mph cross winds, going was difficult. Above the boulders was more wind blown, hard packed snow than rock. The top was COLD. Wind chill down to -15 or so. We tucked in behind a cairn and had a quick snack and enjoyed the clear views across the Cairngorm range. We decended down Glen Derry. The route took 8.5 hours.


Loch Etchachan on the descent



Dan approaches the ascent up Ben Macdui



Aoum and Dan on the ridge from Carn a' Mhaim



Yes! View from Carn a' Mhaim.

Headlamps

Aoum and I bought headlamps in case we can't make it back before dark. The days get so short here in the winter, sometimes it is a necessity. After a bit of searching on the Internet, I settled on the Petzl Tikka XP. We tried them out last night around the yard and house and they are BRIGHT!

First walk out of Lin of Dee

Lin of Dee is a starting point for many great walks in the Cairngorm mountains. We went with Dan to attempt Carn an Fhidhleir and An Sgarsoch. The pronunciations of many of the Munros are quite interesting. We just stopped trying for fear of sounding ridiculous. Dan had biked as far as the river at Geldie Lodge (a ruin) and turned around without a way to cross. We were ready this time. I had wetsuit booties, Aoum had gum boots and hefty bags and Dan had snowshoes and hefty bags. All three methods worked well. Our problem was that we got a bit of a late start and did not think the snow would be as thick as it was. The bike ride was easy for the first third with only iced over puddles to crunch through. The second third got interesting. The track got covered with snow with tire tracks where a truck had made a groove. It has only as wide as a tire and slow going, but faster than walking. We got to a place where the truck turned around and from there it was not worth taking the bikes much further. We were still 2 miles from the planned crossing when we ditched our bikes and walked through up to knee deep snow. It was bright and the clouds were above all of the summits. The views were SPECTACULAR! We saw many deer on the far side of the valley. When we crossed the river we saw what we were convinced were hunters. Dan had a run in with hunters (landowners) which made him not want to continue as they have the right of way and we had not checked to see if they were hunting on the land in advance. It turned out, after 45 minutes of sitting having lunch, that they were not people but deer! We could have sworn they were people. Anyway, with short daylight hours and no headlamps, we turned around and made our way back to the car park. It wasn't disappointing as it was so beautiful.

Glen Clova - Mayar and Dreish

Our first trip with Dan and two Munros took us into Glen Clova. The glen is stunning! The green pastures (and the road) were full of pheasant. No one would go hungry here! The walk out of the car park winds up through the woods and into one of the most spectacular corries. The climb up along the waterfall was steep. It started raining about halfway up and not long after turned to snow. It was Aoum's first experience having snow falling and she loved it! I did too. The top of Mayar was windy and cold and started snowing heavily so we didn't hang around too long. Dan had picked the right direction for the circuit as we has the wind and snow at our backs for most of the time. As we walked toward Dreish the clouds lifted a bit and we had some great views. The walk down was along the side a narrow cut and very rocky. Ankle twisting stuff! 4 hours and 14 km.

Glen Tanar and Mount Keen

Our second climb and first Munro was up Mount Keen.

"The Munros are the highest of Scotland's mountains, 284 mountain tops named after the man who first catalogued them, Sir Hugh Munro. The Munros are among the finest mountains in Scotland."

source - http://www.munromagic.com/

Another beautiful day with a light westerly wind. It was quite warm and we found ourselves overheating on most of the ascent. The "walk" consisted of a lengthy bike ride and 1 hour 15 minute ascent. 17 miles round trip. The view of Loch Nagar was hazy but nice.

The first part of the trail we did on bike. Up through the woods in Glen Tanar. This private lake and boat house makes a nice photo.









View down Glen Tanar.











Many Munros have cairns like this one on the top. It is windier than it looks. The temperature changes dramatically on the top.

First Climb - Clachnaben

Aoum and I have really been enjoying "hill walking". This is the local term for mountain climbing that can be done without ropes and special equipment.

The first climb we did was up Clachnaben (589 meters). Our shipment had yet to arrive from Myanmar and Florida, so we only had sneakers for footwear. The wind was tame until we reached nearer the summit where it was blowing 35 - 50 mph. We tucked in behind a rock and had a short drink and a snack before heading back down. It was a beautiful day and we ran most of the way back to the car.




It was also my first use of my handheld GPS (Garmin Vista Hcx). It worked very well, though it was completely unnecessary.

Life in Scotland

Welcome to my blog. I am new to blogging. The purpose of this blog is to record my time in Scotland. Scotland is a beautiful country.