Since Saturday I’ve been based up at Glenmore Lodge. On Saturday I was attending the Mountain Training Scotland Lowland Leader Provider/Director Induction and on Monday and Tuesday it was Mountain Training Scotland Train the Trainers and Assessors courses.
On Sunday I had a day off from inductions and courses and headed off for a run from Glenmore Lodge. I followed the Lairig an Laoigh path up on to the shoulder of Bynack More and then left the path to take in An Lurg, Carn Bheadhair, Carn Tarsuinn and Bile Buidhe on the way to Geal Charn. This was a new Corbett for me and I’d hoped for good views of Beinn a’Bhuird and Ben Avon, but unfortunately the weather had other ideas with the cloud staying around the 900m level most of the day. From Geal Charn I retraced my route towards Bile Buidhe before picking up the track dropping down past Loch a’Chnuic and through the Abernethy Forest to the Ryvoan Bothy and back to Glenmore Lodge.
The slow thaw is ongoing in the Cairngorms with snow pack reducing. There’s still piste ski-ing and ski-touring to be enjoyed although carrying of skis is likely to be required. Major gullies are still holding plenty of snow, with some cornices still looking pretty large.