Looking up to Fiacaill Ridge on the walk in to the Coire
Loads of Ptarmigan about today sheltering from the strong Westerly Winds
Coire an Lochain
Once we'd gained some height, the snow pack improved, variable snow conditions
Gary enjoying the firm snow on the climb up
Lots of snow on Easterly facing aspects
Some reasonably big cornices starting to form
That mountain air makes people do strange things on the Cairngorm plateau
Gary enjoying the views into Coire an Sneachda
Amazing looking sky on the descent
Today I was out with Gary and we had a great day in Coire an Lochan in the Northern Cairngorms. After the mild and wet weather of the last few days, it was back to winter and the snow pack had consolidated giving reasonably hard snow. Once in the Coire, we headed up the steep ground to the West of the main Coire were we found areas of unconsolidated snow which were easily avoided with frozen turf and ice on the plateau.
The weather was calm and sunny in the morning with cloud and some wintry showers moving in from the West later in the day. We saw more ptarmigan than people on the walk in today along with a few mountain hares. Once on the plateau, we headed East along the corrie edge to 1141 before descending Fiacaill a' Choire Chais and returning back to the car just before dark, another great day out in the Cairngorms.
