Due to a
very poor weather forecast for the Lochaber area, it was decided not
to go to the CIC Hut last weekend. Instead Ed, Mark and Linda
planned to head into the Hutchinson Hut, due to better weather in the
Cairngorms.
Come
Saturday morning Linda pulled out due to feeling unwell, which left
Ed and Mark heading for the hills along with a procession of skiers.
Along the way Big Mikey and Rod were spotted with skis on their back
heading for Lochnagar from Invercauld.
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| Pretty in Pink? - Ed in Glen Derry |
Bypassing
the skiers who were stacked up in Braemar waiting for the snow gates
to open, we made it to the car park at Linn of Dee. On a lovely
sunny morning we skied along the Derry Road making the first tracks
of the day. After a quick pit stop at Derry Lodge we continued at
valley level along Glen Derry until finally reaching the Hutchinson
Hut after 5 hours of slow going through deep snow. By the time we
reached the hut the weather was turning for the worst.
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| Hutchy Hut |
The recent
refurbishments to the hut had included a new porch, wood lining and
the ubiquitous bothy stove. After an early visit from an RAF
Helicopter which briefly landed by the hut to say hello, we were then
joined for the night by 2 young instructors from Glenmore Lodge.
Once the new stove was lit the hut quickly heated up, although the
supply of wood left over from the building works is now fairly thin.
An evening
of chat, whisky and Ed's bothy food (smoked salmon and brocolli
pasta) passed quickly before bed time.
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| In the hut |
Sunday
brought another fairly bright start and although we didn't make the
earliest of starts we planned to head back over Derry Cairngorm. We
skinned up to the slopes above Loch Etchachan until the wind became
too strong to ski (we kept being blown over!). We continued on foot
up the slopes of Derry Cairngorm, but again before the top were
stopped by the wind, which was almost constantly blowing us to a
standstill / to our knees. We decided to retreat down into Coire
Sputan Dearg and the Luibeg Burn. Again due to the wind and our poor
skiing ability we made slow progress with a lot of falls (at least on
my part). Eventually we made it back to Derry Lodge where a much
needed break was had (I had totally bonked by this point). A final
ski along the now slushy and churned up Derry Road took us back to
the car just before dusk – a long and tiring day for myself who
hadn't been out in the hills for a couple of months and so was
extremely unfit.
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| Retreating off Derry Cairngorm |
Evan,
Andrew, Phil and Neomi, who were also going to the CIC Hut, instead
opted for a day trip to Glas Maol on Saturday to take advantage of
the good Cairngorm weather.
Mark
