Snow Holing Exploits

After a sociable Friday evening at Holly's leaving do, a sunny Saturday morning saw Ed, Scuz, Joe and Mark heading to Linn of Dee to try and find enough snow for a snow hole.

After a quick cycle into Derry Lodge we went up Derry Cairngorm in hot sunshine and with little sign of snow.

But as we approached the main Cairngorm plateau the snow levels increased and with Ed's previous experience we located a good bank of snow in a hanging corrie above Loch Etchachan. and the digging began at 2 points

Within a couple of hours of hard digging and a broken spade (who buys snow shovels at Costco??) we had a deluxe abode for the night, with Ed and Scuz on the ground floor and Joe and I on the mezzanine floor

Once the digging was done it was time for supper in the gathering darkness

After a good feed we went for a starlite wander up Ben Macdui to get Joe the tick.  Our return saw us tucked up in the snow hole with the candles on and the whisky out.

With the sun streaming through the snow hole door we awoke to another stunning Cairngorm day

Due to Joe needing to be back in Aberdeen we had an easy walk out via Loch Etchachan (literally) and the Hutchinson Hut