Today was our anniversary💘💗💓 so to celebrate we decided to do some mountaineering, as you do😁 I'm so romantic!!! Regular readers will remember my yearly assaults on Wolstonbury Hill. not forgetting Margie and I conquering the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall on our last visit to mainland Scotland, although we don't talk about the Snowdon debacle 😱😱Today was a step up though, the mighty Cairn Gorm a proper Munroe, 1245m (4085ft in old money) above sea level, the sixth highest mountain in the British Isles and the blooming train ain't working😢😢😂😂😱😱😱!!!
In all honesty the plan had been to rock up to the car park, take pics of the resident Snow Buntings and then scope the higher slopes from the bottom, in the hope of a Ptarmigan. However the Snow Buntings had deserted the car park, so Margie suggested we climb the mountain!! 😱😱😱😱 I know mental right we had no Sherpas, pack animals, ropes or crampons!! However she was determined. So making sure she had both her inhalers, two bottles of water and my body weight in Eat Natural bars we headed on up! It was a beautiful day and the first 10 yards were lovely, after that it became a gruelling battle of man against nature, stopping regular to admire the view (gasp for breath). Not many birds about, a Willow Warbler in the scrub and a couple of Meadow Pipits to start with!
 |
| Willow Warbler |
 |
| Bit elusive |
 |
| Meadow Pipit |
 |
| Yes apparently we are going up there! |
 |
| Mountain Stream |
We continued up, as we hit the lower scree slopes we could here the song of Ring Ouzels!!! Scanning the scree we spotted a couple of birds zipping about, but pics were difficult until one took pity on me and landed on the railway line!! Well it had to be good for something!
 |
| Ring Ouzel |
 |
| Pretty sure this is a Mountain Hare rather than just a funny shaped rock! |
This encounter had perked us up, nice to see and hear sing a Rouzel in its breeding range rather than seeing it's arse end disappearing into a Hawthorn bush at Seaford Head in the Autumn!! We headed on up reaching the snow line. The views all around were stunning well worth the searing pain in the lungs!
 |
| Margie being intrepid |
 |
| Admiring the view |
A nice male Wheatear along this stretch but didn't want to pose!
 |
| Wheatear |
 |
| Meadow Pipit |
We reached the café/train station, which was shut. The final stretch was upon us, sadly Margie felt she couldn't continue, her breathing heavy and the last leg looked even steeper than what we'd already done!! In all honesty I was amazed and impressed she'd made it this far💓💓 pretty amazed I'd made it as well to be honest😂! My two mile walks every lunchtime at work paying off! Driven on by dreams of Snow Bunting and Ptarmigan I set off alone for the summit!!
 |
| The top station |
 |
| Stopping to scan for Ptarmigan, I did this every ten yards, dedication, nothing whatsoever about getting my breath back, it was a lot steeper than it looks |
 |
| Pushing on |
 |
| Reaching the top, joy!! |
 |
| Me realising this isn't actually the top |
 |
| Pushing on to the actual top |
 |
| Margie taking shelter, would I ever see her again!!!! |
At this point I realised that the Mountain had been shielding us from the wind all the way up, on the plateau it was full on, I headed across the moonscape towards the large Cairn which I hoped was actually the top!!
 |
| The top!!!! Whoop!!!! |
The views here were stunning
 |
| Me at the top, trying to keep me hat on!! |
Exhilarating!! To say the least!!! Unbelievably had 5G signal so did a video call to Margie so she could share the moment!!
My feeling of achievement was some what dampened when a jogger ran past with a cheery hello!! But at least there were no dog walkers!!😂 Margie had a chat to him down the hill, apparently he is a super athlete that runs up and down mountains all the time!! Perhaps I'll run up next time 😂
Stupendous views! At this point things got even better when a flock of Snow Bunting appeared!! Hurrah!! I've seen quite a few Snow Buntings in Sussex and other southern counties where they over winter, they are usually quite confiding, but seeing them on the top of Cairn Gorm in their full breeding plumage has to be one of the best birding experiences I've had, they were just a confiding here as they are in the winter and obviously I filled me boots!! I 've tried to exercise a bit of restraint!
I said I'd tried to show restraint, I didn't say I'd succeeded 😂😂😂 I headed back down to Margie, the path looks quite easy, but it is steep and slippery and I imagine it would be horrendous in any kind of bad weather, but I made it down and we headed back down the mountain, what it did to our lungs on the way up it did to our calves on the way down!! Brutal!! But we made it down in one piece, the only disappointment really was the lack of Ptarmigan, last time we came up here and went on the train, they were outside the station at the top, but not today, apparently I was told later that they have had a decline in the area and no one really knows why! In fact apart from the awesome Snow Buntings didn't see that many birds at all, no Eagles or Ravens but a superb experience all in all! A few of the birds seen on the way down!
 |
| Meadow Pipit |
 |
| Willow Warbler |
 |
| Gingerly down the path, it might look smooth, but it was slippery |
After a late lunch in the café, we headed back to base via Lochindorb where once again Black-throated Divers failed to be present!! Few other nice bits about though!
 |
| Meadow Pipit |
 |
| Wheatear |
 |
| Common Sandpiper |
 |
| Sparrowhawk |
 |
| Common Gull |
Another superb day but we are definitely going to need a rest tomorrow!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment