Caingorms by sleeper train

Richard and I had a brilliant weekend. Things at home have been rather fraught so I was looking forward to a change of scenery, some good hard exercise and some physical problem solving.

We ate at Diwana Bhel Poori House on Drummond street near Euston, had a couple of pints and boarded the Caledonian Sleeper. The service really is excellent with a proper buffet car, nice little twin rooms with clean sheets and very helpful staff. I was rocked to sleep by the gentle swaying of the train and awoke just as we trundled into Glasgow station. We changed and continued to Aviemore by a local service; arriving at 9:30am.

Aviemore was like Christmas Land with the streets and trees festooned with snow. We had an excellent breakfast at the Cairngorm Hotel and struck out for the mountains by taxi and then on foot (where the snow began to swallow the road).

We hiked up to the ski station and then set off across country through the drifting snow. The view was breathtakingly beautiful with a pale blue sky looking down on the rolling white landscape. Ahead, the mountains were covered in white clouds and, when it parted, we could see plumes of spindrift coming off the tops.

We almost fell over a Ptarmigan as we entered the open side of a cwm. The temperature dropped and the visibility closed in as we made our way through thigh-deep drifts to the base of the cliff. On either side rock walls with chutes and chimneys rose up and ahead was a steep mixed face of ice, snow and rock. This was our route.

We fixed crampons and began to ascend. At first we walked but soon found ourselves climbing on points and axes. The face grew steeper and the snow conditions less favourable towards the top. A fresh fall of snow lay over a hard icy layer and I had to clear the powder away and cut steps on the last 15m. It was an exhilarating climb.

Once on the top we consulted the map and the watch and worked out that we had time to make the summit of Cairn Gorm before dark. As is always the case it was further than it looked but we eventually topped the rock strewn summit and reached the weather station in freezing conditions. We stayed long enough to have a quick drink and make some kit adjustments then headed down to find a place to bivouac.

We lost about 300m in increasingly poor visibility before finding somewhere to camp on a slight dip in the col. We excavated a small pit and fought with the wildly whipping tent until we had it pegged down. The result was actually rather pleasing and my new thermarest was a revelation. We soon had dinner on the go and produced a creditable pasta affair and a nice cuppa. It was probably about 7:30 when we finished the lip-burning single malt and turned in.

We actually slept pretty well despite the snow gradually reducing the length of the tent as it drifted several feet deep. Richard had a strange sounding dream about being hunted by a herd of pink pigs in a wood. I don't know if this has any significance. In the morning the wind was so strong that taking the tent down was very tricky but, fortified with porridge, we managed it.

Climbing up the col into the wind and snow it quickly became clear that we needed to lose height. At one point the visibility was so bad and the snow so thick that the only think I could see was my own body. Everything up, down and to each side was white. Using the GPS and Richard's amazing sense of direction we identified the edge we had followed on Saturday and an hour later we reached it.

We were blown drunkenly off our feet several times but eventually saw the upper parts of the ski lifts. Following these we finally dragged ourselves into the cafe for hot chocolate, carbohydrates and beer.

We caught the bus down to Aviemore and checked into the Cairngorm Hotel. The food and the service were excellent and I have never see so many antlers in my life. We spent Monday walking up on the moors before hitting the journey back - which was also excellent.

All in all we saw Roe Deer, Red Deer, Ptarmigan, Red Grouse and Snow Bunting - as well as this odd fungus...