Ros Baxter - Wow, what a night to be on the Cairngorm plateau. A cold wind was more than made up for by the amazing sunrise 😍. Thanks to Lina for the lovely company!
Corri Black - Final stint for me with the amazing Veteran Women's Munro Relay. Another lesson in chilling out before the start. Ready to go for 2am became a 6am start after a tough night of navigation for the team on the hill. So Sue Savege and I enjoyed the sunset and then rested up at Cairngorm Mountain Resort to wait. Even at 6am, it was warming up to be a hot day. Such a contrast to overnight and to our last outing in the Grey Corries. We headed over Cairngorm and then dropped to the Saddle before going over Bynack Mor. Then back to Ford of Avon along the boldery path to a sunny handover with Katy Boocock and Sarah Dunn. After that we had a leisurely trot back to the Cairngorm plateau to get out again. 16miles, 5000ft climbing and 6hrs of running
Corri and dog on top of Cairngorm
Sue Savege Loch Avon behind
Looking at Ben Macdui from on Bynack More
Cairngorm ski piste
Summer is here - at least in the Cairngorms today! Great to hook up again with Katy Boocock to run the leg from Lairig an Laoigh to Keiloch over Beinn a Chaorainn, Beinn Bhreac, Beinn a Bhuird & Ben Avon.
The leg started with a bike in up Glen Derry to meet Sue Savege & Corri Black on the col. It was a joy to sit and relax in the sun for 10’ awaiting their arrival.
Underfoot conditions on the hills were unbelievably dry - the Cairngorms has obviously seen quite different recent weather to us - allowing for easy progress on what can be quite boggy terrain. Regular refilling of water bottles was the order of the day, and the luxury of a day trip from home meant pizza was on the menu for Nutmeg. We carted round umpteen waterproofs, jackets, thermals, gloves and hats but tried not to complain about their lack of utility!
Big thanks to Nick & Wynn Mardell for pre-positioning some bikes to give us a joyous blast down the Slugain at the end of the day.
Here’s hoping summer is here to stay a while longer ☀️ 🏔 🏃♀️ 🏃♀️😊
Nutmeg and Morag at the changeover
Katy Boocock
Sarah waiting for Nutmeg
Katy and Sarah on Ben Avon
Katie Henderson - Yesterday I climbed Mount (you have to be) Keen (to go up it), Scotland’s most easterly Munro. This was 2 weeks after climbing Scotland’s most westerly Munro, Sgurr na Bannanadick 🍌. Both are over 3000ft above sea level, but completely different in all other respects. From the gnarly Gabro of the Cullin, to the rounded, granite, Peathag infested landscape of Deeside. You may think the first was the more challenging, however 7 miles of peat without a path, trod, or even boundary fence to its name was probably my most energy sapping leg of the relay 🥵
Sadly my stint with the VWMR has come to an end, it’s been an awesome adventure full of laughs, adventures, some tears, and excellent camaraderie. Massive thanks to the core team (Fran, Sarah, Hazel and Vicky) for organising such a fantastic challenge. I’m off to join the dot watchers, and look forward to the Corbetts challenge next year 😜
Nearing the end. The next hill Lochnagar is the big one in the picture.
Katie Henderson. The cone of Mount Keen behind
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