I have been enjoying a spell of Fiona bagging. The hill list, the Fionas, is a great target for winter weather in Scotland. Spotting a weather window a couple of weeks ago, I head off to walk Carn Glas choire with my friend Kate.
A winter walk of Carn Glas choire
On a day that threatened fresh snow later on, Kate and I set off fairly early to reach the start of the route eat of Carrbridge (there is very limited parking). After a short section of road, we joined a wide track that wound uphill towards the higher plateau of Carn Glas choire.
We used ice spikes on our walking boots to navigate the icy and snowy Landrover track. The track reached almost to the summit of the hill and this made it fairly easy to navigate, although there are a few junctions that require you to check the map.
The final section of the route crosses heathery and tussocky moorland. This would normally be soggy and boggy but it was mostly blissfully frozen, plus there were large patches of snow to keep us off the unforgiving terrain.
There were several trods, all criss-crossing, that led to the trig pillar on the Fiona at 659m elevation. In good weather, you can expect great views towards the Cairngorms but, sadly, the cloud obscured most of the vista for Kate and I.
The wind also made the summit rather chilly so we quickly retraced our steps back towards the track.
On finding a more sheltered spot right beside the track we stopped for a hot drink and a quick bite to eat.
Our route back to the start was exactly the same as the outgoing walk, although with views in the opposite direction. As much as I like a circular route, an A-to-B hike does afford different views on the outward walk, compared to the return.
As we walked the final kilometre we reached the car again, the snow was lying on the roads. We made a hasty retreat to drive on to the snow-free A9 and head home.
The total distance was 13.5km with 471m of ascent.