High Plains Drifter
19th March 2023
(Above) Looking west from Creag Meagaidh summit slopes towards the east-facing coires and ridges of Beinn a Chaorainn. Coire Buidhe – centre right.
Went for a daunder up onto Creag Meagaidh summit plateau to check out the remaining snow cover. North through East to South-East aspects hold what old snow patches remain. As you can see, coire rims and gullies are the favoured snow-holding locations at the moment. West-facing aspects are distinctly bare.
(Above) Creag Meagaidh summit area. The actual summit cairn is left of centre of the photo surrounded by a gaggle of summiteers. Don’t be deceived by the foreground, it’s a lip of snow close to the edge of the Moy Coire. Summit cover is much better here than at lower altitudes where there’s little or no snow below circa 850m.
(Above) Moy Coire descends steeply a few metres left of the line of the old fence posts. Took this photo from the same location as the one before but turned the camera through 90 degrees. A somewhat more accurate depiction of the general snow cover on the Creag Meagaidh ‘highveld’. Centre of the photo in the far distance is Loch Treig; Beinn a Chaorainn right of centre.
(Above) Profile shot of the East Ridge of Beinn a Chaorainn nearest and the remaining old cornices that hang over this mountain’s east-facing coires. More or less in the centre of the shot are 3 German ridge ascensionists atop a rocky boss.
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Keith Horner
19th March 2023 5:39 pm
I suppose this winter could be termed ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’……!
Are you not the archetypal ‘Man with no Name’ – only known to many by your meagaidhadmin avatar…..
meagaidhadmin
19th March 2023 6:45 pm
Perceptive and creative response, Keith! I guess my choice of blog titles reflects my own particular demographic.
(I see that ‘our people’ over in the Southern Cairngorms have warmed to the album titles theme.)
Re.’The Man with no Name’. You know the rule, Keith: no names, no pack drill.
KEITH HORNER
20th March 2023 1:12 pm
I wonder if the S Gorms team realise that they have joined the album title trend……?
Even with no name, you get ‘pack drill’ being sent out in full on conditions every so often…..
Steven Cham
20th March 2023 2:11 pm
All SAIS forecasts are interesting, now adding special blog titles will make it even more interesting! Good way of testing memory, well done SAIS team. Now hopefully, The Show Must Go On, or
The Snow Must Go On!