NIGHT NAVIGATION

A snowy MacDui

Dark soon too

Night Navigation 

Night burn crossing

Fiacaill Coire Sneachda earlier on

Breezy crossing 

Nice light, Sneachda 

Ben Macdui 

Loch Avon basin 

Scrambling 

Fiacaill Ridge 

Nearing the top

Fiacaill Buttress 

Braeriach with snow

The Cairngorms are probably the most challenging mountains to navigate in the UK. Throw in a dusting of snow, cloud and then darkness and you get a very good challenging experience. The only ingredient we didn't get last night was a storm force wind!
Day 3 of Leanne's Navigation Course this afternoon/night. A combined mountain day comprising some scrambling on the Fiacaill Ridge, a Munro and four hours of navigation under darkness. We reached a snow dusted Ben Macdui at dusk after a traverse over the Fiacaill Coire Sneachda and a wander over to the top of Hell's Lum.  During the 'night time' section we covered a huge area of the plateau. A descent down to Loch Etchacan,  then Loch Avon (supper)  before heading back to the Northern Corries and finally descending back to Coire Cas car park just after midnight. With Tarmachan Mountaineering you get a full on, bespoke course. How many other providers offer a big mountain day and finish long after bed time? Fabulous night on the hills. We saw no one at all after leaving the Cairn Gorm car park.  Top time and some fantastic navigation  from Leanne who has now reached a high level of navigation skills.