BREEZY NAVIGATION DAY

 

Final day with Bridget and Sue on their week long walking holiday in the Cairngorms. We've certainly had a mixed bag of weather the last 7 days. Snowy and cold, cloudy and wet, sunny and snowy. We finished with a stormy and wet day forecast for the high mountains. We decided to head away to some lower mountain ranges and opted for the lovely region around Strath Dearn, or as most folk call it, The Findhorn Valley.

We had an hour of 'indoor theoretical' with a coffee in the cafe. We then headed up the beautiful Strath Dearn. It's a glorious journey in itself. We were the only car at the carpark and on the hill. As we set off a big shower came through from the SW. The winds were bearable at the 500m altitude. It was still a skill to hold map and compass steady. Ideal 'realistic' weather conditions for navigation. 

The hills surrounding the River Findorn are quite featureless and pathless. Great terrain to learn navigation. The sun popped out and blue skies for an hour made it quite ppleasant.We covered lots of skill including micro nav, relocation strategies, timing and contour interpretation. Above 650m it became a bit tortuous so we called it a day and walked back down the hill.

We finished off the week in another cafe for some more theoretical navigation and a coffee. 

A brilliant week with some great company, banter and laughs. 6 Munros, lots of vital navigation skills, wonderful Cairngorms wildlife and some stunning scenery. 

Sue and Bridget are coming back in Winter. The finest season.