Old stag

Packed up the icy cardboard tent in the dark and set off at 7am as the sun was brightening the eastern sky. 

On the way up the glen I spotted this old master stretching his limbs before the sun warmed him. 

At 9am I reached the summit of An Sithean, a remote Corbett with absolutely stunning views over Loch Monar to the Mullardoch peaks and the Cheesecake to the west. Then a two hour trudge in the beating hot sun over snow fields, grass and gravel. It felt desert like  with shimmering mirages in the distance. The silence was broken by a pair of Golden Plovers dotting about in the snow patches calling to each other. 

Onwards to Bac an Eich (no backache), where for the first time ever that I can recall, I was able to unfold and lay my OS map on the ground without risk of it disappearing off a cliff, so calm was the air. (I don't often have a need to open the map, but today I could see sooo many peaks I had trouble identifying them. 

My descent was a devious line not mentioned in any guidebooks and made for a rapid return to the car and then home. What a weekend!!!!