Nearly there .....

Despite a rather disappointing forecast we decided to go for a high hill walk on the Cairngorms to try and reach the last vestiges of snow which always remains, clinging tightly onto a northerly face above 3,000' high. Last year we had managed to go fairly high but young L had just been 3 at the time so we hoped we might manage further this year. We did and we might have reached our goal if the weather hadn't really turned. The cloud descended, the wind turned up quite a few notches and the rain buffeted us head on so Granny, in particular, was grateful that some of us decided enough was enough. By this time we had walked beyond the path and the landscape had become a tufty, mossy moonscape with large boulders strewn haphazardly which actually helped us to keep our feet dry. The dogs were having a wonderful time running between us all and enjoying the freedom and new smells.... If you look closely you can just see them in this shot running beside the family. As we threaded our way across the boulders and eventually down below the horizontal rain within the cloud base, we saw a fabulous rainbow and this lifted us and we finished the walk in high spirits despite being soaked. We had started from the ski lift car park where there was a very handy cafe selling hot chocolate and coffee which warmed us up perfectly. Another great day.