From Hell to Eden

The weather hadn't changed when I was the first to leave the Hutchison Hut in the morning [see extra], but I still had to get back to Aviemore. So I headed over to the Lairig Ghru via Beinn Mheadhoin and Carn a'Mhaim. Had a lot of fun on the latter when, in the best mountain weather of the day, I ran up its easy slopes with a gale behind me, and then back down into the wind. Once into the Lairig Ghru [see extra] it was a bit of a trudge against the wind up to the Pools of Dee, where the minimal path through the boulder field kept disappearing into swollen lakes and streams. Not fun! Then it got better as I ran down the other side and, by the time I'd got to the upper reaches of Rothiemurchus (pictured) it was wonderful!