Roadtrip to Aviemore
The rumours of snow in Scotland had reached us in the South West and with the New Year, me and Amy decided it was time for a new trip. On the 7th January we set off in the trusty T4 towards Aviemore, Scotland.
The journey took just over 10 hours. We reached the town about 7pm and headed towards a friend of Amy’s who had offered to give us some pointers for local hikes, and advice for mountaineering in the area. He gave us plenty of ideas! Unfortunately, he also told us to stop dreaming of snow and prepare for the relentless Scottish storms brewing.
Overwhelmed with choice, we left with a rough plan for the following day to hike up windy ridge and summit Cairn Gorm (1245m). We drove to Loch Morlich, parked up and climbed into the expanse of sleeping bags and blankets, awaiting the cold to creep into the van.
I’m not sure what I was expecting from this little adventure, but cosy nights & a hot tea in the morning was a pleasant surprise. We were also amazed to see snowflakes drifting down outside the window when we woke! The snow-capped mountains surrounding the loch suggested the forecasts had been wrong, and luck was on our side.
The snow settled and we got on our way towards the mountain, picking up boots, crampons and ice axes on route. The epitome of ‘all the gear, no idea’.
From the base of Cairn Gorm we mapped our route up towards the summit and set off. However, we quickly learnt that we were no match for the wind, and that the windy ridge was deserved it’s very appropriate name. Blown back down to the base we regrouped in the cafe and planned a different route towards Fiacaill Ridge, avoiding some of the wind on the other side of the mountain. After a few hours of battling the weather we returned to the van in time for the sun to set around 4pm.
We headed back to Aviemore and found a warm, cosy pub to settle down in while we planned our next day. Sgor Gaoith looked like fun, maps folded and woolly hats on, we aimed for camp on Loch Einich. However, it seemed karma had other plans...
Viola (the van’s) oil light started beeping & flashing at us too aggressively to ignore. We decided if we were going to break down, we would rather break down in town than lost on a road in the middle of nowhere. Very delicately, we drove it back towards Aviemore, where we noticed the battery light and the rev meter had started playing up too. Amy phoned the AA whose response was that they had 'never known a red flashing oil light not to mean roadside pick up'... Not ideal.
A mechanic came and met us huddled up in Aviemore car park, determined it was most likely an electrical fault and suggested we get it to a garage first thing in the morning; It wasn’t safe to drive any further than that. So that is exactly what we did. The following day, 9th January, George Macdonald's garage looked after the van for the day while we caught a bus back up to cairngorm ski centre, ice axes & crampons ready.
We had until 3pm to catch the last bus back towards town. The blue skies were beckoning us towards the summit of 1141m on the Cairn Gorm mountain. Very chilly, but a good, challenging short hike in which we found opportunities to try out all of our equipment.
Eventually back in town, we made our way to the garage, stopping for soup and coffee on the way. They had determined the alternator needed replacing and had spent the day charging the battery, along with finding a few minor electrical faults. All together not great, and meant we were unable to drive her any further than our carpark campsite from the night before.
The AA were called and they very reluctantly sent someone to check it out, who instantly determined we needed a tow. So for 15 hours we jumped in and out of different tow trucks at different service stations throughout Scotland & England. Our short roadtrip was much shorter than we had planned, but the very slow journey back home gave us plenty of time to plan our next one.