An Uphill Struggle! 26th February 2019.

The Day Nurse tablets and a good nights sleep appeared to have done the trick since I awoke with a clear head and feeling much better. Maybe I was just fatigued from too much driving over the past few days. So the walk up and into the mountains to see Ptarmigan in their smart winter white coats was a goer!

Ptarmigan, Coire an t'sneachda, 26/02/2018

The weather was true to the forecast of promised clear skies and no chance of precipitation of any kind and as we approached the Cairngorm Ski area the mountain tops stood proud against the blue sky backdrop. When we walked here exactly a year ago the whole area was covered in a deep carpet of snow and ice and the air temperature was -10 degrees celsius with a further wind chill of another -15 degrees or so. Chilly indeed! Contrast that with todays sunshine and a positively balmy 5 degrees above freezing at 8 in the morning. The walk we made into the Coire an t'sneachda last year was probably the most arduous trek that we've ever undertaken, don't forget that we are from the flatlands of North Oxfordshire so are hardly used to extreme hill walking, but one that we'll never forget (read about that day here Ice Bird Challenge). We were greeted by a female Red Grouse stood on one of the road signs, perhaps it was on car park duty!

Red Grouse

We hadn't yet decided on a route to take but we knew after talking to the ranger yesterday that we were going to have to go high up to find both the Ptarmigan and Snow Buntings. The only available snow cover was right up near the tops and that would be where the birds would be. Since the funicular railway was built we've always taken the path towards Ben Macdui because it leads away from the busy part of the "resort". However last summer the railway was found to be structurally unsound and has been closed. Hence the area around Cairngorm mountain itself is now very quiet since access can only be attained by walking up to it. Furthermore the lack of snow meant that there was no winter sports taking place and hence the car park was pretty much empty with just a few other intrepid folk about. So we went for it and took the most direct route to Cairngorm, that is the Windy Ridge path. That route climbs steeply away from the car park but offers the shortest route to the tops. After starting off on the walk in fine fettle it soon became apparent that all was not well with Old Caley. Mrs Caley was easily outstripping me as we climbed and I had no energy whatsoever. Frequent rests were required and I was forever doubting the wisdom of carrying on. But this was our chance to see the Ptarmigan, one of the birds we'd specifically come to Speyside to see, so I pushed myself on against my better judgement. I popped a few more tablets and drank lots of water and despite my struggles managed to climb higher and higher albeit very slowly. Still we had nearly all day to get up there! 

Cairngorm ahoy!

The Windy Ridge path

I scanned the mountain sides ahead of us hoping that I'd spot some Ptarmigan lower down and save my leaden legs any more torture but I knew that wouldn't happen because they were high up on the snow patches. In the winter Ptarmigan turn almost pure white so I often got excited when I spotted a white blob amongst the rocks only to find that it was always a white rock (there are many on the mountains) and not a bird. Except for once when one of the white blobs turned out to be a fine Mountain Hare! Although we'd seen "winter" Hares before, their fur also turns white in the winter designed for camouflage against the snow covered landscape and rendering them hard to see for any passing predators such as Golden Eagles, our views had always been distant through the scope. This Hare was feeding quite close to the path so I settled down so as not to scare it and took a few photos. Despite my best efforts to not disturb the animal, another walker passing by startled it and the Hare disappeared over the ridge to the south. 

Mountain Hare

Seeing the Hare had given me a momentary fillip, I refound some energy from somewhere and it wasn't long before we were sat outside the closed Ptarmigan restaurant for a well earned rest. I should have eaten something but my appetite was completely suppressed although for now I felt ok. I scanned the mountain sides again but still couldn't find any white blobs that were actually birds so we had to move on. There is a well constructed pathway that leads from the restaurant buildings up to the summit of Cairngorm. It is normally "roped off" on both sides to prevent people taking part in ranger led guided walks from walking out onto the fragile ground away from the path but for now the ropes had been removed leaving just the posts behind. If it wasn't for those posts, spaced only around 20-30 metres apart, I'd never had made it higher up. The path is very steep and for somebody who was by now struggling even more than before it was very hard work to climb. I had to take a breather at every post! I've never so pathetic in all my life as I did stood on that mountain. But I still had to find a Ptarmigan before I could leave! Eventually I made it to the more level ground close to the summit and immediately felt a bit better. I could see the snow now and it took me just a few seconds to find a group of 8 Ptarmigan feeding around the edge of the snow. The birds that were off the snow stood out like beacons against the brown vegetation and grey rocks whereas those on the snow were very much more difficult to pick out. 

The 8 Ptarmigan 

We watched the snow birds for a few minutes then traversed around and above them to a clump of rocks that stood at the head of the "Marquis's Well", a spring that emerges from the mountain and then streams downhill. On reaching the rocks I could see the Ptarmigan around 30 metres away but my attention was diverted by a sudden movement on the ground about a third of that distance from me. It was a Snow Bunting that had been drinking from a trickle of water. Two birds with one stone! I was elated and forgot all about my own travails for a few moments. I rattled off a few shots of the Bunting, got Mrs Caley on to it, and turned my focus back to the Ptarmigan.

Snow Bunting

My intention was to settle down amongst the rocks and then stealthily close the gap between myself and the birds in order to get some closer and clear photos. The birds had seen us and were crouching down as they do and I took a couple of shots before getting comfy. 

In the time it took for me to park the rucksack and turn back round to view the birds they had disappeared! We didn't see them fly off or hear them but gone they had leaving the area devoid of all birdlife except for the Snow Bunting that was now stood on top of the rocks. I couldn't believe it and cursed our luck. All that effort to get up here and I'd failed in my main objective to get some really good photographs of the Ptarmigan. But at least we'd seen them and they and the Bunting had pushed the year list up to 143.

A fellow birder sauntered over and asked if we'd seen any Ptarmigan so we related our experience to him. Simon is a wildlife guide based in Grantown and he was doing a recce ahead of bringing a client up a few days later. We had a nice chat the Cairngorms and Speyside birding scene and related our desire to move to the region one day . While we nattered away he noticed a couple of Ptarmigan far away on another patch of snow. He left us to check them out while we decided that seeing as we were almost there we may as well walk to the summit of Cairngorm and bag ourselves a bonafide "Munro". 

Cairngorm summit

It was time to return to base camp and the car so we began the walk down. Walking down off a mountain should be easier than walking up on to one but on this occasion for me it was sheer hell! I was feeling very rough again and any lingering spark of energy that I'd had, had completely deserted me now. I was done in! Every step was a supreme effort to make and I had visions of me just laying down and ordering a mountain rescue helicopter to take me home! Obviously that wasn't a serious option so, with Mrs Caley coaxing me along and supporting me all the way, I made one desperate weary step after another downhill. It took us nearly two hours with many, many stops for me to gain some vitality, before we finally made it to the car park. I have never felt so wrecked since I overdid the drink after an FA Cup final once! Needless to say that it was straight to bed once back at the cottage and, I'll spare you the gory details, a night as bad as I've ever endured, predominately spent sat upon a very valuable piece of bathroom furniture! Yuk!!