{"id":13983,"date":"2026-02-06T11:40:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T11:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/?p=13983"},"modified":"2026-02-10T20:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T20:02:15","slug":"a-major-addition-and-a-significant-overhaul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/a-major-addition-and-a-significant-overhaul\/","title":{"rendered":"A major addition and a significant overhaul"},"content":{"rendered":"

After what probably has been far too long, I have added a Cairngorm Mountains album<\/a> to the photo gallery. The accumulation of photos from 2009, 2010, 2023 and 2024 was sufficiently large for this to be a gargantuan exercise. Picking out photos became challenging, particularly when emotions entered the fray and self-doubt further complicated decision-making. Once that was out of the way, the task became more manageable.<\/p>\n

Then it was down to the addition of titles and descriptive text, a task that took more time because of work commitments. For a time, there were photos online with titles and no other text until I could get around to adding that. Thankfully, that is all complete now, so others can enjoy what is on there, which is the more important part.<\/p>\n

All of this was in marked contrast to the pruning of the Lochaber gallery<\/a> and the hiking ideas<\/a> that threw up for me. Aside from any wish to improve on photographic quality, the Cairngorms do not have quite the same pull on me after all the traipsing in recent years. Nevertheless, there were a few ideas that popped into my head as I surveyed the map while identifying the locations of photos.<\/p>\n

One thing that had not occurred to me was how far south Loch Eanaich was; there is not much difference between its latitude and that of Kingussie. That lead me to plot out a lengthy course from the latter back to Aviemore via Glen Feshie, Sg\u00f2r Gaoith, Sg\u00f2ran Dubh Mor and Sg\u00f2ran Dubh Beag. A decent level of fitness would be needed for such an escapade, as would a day with plenty of daylight. The west wall of Gleann Eanaich would take its toll, with the Munros and the northern descent after them posing significant challenges.<\/p>\n

Another prospect that caught me eyes was that of reaching Loch A'an, which might be combined with an ascent of Cairn Gorm too. It is not just the height that matter in the Cairngorms but also the distance, hence the preference for longer hours of daylight, hopefully without the attendant heat that can accompany them during the high season of the Scottish year.<\/p>\n

My not being to Braemar for more than fifteen years is itself a prompt for a return, as much as the images I made on a showery autumnal around nearby Morven. Longer ventures would take me into Glen Callater, though that is verging on embarking on a multi-day backpacking escapade, much like going from Blair Atholl to Braemar via Glen Tilt or going through the Lairig Ghru between the latter and Aviemore. Using the Lairig an Laoigh route between Glenmore and Braemar also brings its own temporal challenges that may or may not be as arduous as the others.<\/p>\n

Keeping things more modest would keep one around Braemar in preference to those longer hikes. Here, Creag Choinnich and Carn nan Sgliat could offer rewards. If terrain, time, fitness, energy and strength were accommodating, then continuing to Creag nan Leachda and Millstone Carn could be ideas. There may be little need to venture any further.<\/p>\n

Thus, without needing to peer at more than a map, hill wandering ideas can surface. Given the geographical scale of the area, it is best to keep one's ambitions in hand so as not to overdo things. After all, it is little wonder that some combine a mountain bike ride and a hill climb to fit things within the temporal confines of a day in these parts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After what probably has been far too long, I have added a Cairngorm Mountains album to the photo gallery. The accumulation of photos from 2009, 2010, 2023 and 2024 was sufficiently large for this to be a gargantuan exercise. Picking out photos became challenging, particularly when emotions entered the fray and self-doubt further complicated decision-making. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,44,51,72,140,13,3390,29,32,34],"tags":[1675,1772,1751,5675,5676,5674,5668,3813,2083,1752,5669,4010,5326,1773],"class_list":["post-13983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aberdeenshire","category-badenoch-strathspey","category-cycling","category-lochaber","category-new-photos","category-photography","category-reflections","category-trip-ideas","category-walking","category-website-updates","tag-aviemore","tag-braemar","tag-cairngorms","tag-callater","tag-carn","tag-creag-choinnich","tag-gaoith","tag-glen-feshie","tag-lairig-an-laoigh","tag-lairig-ghru","tag-loch-aan","tag-loch-einich","tag-sgor-gaoith","tag-the-lairig-club"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.assortedexplorations.com\/outdoors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}