TR: Geal Charn (Cairngorms)

Had a nice wander up this Corbett on Saturday, it was winter on top! Parked at the road end near
Dorback Lodge. The quarry mentioned in the SMC guide has now been blocked off, but there is room for
a couple of cars. Dropped down and had no problems crossing the river. Easy track to the base of the
hill. I cut up the ridge above the second 'hut'. The OS maps show 2 old huts, one just before the
track crosses the stream and one just after. The second one was a wee pile of rubble, but still
obvious. The next ridge along would also work, I just fancied that one. The snow line was about 700
meters and pretty thin. But with the cold wind and blowing about ... I had great views of Ben Avon
and Beinn a Bhruid as I approached the summit. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a dark wall of
cloud and snow approaching, a BIG shower! I pushed my speed to the top as quickly as I could and
just got a panorama before the Cairngorms and BaB and Ben Avon disappeared. Great view of these
hills - an odd angle. The shower passed south of me, so blocked the view, but didn't snow on me. I
then traversed north to the land rover track to make a circuit. A big shower came through just after
I got to the track. Low visibility and the front of my jacket was all white from the snow! An easy
tholl back to the lodge. The lodge is boarded up and this track would be an easy mountain bike to
pretty close to the summit. A nice wee hill, 2.5 hours round trip. cheers, Rob