For our next day, we headed over to the Cairngorm mountains. In Gaelic, this range is called Am Monadh Ruadh (the red mountains), and Cairn Gorm (blue hill) is the fifth highest peak. It’s a sky resort, and you can take the funicular up year round. You’re actually not allowed out on the mountain if you take the funicular, because the environment is so sensitive, but there are a couple observation decks and a restaurant where you can have a nice snack and enjoy the views.
This was another quintessential Scottish weather experience. When we first got up, you could not see the valley below us, but if you waited five minutes, the clouds blew through. It went back and forth like this the entire time we were up there. (The wind was hilarious – if you look for the picture that has the Cairngorm sign, I left in two people on the side because they show how crazy the wind was.)
The lake you can see is Loch Morlich. We ended up stopping there on our way back through. (There were several stops with a variety of walking trails.) The wind was still crazy at ground level.
This was the day that P discovered the joy of cullen skink – smoked haddock chowder. He had that for lunch in the cafe we stopped at – perfect food for a very windy day.