The Cairngorms are ‘a little piece of the arctic in Scotland’ according to the SMC Munros Guide and the area contains many of the tallest peaks in the East Highlands. Ben Macdui (1309m), Cairn Gorm (1244m) and Braeriach (1296) are probably three of the better known and the whole area is full of steep corries and high plateaux. Access to the mountains is typically from Aviemore or Braemar.
From my camp by the Alt na Ciste I joined a group organised by Cairngorms Connect to make a "Willow Walk". Starting out from the Cairngorm Mountain carpark we loaded up our backpacks and tree planting harnesses with saplings and headed over the plateau. Carrying mainly downy birch, but also a few montane willows, we used the Coire Domhain path to reach the shelter stone end of Loch Avon. Here we planted a few trees leaving the remainder (I had carried 198 saplings) for the professional planters. This is part of a landscape restoration scheme to return montane trees, once thought to be extinct, to the Loch Avon area and neighbouring valleys, using seed collected from the last few surviving examples, and grown on at the Abernethy tree nursery where I volunteer. The return route was via Coire Raibert,
