A fine hotel

I can't be bothered writing a proper what-I-did-in-my-Easter-holidays piece, so you'll have to make do with a few ramblings.

I walked in to Feith Uaine bothy (alias the Tarf Hotel) for a couple of nights. Enough snow still there to make an ice-axe feel justified, but not as much as in the main Cairngorms, which were occasionally visible. Melt water swelled the rivers, and rivers and their crossing became a theme of the trip. I wasted a long time on Saturday trying to find an elusive wire bridge, only to discover today that there is an exquisite Victorian suspension bridge just below falls of Tarf. Pretty, but probably too far away to be useful.

Walking in and out turned out to be the highlights of the trip, with Saturday's drizzly bridge seeking forming the filling to the sandwich. I particularly enjoyed picking my way down Gleann Mhairc, which had a lovely waterfall, a herd of deer, and another of Athol Estate's picturesque bridges (but in stone) at the bottom.

And in the bothy, I met somebody who, like me, used to live in Ipswich. But he's better now.