Bynack More and Creag Mhor

Thursday 16th May 2013

A fantastic day's hill walking up a Munro and a Corbett in the Cairngorms

Distance: 25.5km; Ascent: 1260m; Mainly dry but showery at times; Solo

See tracked route in new window

There were many TGO Challengers staying in Aviemore last night, of which a fair few of them seemed to be at the bunkhouse so I had quite a sociable breakfast this morning :-)  I had decided to delay my return to the northern highlands until this evening as I didn't fancy getting stuck in the roadworks over the Kessock Bridge during the morning rush hour!  Therefore instead I decided to head for Bynack More in the Cairngorms.

Trees in the Pass of Ryvoan

At around 10am I set off walking from the end of the road by Glenmore Lodge along a broad forest track.  It was warm and sunny as I walked through the pleasant woodland to reach An Lochan Uaine and the Pass of Ryvoan.

An Lochan Uaine

Heading east away from the Pass of Ryvoan

The good track continued through the Pass of Ryvoan, past the turning for the bothy to reach Strath Nethy, where I stopped for a quick break next to the river.  There were good views from here up the valley towards The Saddle.

Bridge over the River Nethy

Now the ascent began in earnest, although it was made easier by the well maintained footpath that ascends up onto the northern slopes of Bynack More.  There were good views back down to the NW towards the Corbett of Meall a'Bhuachaille.

Looking NW towards Meall a'Bhuachaille

At around the 750m contour the slope angle eased and soon afterwards I reached a fork in the track.  I headed south towards Bynack More, whilst the left-hand fork was the route onwards into the Lairig an Laoigh.

Looking S towards the upper slopes of Bynack More

The Bynack More path was badly eroded in places, although some sections of it had clearly had work done to them recently.  There was a large patch of soft-ish snow to cross at the point the northern slopes steepened into a more well-defined ridge, before I continued on upwards over the rocks to reach the summit area where there were excellent views.

Summit area of Bynack More

Beinn Mheadhoin, Ben Macdui & Cairn Gorm from Bynack More

Despite the bitterly cold wind, there were a least ten other walkers on the summit slopes - in fact it was the first time I had seen anyone else whilst out walking on the hills since Saturday!  I found a spot to shelter from the bitter wind for a quick lunch break before visiting the summit cairn of Bynack More (Munro, Marilyn) together with the nearby rocks which looked to be just as high!

Summit cairn on Bynack More

On the summit of Bynack More

Despite the mainly overcast skies there were excellent views from the summit, especially south-west towards the horseshoe of peaks around the Loch Avon basin, i.e. Beinn Mheadhoin, Ben Macdui and Cairn Gorm.  There was also a good view of the Lairig an Laoigh, guarded either either side by the steep slopes of Beinn a'Chaorainn and Beinn Mheadhoin.

Looking SSW from Bynack More towards Beinn a'Chaorainn and Beinn Mheadhoin

I had originally planned to descend by my route of ascent but as it wasn't yet 2pm, and I wasn't in a particular hurry to get back to the car, I decided to tag on the ascent of the nearby Corbett of Creag Mhor onto my walk.  Therefore I headed down the south ridge of Bynack More to reach the impressive Barns of Bynack.

Some of the Barns of Bynack

A Barn of Bynack

I then picked my way down the steep ground, roughly in a SSE direction to reach the small lochan in the Lairig an Laoigh.

Looking down to Lochan a'Bhainne in the Lairig an Laoigh

From here it was only a relatively short ascent of around 170m to reach the top of the hill, and the slopes were mostly significantly less steep than what I had just descended!  There were good views back to Bynack More as I ascended, and I soon reached the summit rocks of Creag Mhor (Corbett, Marilyn) just before 3pm.

Bynack More from Creag Mhor

Summit rocks of Creag Mhor

There were good views from the summit, but again I didn't linger long due to the cold wind blowing!  I descended roughly to the NW to reach the Lairig an Laoigh path just before it started to ascend.  The path here was significantly more eroded than the section I had walked this morning ascending out of Strath Nethy.

As I ascended up the path a large group of teenagers with large backpacking sacks came the other way - I assumed that they were heading for an overnight camp somewhere further along the Lairig an Laoigh.  Eventually I reached the large plateau on the north ridge of Bynack More, where I rejoined my outward route.

Looking SW through the Pass of Ryvoan

The descent down into Strath Nethy was relatively quick and I was soon walking back through the Pass of Ryvoan into the woods.  Around a kilometre away from Glenmore Lodge I met a TGO Challenger heading for Ryvoan bothy so we stopped to chat for a while.  I reached the car at around half-past six after an excellent day's walking in the hills.  I then headed back north to the Aultguish Inn's bunkhouse for the next couple of nights.

See here for my Social Hiking map from the day's walk.

N.B. 28/06/13 - Post date updated to actual date of walk, i.e. 16/05/13 (from 24/05/13).  Links to social hiking and hill-bagging also added.
 

A Backpack in the Central Cairngorms

Last weekend, Gwilym and I spent a couple of excellent days backpacking on the some of the hills of the Central Cairngorms.  For me this was a bit of a "rematch backpack", as I have previously planned to climb these hills at various points over the last few years, but weather conditions prevented me reaching the summits of three of them:  Carn a' Mhaim, Derry Cairngorm and Beinn Mheadhoin.  Therefore I was pleased to discover that relatively benign conditions were forecast for the hills for the Saturday and Sunday of the bank holiday weekend, and thus we set off from Linn of Dee for the rematch!

The weather proved to be even better than originally forecast (well apart from Saturday evening when it rained heavily for several hours!) and we even got some views from the summits of all six Munros that we climbed.  We had a pleasant high camp by the shore of Loch Etchachan on the Saturday evening and once away from the main valley paths, we only saw one other walker on Saturday and two others on Sunday.  

This post is an index on my blog posts on the trip, which I have updated to include more photos and maps of our routes, and there's also a link to more of my photos from the weekend, my original plans and my Social Hiking map from the trip.

• Original plans for the weekend
• Day 1 - Linn of Dee to Loch Etchachan, via Carn a' Mhaim, Ben Macdui and Derry Cairngorm
• Day 2 - Loch Etchachan to Linn of Dee, via Beinn Mheadhoin, Beinn a' Chaorainn and Beinn Bhreac
• Photos from the trip (geotagged)
• Social Hiking map, with occasional tweets and photos

Loch Etchachan and Ben Macdui from slopes of Beinn Mheadhoin

Cairngorms Backpack August 2012 - Day 2

Distance: 21.5km; Ascent: 830m; Dry and sunny; with Gwilym

See tracked route in new window

After last nights near constant rain, it was pleasant to hear no rain on the tent when I woke up at around 6:30 ish due to the daylight.  After failing to get back to sleep, I went outside to discover that most of the cloud had lifted and there were even a few patches of blue sky :-)  It was noticeably colder than yesterday though; my thermometer in the tent porch read 5°C, so it can't have been much above freezing overnight!

Gwilym had brought along some backpacking coffee he had found in Tiso so we had an unusually civilised start to the day with freshly brewed coffee!  By the time we were packing up the tent the cloud had pretty much lifted above all the peaks we could see, and we could admire the majesty of our location next to Loch Etchachan.

Overnight camp at Loch Etchachan

Our original plan had been to bag Beinn Mheadhoin as a there and back walk from Loch Etchachan before descending into the head of Glen Derry and then ascending alongside the Glas Allt Mor up to the Moine Bealach.  However when viewed from Derry Cairngorm yesterday this burn didn't look to be an attractive route of ascent as it appeared to be in a quite steep sided little gully.  So instead as the weather was so good we opted to take in the extra peak of Beinn a' Chaorainn.

Loch Etchachan and Ben Macdui from slopes of Beinn Mheadhoin

Therefore after packing the tent up we began the steep ascent up onto the plateau of Beinn Mheadhoin, with excellent views back over Loch Etchachan towards Ben Macdui and the crags above Loch Avon.  We continued over the plateau past several granite tors to reach the summit tor of Beinn Mheadhoin (Munro, Marilyn), which was an impressively large lump of granite.

The summit tor of Beinn Mheadhoin

I had been here previously, but declined to scramble up the summit tor that time due to it being plastered in ice.  However that wasn't going to be a problem today and after a relatively easy scramble we were soon on the ~4x4m flat top of the tor, where we met our first other walker of the day.

Looking towards Ben Macdui from summit of Beinn Mheadhoin

On the summit of Beinn Mheadhoin

The views up here were excellent, and we rested a while in the warm sunshine, although there was also a chilly breeze.  The descent of the tor was unsurprisingly trickier than the ascent, with one slightly off balance move.  However we were soon safely back on the ground, but I was glad I hadn't attempted it when I was here in winter some years ago!

Cairn Gorm from N slopes of Beinn Mheadhoin

Descending the N slopes of Beinn Mheadhoin

The descent down to the north east took quite a while due to having to avoid a number of crags, and the ground being quite steep, broken and heathery; perhaps a route to avoid in mist!  We stopped for a break part way down in a sunny sheltered spot to remove layers as it had warmed up significantly.  And by now I concluded that it was a tad too warm to be wearing leggings under my trousers, although their warmth had been much appreciated first thing this morning!

Dubh Lochan

Eventually we reached the midge ridden path through the Lairig an Laoigh, where we detoured south briefly to pick up more water as it was so hot!  After following the path northwards for a few hundred metres, we took a traversing line up through the heather onto the steep northern slopes of Beinn a' Chaorainn.  The ascent seemed to go on for ages, and as we were sheltered from the wind we dared not stop for long lest the midges find us!

Looking down Glen Avon from N slopes of Beinn a' Chaorainn

Higher up the ground began to ease and after a final ascent up bouldery slopes we reached the summit cairn of Beinn a' Chaorainn (Munro, Marilyn) and our second other walker of the day, who had walked in this morning.  As it was now well past one o'clock, and we were both quite hungry, we stopped here for lunch in the sunshine :-)  The views from here were excellent: we could pick out all our hills from yesterday along with many others much further away; we could also make out the Moray Firth in the distance.

Summit of Beinn a' Chaorainn

After a walk across the seemingly endless plateau of the Moine Bhealaidh, which was boggy in places, we began the ascent up to our final hill of the day: Beinn Bhreac (Munro), whose summit we reached at around 2:30pm.  Again the views from here were excellent and we took possibly our last opportunity for a midge free break!

Summit of Beinn Bhreac

Fungi on the southern slopes of Beinn Bhreac

We descended south before picking up a small path down to the 673m bealach and then on downwards over progressively boggier ground to reach the easternmost of the two main paths through Glen Derry.

Pinewoods in Glen Derry

Pinewoods in Glen Derry

We headed southwards on this much better path through the pinewoods, surrounded by heather resplendent in purple flowers to reach Derry Lodge.  Here we met several day walkers preparing to cycle back to Linn of Dee; we were envious as we would have to walk the 5km instead!

Heading back towards Linn of Dee down Glen Lui

There was a pleasant breeze most of the way down Glen Lui to keep the midges at bay, and eventually we reached the car at Linn of Dee at around 6pm.  It had been an excellent couple of days walking, with much better weather than I expected :-)  We headed south to Edinburgh for dinner at Gwilym's flat, where I also stayed the night - many thanks!  Home tomorrow...

More photos and route map will follow once I get home.

Post updated on 01/09/12 to include route map, photos and links to hills; post date also altered to actual date of walk (from 27/08/12).
 

Mobile phone photo uploaded whilst on walk

Cairngorms Backpack August 2012 - Day 1

Distance: 23.5km; Ascent: 1460m; Mostly dry; with Gwilym

See tracked route in new window

It had been a while since my last visit to the Cairngorms, and with the Met Office forecasting that there would only be a low risk of strong sunlight today I decided that it would be safe to visit!!  And so late yesterday afternoon I took a train up to Edinburgh to meet Gwilym before heading north to find a reasonable spot to camp for the night in Glen Clunie.  The sky was clear and the stars were excellent :-)

First glimpses of the some of the Cairngorms from Glen Lui

We set off this morning from Linn of Dee soon after half nine surrounded by a large swarm of evil midges.  However it soon became apparent that if we walked fast enough they didn't seem to be able to keep up; so that's what we did!  Soon it began to rain, which it continued doing until around Derry Lodge.  We dared not take a break as the midges would soon find us, so we pressed on over the boggy ground in improving weather to reach a better path a few hundred metres away.  It is somewhat perplexing that this path was so well maintained yet the previous section wasn't.

After passing what looked to be a DofE group out on expedition, a breeze soon appeared and we felt it was safe for a break!  And it was :-)  The rivers didn't seem too high so we decided to take the shorter option of fording the Luibeg Burn, which didn't prove too tricky today.

Looking back down Glen Lui from lower slopes of Carn a' Mhaim

Fungi on way up Carn a' Mhaim

We refilled our water bottles and begin the ascent of our first hill in earnest, on a surprising good path, with a strengthening wind.  The low cloud seemed to be gradually lifting, with good views towards the hills south of the Dee and also back towards Derry Lodge.  After much steep ascent, the ground gradually began to ease and we found a reasonably sheltered spot to have lunch a few hundred metres short of the summit of Carn a' Mhaim.

Summit slopes of Carn a' Mhaim

On the summit of Carn a' Mhaim

After feeling suitably refreshed for the daunting climb ahead, we ambled over to the summit cairn of Carn a' Mhaim (Munro, Marilyn) to admire the fantastic views, although they were a bit intermittent!  Strangely it didn't seem to be particularly windy here despite the exposed location.  We descended the pleasant north ridge of the hill, which seemed to be acting as a barrier for the cloud, as there was loads of low cloud to the west but little to the east.

Looking down the north ridge of Carn a' Mhaim

The ridge became quite narrow and the stronger winds returned, although they weren't strong enough to pose a problem.  The cloud to the west began to lift, and soon we had good views down towards Corrour bothy and the Devil's Point.  The cloud lifted further as we ascended the steep slopes of Ben Macdui, and soon it was clear of Braeriach, Sgor an Lochain Uaine and Carn Toul, which meant we had excellent views across the Lairig Ghru towards them :-)

The Devil's Point and Beinn Bhrotain

Cairn Toul and Braeriach

The scree and bouldery ground was unpleasant to ascend, but eventually we reached the Cairngorm plateau at around 1200m.  A kilometre or so of more gentle ascent brought us to the summit trig point on Ben Macdui (Munro, Marilyn), the second highest hill in the UK.  There was a handy viewpoint indicator that told us all the far off hills we would be able to see from here on a clear day, including the Pentland Hills and Ben More Assant!  Due to the cloud not having completed cleared Ben Macdui, our only view today was across the Lairig Ghru.

Ben Macdui summit trig point

After a bit of a rest, we descended west, then north west, on an improving path.  Soon we dropped back out of the cloud and there were good views down to Loch Etchachan, our planned camping spot for the evening.  However we still had another hill to climb today: Derry Cairngorm.  Therefore we left the path and headed south.  Shortly before the bealach we left our sacks to avoid lugging them unnecessarily up the hill.

First views of Loch Etchachan

There were two summit cairns on Derry Cairngorm (Munro, HuMP), which appeared to be of near equal height so we visited them both just to be sure!  There were good views from here over to Lochan Uaine and the impressive looking crags on the south east side of Ben Macdui.  Over to the north east the sky was turning darker indicating rain was on it's way; would we get the tent up before its arrival?

Summit cairns on Derry Cairngorm

After returning to our bags, we began the sort ascent to the summit of Creagan a' Choire Etchachan (Munro Top).  Soon it began to rain, and it soon turned heavy and persistent.  We descended north west to pick up some water near the head of Loch Etchachan, before trying to find a flat area to camp that wasn't boggy and/or covered in stones.  Eventually we found somewhere near the spit of land which almost separates the Loch in two.

Approaching rain clouds over Beinn Mheadhoin

Soon we had the tent up and retreated inside from the incessant rain at around 7pm.  Dinner was couscous followed by a choice of single malt :-)  It was still raining when I went to bed at 10 ish; I hoped tomorrow would be drier than this evening!

More photos and a route map will follow once I'm back home.   

Post updated on 01/09/12 to include route map, photos and links to hills; post date also altered to actual date of walk (from 26/08/12 due to lack of signal).

Plans for a weekend in the Cairngorms

This weekend I shall be backpacking in the Cairngorms with Gwilym.  Our rough planned route is shown below, which should get updated with our progress if and when I get phone signal (which may not be very often in the mountains so don't worry if there are big gaps in the beacons shown!)


See map in new window

Update 27/8/12 - In my haste to leave on Friday, it would appear that I didn't link to the live updating version of the map! That's now rectified so you can see my progress if you like...