© Paul Robert Williams
You can also view details by country, region & date by using the Menu bar below.
You are here: Home > ClimbHome > Scotland - Southern Highlands - Apr07_2
Site Last Updated: 02/Apr/2011
Our final trip was a two day hike taking in Ben Macdui and bivvying overnight. Our plan was to hike up near Loch Etchachan on the first day, spend the night there or in the Hutchison Memorial Hut depending upon conditions, then summit Macdui the following morning.
We drove towards Inverey through the lovely pine woods and parked at Glen Derry & then headed off through the woods towards Derry Lodge. Although we were blessed with High pressure the wind had picked up considerably with gusts of 40-50 mph forecast. Shielded by the woods the wind was light and it took just over an hour to reach Derry Lodge along a rough road track.
Rather than follow either of the two paths that wind along the river, we headed for the path that takes you through another small wooded area towards Creag Bad an t-Seabhaig. The gain in height looks steeper than it actually is and with the path being well marked it wasn’t too long before we found ourselves at Carn Crom (890m). However, now high on top of this ridge the wind had noticeably gained in strength & skirting along the Coire na Saobhaidh, we found shelter from the wind and had our usual brunch of coffee and biscuits.
Despite having to fight continuously against the wind which impeded our progress as it blew across from the NW, I quite enjoyed the walk across the flat firm plateau and gradual rise up to Derry Cairngorm. The views across to Ben Macdui were also magnificent. This expanse reminded me in some way of the volcanic plateaus in New Zealand. By the time we reached the summit of Derry the wind was now howling to such an extreme that it became almost dangerous. In the lee of the summit we took of our backpacks, made a quick dash to the trig point and then back down about 30 m to the relative safety amongst the larger boulders. The descent the other side of this summit is again strewn with boulders and requires careful descent.
By the time we reached the col below Creagan a Choire Etchachan we had become exhausted by our constant fight with the wind which at times was so strong in gusts that your only hope to stay on your feet was to stop still and
brace yourself against the onslaught. We felt it was now too cold and too windy to bivy this high up and also too early in the day to stop. Calculating that we could reach the summit of Ben Macdui by 4:30pm, that would leave 3 hours of light; enough to get down to a low enough level to bivy safely. After reaching this decision we hurried towards the track that followed a ridge above the corrie of Coire Sputan Dearg.
Typically, the summit had been in view for most of the day, but in the past hour cloud had appeared and as we got almost to the top of the ridge we were enveloped in mist and cloud reducing visibility to around 20m. Also at this point the patches of snow became more frequent until we were on permanent white ground. Because of this the track petered out and we followed it for as long as we could. We hadn’t taken our ice axes or crampons deeming them not necessary from speaking with other hikers at the hostel, but my hiking poles certainly came in more useful to provide a steady footing.
Once it became clear we were no longer able to determine the path accurately and due to the visibility we turned to the compass for navigation. Taking a bearing with the GPS, we fixed our position, fixed the compass and I headed off in the lead compass in hand. We knew it couldn’t be far as our altitude also indicated we need to gain a further 150 m in height
and after about a half an hour out of the mist stone shelter cairns soon appeared and then the summit cairn itself.
We summitted at 4:45pm, only 15 mins after our estimate. Not wanting to hang around and now being completely sick of the wind roaring in our ears to the point where I think I was almost deaf, we quickly set a compass point to head down slightly South of the path to join the Allt Clach nan Taillear burn which we estimated by the distance on the map that we should hit in 20 mins. This area was completely covered in snow obscuring the burn but made for rapid progress downwards. Regular checks with the GPS and using the compass meant we were confident in our position and we soon appeared below the cloud as we descended down a steep slope towards the head of the Allt Carn a Mhaim. Here the area is extremely rocky until you reach the col at the top of the burn.
Originally we had intended to follow the ridge over Carn a Mhaim, but the wind by now had increased even further in strength by being funnelled over the col. It was extremely difficult to even stand up and on two occasions we were both literally blown over by the wind. It had now become too dangerous to be exposed on the high ridge. The descent to the well marked LairigGhru path we also decided was too steep in this wind so we decided to descend along the Allt Carn a Mhaim that would eventually hit the Glen Luibeg path.
There is no well defined path down this route which was boggy and marshy which made heavy going exacerbated by our tiredness but at least for the first time we were sheltered out of the wind in this valley. Eventually we met up with the path and continued on looking for a suitable site to sleep. We passed Luibeg Bridge and eventually found an ideal flat dry grassy area about 50m off the track right next to the river. By now it was around 7pm and we were dog-tired but relieved to be down at a lower altitude where it was warmer and out of the wind.
We setup up our bivvies, heated up some water for hot tea followed by a cooked meal. The spot was perfect and it was great to be camping out by a flowing river watching the sun set over the Cairngorm mountains. We soon settled in our bivvy bags and although it took about an hour to get to sleep, the night was extremely comfortable. Using only a 2-season sleeping bag and wearing thermals was more than adequate to keep the cold at bay, such was the unseasonal warmth for the time of year.
Overall, it turned out to be a fantastic trip. The benign weather exceeded our expectations and although we would have preferred a little more snow, you can’t have everything. Hiking conditions were just about perfect except for the blustery (to say the least) penultimate day. We packed in several Munros in 4 days, and bagged Ben Macdui along the way. Braemar was a good base for all these walks in terms of being close to the starts of all three, although very disappointing was the lack and variety of a good meal in the evenings.
Details:
Flights -
