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After humming and hawing over the weather, we woke on the Sunday to a relatively good forecast and headed/parked up at the ski centre. There are now barriers and a £3 per day charge.
Headed off up the walk highlands route reaching the plateau and walking down the (at first gentle) path into Coire Raibeirt in about one hour.
- Gentle at first
After a bit, the path becomes steeper but very easily found as much maintenance has been done on it. The downside of this is that it means bigger steps form my wee legs.
- Going down, down, down
I'd been staring at this place on a map for years, wondering how remote it was, what it would be like. And I was not disappointed. Coming down the Coire to Loch Avon was simply stunning. The colour of the loch, the dramatic cliffs, the remoteness, the peace, it was wonderful. Unfortunately at this point my phone lens was all steamed up with sweat so the pics don't do it justice. It would be a bit of a struggle descending this path if the river was in full flow. But we made it to the bottom and made a promise to come back one day with camping gear.
- Soaking up the atmosphere
- Shelter Stone Crag
- The Shelter Stone (the official one with the cairn)
We worked our way around the loch end and up the other side, it wasn't too boggy and we were feeling pleased with our progress. About 2.35 minutes so far.
- If you look closely you can see the path we came down in the distance
The path again was easy to follow though the cut off towards Beinn Mheadhoin wasn't so obvious. At a crude shelter spot, we just headed off up the hill eventually picking up a path but on the return we realised if you go on a bit, there is a more obvious path (which I marked with a wee cairn). I really wouldn't want to be doing this in clag. Why miss out on such gorgeous views.
- Rudimentary shelter bit
On we plodded and up on the plateau it really does become otherworldly and like a moonscape. This was my last one to bag in the Cairngorms so I was savouring every moment.
- Towards Loch Etchachan and Ben Macdui
It was easy progress to here with the Barns looming up in front of us.
- The Barns
It was easy enough to scramble right onto the top, doing so in about 3.5 hours from starting.
- Yooohooo, I can see your house from here (not)
- Hubster
A quick snack cooried out the breeze then we headed back, at this point thinking how fit we were but also I was starting to become a bit tired in the old legs.
- Cooried out the breeze
There had been a bit of rain forecast so we didn't want to hang about and the clouds were looming. Fortunately it was only a few spots that never amounted to much. We were soon back on the path leading back to the Shelter Stone which warranted closer inspection.
There are a couple of other huge boulders also clearly used for shelter but the real deal is the one with the wee cairn on top and from a distance you're thinking 'nah, looks tiny, there can't be much room'. It's only once right up at it you realise it is rather roomy and not as claustrophobic as some guides would have you believe. There were a couple of emergency blankets and a plastic box of emergency plasters and the visitor book, which we duly signed, keeping it brief as requested.
- Under the stone
- Entrance under the stone
It was whilst sitting having a wee drink and more snacks (I really should have had a bigger dinner the night before) that Duncan noticed another path leading up out of the glen - Coire Domhain. We opted for that just to give the walk a bit of a loop.
Again the path had been well maintained but jaaaaysus it was steep. It was like climbing a ladder with far apart rungs, albeit a very beautiful ladder with stunning views and a pleasant gurgling stream.
- The never ending staircase
- Looking back towards Loch Avon
By this time I could safely say I was knackered. Not enough fuel and very tired legs. By the time we reached the plateau my feet, knees, hips, everything just made me scream at increasing age. Weary doesn't even cover it. I was totally fine back in June on a two day jaunt, with heavy pack in Knoydart. What was this new hell?? I am hopefully putting it down to the constant steep steps on hard granite.
The plateau had a few more folk around but not many. We'd hardly met a soul all day and this was a nice day on a Sunday in summer.
Final pic of some climbers who'd just come from the other side.
- Coiling up the ropes
After this it was just a case of gritting the teeth and getting back to the car park. I was gagging for a cup of tea and thankful that we were in the campervan so could get the kettle on asap. I certainly couldn't be airsed taking any more pics.
All in it took 7.5 hours so still pretty speedy but we probably should have taken more rests. It was reassuring to know that hubby's legs (big long limbs that they are) were equally knackered so I knew it wasn't just me, though I'm carrying a few more old injuries.
But a brilliant day and definitely worth the effort.
