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Munros: Lochnagar, Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach, Cairn Bannoch.
Date: 24 & 25/02/2024.
Distance: 16 + 24 km.
Ascent: 1250 + 450m.
Time taken: 8 hours, 15 minutes (Saturday), 8 hours, 50 minutes (Sunday).
Weather: Calm, sunny, cold. Snow shower on Saturday afternoon.
Given the warm temperatures just now, it seems appropriate to go backwards to a slightly cooler time about 6 months ago. I put this report aside at the time thinking Jackie would write it up but that doesn't look like that will happen any time soon! We decided to pack the tent up and head east to start off our February week of holiday, and for once the weather looked promising. An early morning drive over the Lecht took us to the Spittal of Glenmuick for the first time in a while (probably 5 years for Jackie and more like 20 for me). The parking area was far from full but it was busy enough for February - we faffed around with gear for a while and evenutally set off at about 9:45. The sunshine spurred us on past Allt na Ghiubhsaich and we climbed upwards through the woods. We stopped at a burn crossing to top up on water - no idea how hard the higher streams would be frozen.
Lochnagar from the Spittal of Glenmuick 
Approaching via the Allt na Ghiubhsaich Having walked a sum total of 2km, we were already sweating! After a removal of layers we left the track to join the path towards Meikle Pap. Plenty of people around today, the mood good after weeks of poor weather.
Conachcraig 
Mount Keen While we were headed very approximately for the circuit of 5 Munros around the head of Glen Muick, there were many diversions intended along the way - the first of which was a swim in Lochnagar itself. As the sun was out and even reaching the floor of the corrie we decided to head down there first before going up Meikle Pap.
Corrie of Lochnagar It was cold - surprise! Drying off afterwards I was hopping about on a patch of snow which was not helping my feet recover their feeling
. Still, at least the part of the loch we visited wasn't frozen - quite something for the middle of winter.
Swimming in Lochnagar 
Lochnagar 
Jackie swimming in Lochnagar On the way back out we passed some folk who were headed for the Black Spout, which looked as if it was receiving lots of interest today. They suggested that we join them but we opted for the more pedestrian route back to Meikle Pap - maybe if we hadn't had heavy overnight bags.
Looking up the Black Spout 
Meall Coire na Saobhaidhe with Ben Avon in the background 
Ben Avon Meikle Pap was a great lunch spot. We also failed miserably to find a Geocache here due to the snow cover on the northern face - but gained some extra ascent from looking for it. Back down to the col and time to climb up to Cuidhe Crom. The skies greyed over at this point. We diverted away from the edge of the corrie to the summit of Cuidhe Crom (Walkhighlands now showing Munro tops has had an effect on Jackie whether she admits it or not!)
Lochnagar from Meikle Pap 
Ben Avon from Meikle Pap 
Morven and Bennachie 
Weather moving in from the NW 
Back to Meikle Pap 
Jackie on the edge of the corrie However her interest in tops was still kept in check by wanting enough energy to get to our camping spot for the night, so after accompanying me for a short way, she decided not to go out to Little Pap. The weather had properly moved in now and this involved descending a massive boulderfield which may have had something to do with it...however on my last top bagging exercise around Lochnagar in 2013 I had missed this one out so I felt more motivated than her.
Cuidhe Crom from Little Pap 
Dreish and Mayar from Little Pap This probably isn't a bad viewpoint but it is inferior to most of the surrounding ones and a bit of a pain to reach. I promised Jackie that I'd go back there with her if she felt it necessary to bag one day - can't imagine me bothering otherwise! Back on the main route the weather was still not as good as it had been but there were many happy people around. Quite a few of them had come up the Black Spout, including a father who had just taken his young son up there as his first winter climb.
Back on the edge of the corrie 
Top of one of the gullies Not much to see at the top so I suggested we carry on a bit for a camping spot. We dropped towards Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach and eventually emerged from the cloud and found somewhere reasonably flat quite close to the northern edge.
Almost at the summit - weather has clagged in 
Sun returns for a short while Having camped in truly subzero temperatures on Sgor Gaoith in December, this camp spot seemed balmy in comparison - it was probably still -5 or -6 degrees celsius though. We enjoyed dinner in the last light and watched the sunset before turning in for a fairly comfortable night.
Carn a Choire Bhoidheach and sunset 
Deeside from our camping spot 
Moonrise over Lochnagar 
Tent up 
Dinner time We weren't expecting too much from the weather the following morning but it looked good early on.
Dawn arriving - moon still up 
Sunrise coming 
Tent is a bit frosty 
Sunrise After eventually getting the tent down we walked out to the top of the Stuic for the corrie views before going over the high point of Carn a' Choire Bhodheich - we nearly didn't bother with this. Dropping down hard snow we next headed for Cairn an t-Sagairt Beag, another top that Jackie wanted.
Probably time to get going 
Ben Avon and Loch nan Eun 
Back to Lochnagar 
Glas Tulaichean 
Loch nan Eun and Lochnagar 
Down the Stuic 
Beinn a Bhuird and Ben Avon Having dropped down to the main Glen Callater path, the day was getting warm and we decided to skip Cairn an t-Sagairt Mor. Away from other people's trodden routes the going was a little on the tough side in soft snow but we made reasonable progress over to Fafernie. In addition to being Munro tops, Jackie had hoped to find the Geocaches at many of these summits but was thwarted by every single one due to snow. Next up was Cairn Bannoch where somehow it was already lunchtime. The day had just kept improving though.
Cairn of Claise and Coire Kander 
Cairn Bannoch 
Dubh Lochan and Cairn Bannoch 
Coire Kander 
Cairn Toul and Ben Macdui 
Eagles Rock 
Approaching Cairn Bannoch I had one other Munro top out here that I'd missed - Craig of Gowal. This looked more pleasant than Little Pap and even had traces of path to it so Jackie decided to join me. We dumped our bags just before the final descent to make life easier. Nice views down Glen Clova onto Bachnagairn, which I haven't been to in years.
Down Glen Clova from Craig of Gowal 
Dreish and Craig of Gowal 
Loch Muick, Mount Keen and Mount Battock 
Dreish and Mayar The easy way to finish off would have been to carry on over Broad Cairn for a long but easy walk back to the car. Jackie wanted to swim in Dubh Loch though, so we complicated our route a bit. This conveniently took in another top for Jackie and set us at the top of one of my favourite crags in the area. Unlike the north face of Lochnagar, Creag an Dubh-loch is very hard to see from anywhere so the size and steepness can come as a bit of a shock. The ground conditions were poor up here, with a mixture of soft and hard snow with interesting holes to fall into.
On top of Creag an Dubh-loch The descent to Allt an Dubh-loch was easy at first, then steeper and rougher, culminating in us crossing swiftly-running flumes over sloping slabs on a disintegrating bridge of ice. Not the best - we were quite glad to be across! The path down to Dubh Loch from here is fairly poor so it took us longer than we thought to get there. The best of the afternoon light had gone but it was still and impressive by the loch. Jackie had a swim; I didn't bother.
Dubh Loch 
Finally approaching Dubh Loch 
Slabs of water, snow and ice 
Eagles Rock 
Allt a Choire Bhoidheach waterfalls 
Dubh Loch and Creag an Dubh-loch 
Allt an Dubh-loch 
Dubh Loch beach 
Reflections of Creag an Dubh-loch 
Reflections ruined! The path becomes more obvious but no better along the length of the loch and improves a lot after the outflow. Unbelievably the light was now going - how long had we been on the move for? The walk down to Loch Muick went on a bit and the light was definitely low by the time we reached Glas-allt-shiel. We were both pretty knackered. A winter without many long excursions plus being ill at the start of January had definitely affected my hill fitness a bit!
Path improves a little 
Dropping to Loch Muick 
Stulan Waterfall 
Broad Cairn from Loch Muick 
Loch Muick from Glas-allt-shiel 
Loch Muick Jackie didn't want a swim in Loch Muick so we pushed on and marched out from the bothy. This is about 5km (actually more like 6 it turns out) but it went on and on. Finally drawing level with the end of the loch, it went on a bit more! We topped up with water at the river and reached the car after dark. I was quite prepared to just drive home and flop out in bed but Jackie was all for just throwing the tent up where we were parked. We did that in the end and had a quick dinner before falling rapidly asleep - a fantastic winter overnighter.
Last light on the loch 
Looking back towards Glas-allt-shiel