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Munros: Beinn Mheadhoin.
Date: 28/07/2024.
Distance: 25 km.
Ascent: 1560m.
Time taken: 10 hours 25 minutes.
Weather: Warm and sunny.
Jackie had suggested something along these lines last week but for some reason I had turned my nose up at it, quickly becoming more interested in the Ben Avon route that we ended up doing instead. Looking back I'm not sure why I was so dismissive as this is probably my favourite bit of the Cairngorms. It is also my most visited bit so perhaps it was just down to wanting to go somewhere a bit less well known for me. Regardless I was interested this weekend. We had been out on Sgor Gaoith the day before with people from my work but Jackie and I stayed over near the ski centre. As our gas finally ran out the night before we decided to go to the cafe at the ski centre for breakfast. Prices are pretty steep but their sausage and egg rolls are really good. In fact between the overnight campervan area, parking and breakfast I felt that I'd given Cairngorm Mountain rather more cash than I would have liked, given their record for spending it poorly.
We didn't have a specific route in mind - just a desire to swim in both Loch Etchachan and Loch Avon at some point as well as Jackie wanting to visit some of the Munro tops that she had missed previously. We weren't going to turn it into one of those 'sweep them all up'-style top bagging expeditions so we picked what we fancied as the day went on. With our desire to spend most of the day in the centre of the Cairngorms we took the quickest route from the ski centre - up Fiacaill Coire Cas, over Stob Coire an t-Sneachda and down to the Feith Buidhe. The way was busy until we began to drop down to the Feith Buidhe, after which we saw way fewer people.
North across Loch Morlich 
Coire an t-Sneachda 
Hell's Lum 
Loch Avon from the Feith Buidhe There was no snow whatsoever on the slabs at the head of Loch Avon which made crossing them fairly straightforward. After crossing the Garbh Uisge Bheag and Mor we made our way to the top of the Shelterstone for lunch. My favourite place in the Cairngorms to go if the weather is good and views are available, and yet I hadn't been here since 2019. A joy to return again
.
Jackie crossing the slabs at the head of the Feith Buidhe 
Garbh Uisge Mor 
Loch Avon from the Shelterstone 
Jackie on the top of the Shelterstone 
Hell's Lum and Stag Rocks 
Head of Loch Avon from the top of the Shelterstone Crag Then it was onwards to Jackie's first new top of the day - Carn Etchachan. We must have passed within 5 minutes of this summit when we were last up here together but not bothered with it. It is great, although still not as good as the Shelterstone.
Cairn Lochan from Carn Etchachan 
Loch Avon from Carn Etchachan The descent is steep and if you pick the wrong route it can be quite awkward. I couldn't really remember what was required for the best route so just set off straight down towards Loch Etchachan from the top. Fortunately this worked out well, and I even spotted a couple of discreet cairns which suggested this was the way. Lower down we veered off the easiest route and crossed some large boulders to land us at what I reckoned would be the perfect swimming location.
Loch Etchachan from Carn Etchachan I was right - the loch was quite deep here and we were able to launch ourselves straight into the water from boulders, just like it was our personal swimming pool.
Jackie swimming in Loch Etchachan Where next? Jackie suggested something madcap possibly involving Bynack More, so I suggested she checked the distance and ascent on the map before we went for that. In the end we picked Stob Coire Etchachan with the possibility of carrying on to Beinn a' Chaorainn afterwards. We crossed over to the main path and climbed up onto the end of Beinn Meadhoin before dropping back down to Stob Coire Etchachan. I'd only been here once before and remembered the great views down Glen Derry.
Creagan a Choire Etchachan 
Glen Derry 
Beinn Mheadhoin tor from Stob Coire Etchachan 
Ben Macdui and Loch Etchachan from Stob Coire Etchachan After a bit of thought we decided to go up Beinn Meadhoin rather than head any further east. I realised that when Jackie said she wanted to swim in Loch Avon she meant specifically at the western end, so to include that as well as either Beinn a' Chaorainn or Bynack More was going to involve some rather ridiculous route choices. So we strolled across the plateau, climbing a bit to reach the summit tor. We bumped into a guy who had run here from the Linn of Dee via some other summits, and now had 15km to run back. We wished him luck!
Summit tor of Beinn Mheadhoin 
Beinn Mheadhoin tors from the summit 
Jackie attempting to replicate her 2018 summit pose We crossed the plateau to the SW until we spotted a nice green line down towards Allt nan Stacan Dubha. This landed us back on the Loch Avon path with minumum fuss.
Cairn Gorm and Loch Avon 
Loch Etchachan from Beinn Mheadhoin 
Strath Nethy Then it was down to the head of Loch Avon to pick a swimming spot. For once we were able to cross the Feith Buidhe/Garbh Uisge dry-shod.
Dropping down to Loch Avon 
Loch Avon from near the Shelterstone No surprise that this is a great spot for a swim with lovely golden sands leading us in. I decided just to strip off so the folk in the tent nearby may have got a bit of an eyeful!
Jackie swimming in Loch Avon 
Stacan Dubha and Loch Avon 
LochAvon beach 
Stacan Dubha across the end of Loch Avon Time was moving on now and I began thinking of a chippy in Aviemore - we'd probably be there at about the right time. And this was the shorter option for the day! Actually the shortest way back out was via Coire Raibeart but we decided to go down the north side of Loch Avon and climb out via the Saddle and Cnap Coire na Spreidhe - another top for Jackie. I remembered the Loch Avon path as being rough while Jackie remembered it as being easy - turned out to be a bit of both, with boulders at the west end of the loch giving way to faster terrain as we headed eastwards.
Carn Etchachan and Shelterstone Crag 
Loch Avon, Stacan Dubha and Shelterstone Crag The climb up from the Saddle back onto the plateau isn't too brutal and passes through some interesting boulders and tors, not to mention there being good views down Strath Nethy. We were hit by a bit of a breeze on the summit and the sky had begun to cloud over.
Loch Avon from above the Saddle 
Beinn Mheadhoin 
Beinn a' Bhuird and Beinn a Chaorainn 
Ben Macdui and Loch Etchachan 
Down Strath Nethy from Cnap Coire na Spreidhe 
Jackie on Cnap Coire na Spreidhe A quick descent brought us to the Ptarmigan restaurant, from where the descent down Sron an Aonaich was easy. However the wind had become stronger in the last few minutes and continued to pick up as we descended - it wasn't warm! We finally reached some shelter in the last 10 minutes to the carpark where I discovered that the 'day rate' for parking had an additional 'extended day rate' for stays as long as ours...
Last light across the Northern CorriesBy this time we were actually about an hour late for the chippy so settled for a Chinese takeaway instead. A fantastic day and another late return home.
