The Fast, The Slow and The Mountains - A memorable day!

[Meiklie Mist]

I had been planning this round for a few months – didn’t’ think I was going to get it in this year due to its length and the shortening days, but then I decided that I was just going to walk some of it in the dark!

The forecast was pretty good, so I drove over the evening before and parked up for the night. No fast Border Collies this time .

There wasn’t any phone signal within a few miles of the car park, but the ticket machine uses contactless and there’s a choice of vehicle type and length of stay - it cost me £10 for a two-day ticket.

After a few hours sleep, I got up just after 03:30, thinking that was enough time to have breakfast and be ready to leave at 04:00. I’m, not sure what happened, but by the time I’d faffed around with everything, it was 04:45 before I started walking. There were a couple of other vehicles in the car park and as I slowly clicked the button to open the van door and leave as quietly as possible, I’d forgotten to unlock the central locking and the alarm went off! So, I’m very sorry if you were in one of the other vehicles there that night .

I had two head torches with me (and spare batteries ) and opted for the super bright one. The path is wide and easy to follow, even in the dark and through the short, wooded area. Once on the ascent, it’s still wide and well-constructed, with lots of stone steps.

Looking back, not far from the start, at the first glimpse of sunrise.

There is a point at around 680m up where the main path carried on north and the route takes a narrower path north-west - I nearly missed the turning in the dark!

The starting point is at around 400m, so it’s a 500m ascent to the bealach below Meikle Pap. That’s not too bad but added to which the distance covered makes the ascent feel quite easy.

Looking south-east a little higher up (06:45).

Looking across at Lochnagar on the way up to Meikle Pap.

Looking north-east from Meikle Pap.

Another look across at Lochnagar on the way down from Meikle Pap.

The path up the next section to Cuidhe Cròm was straightforward but there is a small boulder field about halfway up and I did lose the path through that, but once on the top it was again wide and well-constructed with more stone steps, and lots of quite large cairns to point the way to Lochnagar.

Shortly before the route reaches Lochnagar there is a large, impressive cairn at Cac Càrn Mòr, which looks more like a sculpture than a cairn!

The impressive cairn at Cac Càrn Mòr.

The final ascent to Lochnagar.

There’s a small dip before the final 20m or so to the summit of Lochnagar. There are some quite big rocks on the top, so a minor scramble was necessary to reach the Trig Point (arrived there at 09:00). By now the sun was warm and the views extensive, so, I sat there for a while, enjoying the views and eating some sandwiches.

Looking south-west from Lochnagar.

Brocken Spectre looking north-west from Lochnagar.

Looking east from Lochnagar.

The next part of the route is over easy-going grassy slopes with a wide path and not much descent and even less ascent, but a fair amount of distance, even so I surprised that it took me until 10:30 to reach the summit of Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach.

Looking back at Lochnagar.

The way ahead (west) to Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach.

The main path skirts around Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach but there’s a cairn to mark the point where the path to the summit turns left (south), which would be useful if visibility was poor.

Looking west from Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach.

From the summit there’s a narrow path, heading north-west, that leads back down to the main path – the grass was a little wet and slippery on that section. There’s a tiny cairn where the route meets the main path, which would be useful if doing the route in reverse.

The tiny cairn where the route down from Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach meets the main path.

After rejoining the main path there are a couple of burns to cross and in between, the only boggy ground on the entire route, but it was very minor ! The first of the two burns was the best water source for filling up – I’d recently bought a new water filter, a Grayl Ultrapress, and I was really pleased with it; just scoop up, press down and drink from the same bottle with no need to even take the rucksack off!

The climb up to the next Munro, Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr, after the second burn was a little steep and no path, but as it was only about 100m of ascent, so not too bad.

Looking west from Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr.

I had a look around for the wreckage of the plane that WH mentions but only found a small amount before giving up and unpacking the sandwiches again! It was shortly before midday. There are two cairns on the summit and WH says the most southerly is the highest, but their route goes to the northern one as well, so I was a bit confused and opted to go to both.

On the way down from Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr, I met the first other walker (actually, a runner) of the day - he then passed me again a short time later, heading back the way he’d come. On the summit of Lochnagar there had been a small heart-shaped plaque dedicated to Dr Susie Balderston from Doug. I didn’t notice a plaque on the next two summits but when I reached Cairn Bannoch there was an identical plaque, which looked very new, which made me wonder if the runner had been Doug.

Looking ahead to Cairn Bannoch and Broad Carin from Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr.

After that the path to Cairn Bannoch was very easy, grassy but now more of a large ATV track and less “constructed”, with about 100m descent and only about 50m of ascent to reach the summit, which I did at just after 13:00. There were a few small boulders near the top, but to be honest, I was surprised that Cairn Bannoch is a separate Munro - I guess that’s due to the distance (about 2.5km).

Looking ahead to Cairn Bannoch – a very easy traverse!

Looking back (west) from Cairn Bannoch.

Looking back (north-west) from Cairn Bannoch towards Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr.

The sun was shining, and it was really warm, so I de-layered and had another refuelling stop before heading off to Broad Cairn.

Looking south-east at the route ahead from Cairn Bannoch.

Looking back at the route from Carin Bannoch.

Looking east towards Broad Cairn.

The next part of the route was even easier! Spread over about 2km with around 70m of descent and 60m of ascent, I was again surprised that it was a separate Munro. I arrived at the summit of Broad Cairn around 14:30 – my plan for the day had been to get there by 14:00, so I was quite pleased with the timing.

I then had to pay for the easy route up with a horrible boulder field on the descent! The drop to the main path is around 100m, with the first 50m or so being the worst part of the boulder field.

Looking east from Broad Cairn.

Shortly after the boulder field on the descent from Broad Cairn.

Once down onto the main path, it becomes wide and easy going again, but it’s a long slog back to the car park - just over 5 miles.

The path is at first, set back from the steep drop into the valley at the top of Loch Muick and there’s no view down, so quite a boring section really, but it does get closer to the edge once above Loch Muick, with some good views.

A last look back at Broad Cairn.

Looking north-west on the path above Loch Muick – the sun now beginning to set.

Looking across (north-west) at Little Pap and Cuidhe Crom, with Lochnagar in the distance.

There’s a steep descent down to the loch where the path zig-zags down. It probably wasn’t too bad, but I was very tired, and it seemed awful, plus I was losing the daylight and trying to get back before I had to get the head torch out again. Also, the path was being resurfaced (big bags of stone were placed all along the route from shortly before the zig-zag section) and there were a lot of loose stones which made it very slippery underfoot.

Sunset illuminating the sky over Loch Muick.

A pretty waterfall with a few rowan berries at the bottom of the zig-zag path.

I didn’t quite make it without having to get the head torch out again . I needed to use it for about the last half an hour, and just before I did, I came face to face with a stag, literally! He was standing right on the edge of the path (just a few feet from me) when I walked by and even though I stopped and looked at him, he just stayed and looked right back! I couldn’t get a picture because it was too dark by then, but he was obviously used to people and not at all bothered by my presence . I was slightly concerned that he might decide that I shouldn’t be there or was in some way a threat – he had very large antlers ! What is the protocol when meeting a stag head-on?

I arrived back at the van around 18:00, where I decided to make a coffee before starting the three-hour drive home.

It was a really good day, and I was impressed with the construction of the paths and the lack of bog was a delight!

I'd only met about half a dozen other walkers all day - 3 of them twice as they'd not been doing the whole circuit.

Until next time!

[kevsbald]

superb report. I love this area. It’s been a good while since I was up there and this makes me keen to get back.

[Meiklie Mist]

:clap: superb report. I love this area. It’s been a good while since I was up there and this makes me keen to get back.

Thank you . I love being on the mountains for sunrise/sunset, it's beautiful! I'm glad I've inspired you to go back there .

[jpoldy]

What amazing light, and beautiful photos. This has been bumped up my list...

[Meiklie Mist]

What amazing light, and beautiful photos. This has been bumped up my list...

Thank you