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It had been peering down at me for a few days, set way back from the road but still with an ‘I’m here, are you up for the challenge’ vibe. Patches of snow high in the couloirs visible from anywhere and everywhere in Aviemore.
- Braeriach watching me play golf
With Tuesday being my last potential hill day in Scotland for a week or so, the weather and forecast perfect, and no ‘big beasts’ added I decided it was time to tackle Braeriach. Having looked at the options I chose the recommended circuit from Whitewell, and after a day off playing golf on Monday the legs/ body felt good.
- Birdlife at Whitewell
The beauty of the first hour or so, walking through Rothiemurchus, over the bridge, along, then high above the tumbling Allt Druidh can not be understated. An 8am start meant the low angled sun was streaming through the mature pine woodland, and reflecting off the streams. Even my wife would enjoy this part of the walk!
- View from the bridge
Making good progress on the comfortable angled ascent I was soon up above the tree line with views into Larig Ghru and back over the forest towards Aviemore. I passed a couple of gents enjoying what looked like a second breakfast, en route through the great chasm to Braemar.
- Looking back to Rothiemurchus
- Looking up to Larig Ghru
After a banana and chocolate cookie stop, 90 mins or so into the walk, I crossed the Allt Druidh and headed up the obvious but steepish path, passing a gent who intended to wild camp after the summit of Braeriach. He should still be up there as I type, if the weather holds it will be magnificent.
I took the ascent up the convex shoulder of Sron Na Lairige steadily at first, but with the angle easing and the views improving, it felt like a great day was building.
- Pinnacles above Larig Ghru
Other than a short rocky section, the gradient continued to ease, and Cairn Toul and the Angels peak came into view, to add to the views across Cairngorm and Ben Macdui to the east. The loop around Sron Na Lairige, with gentle slopes and good going underfoot led quickly to the shallow bealach.
- Four Thousanders appear
After a shortish steeper section, the true grandeur of Breariach’s southern corries come into view with a few patches of snow remaining from the winter.
- Southern summit corries
The remaining ascent was straight-forward and though there was a gentleman in the distance heading west, I had the summit of Scotland’s 3rd highest mountain to myself. It was close to dead-calm on the summit, other than a couple of small ‘dust twisters’ the peace and silence were a joy to experience. Even at close to 1300m in May I still only had a thin training top over a T shirt.
- Summit selfie
- Summit view south
- Summit view south east
- Target rich environment
After lots of photo’s and an early lunch I started to ponder. Cairn Toul and Sgor an Lochain Uaine, aren’t that far away…… its not 12 noon yet and I’m feeling as strong as ever, should I!? Discression, my lack of understanding of my current mountain fitness level, and the fact I was down to 1 litre of water made the decision……. Stick with the original plan. An opportunity missed maybe, but I’d still be out there now, rather than sat with a beer writing this report!!
I diverged from the Walk highlands route guidance from the summit, making a bee-line for the 1235m summit rather than heading further north and skirting Coire an Lochain as advised. I maybe missed out on the view down into the Coire but the route finding was straight-forward.
A compass bearing (even in clear weather!) targeted me down towards the top of the zig zag path below. Easy on a good day but this featureless pathless descent would present a Nav challenge in the clouds. The zig zags were followed, a useful line through steepish and rocky terrain until the path petered out as indicated in the guide.
- Glen Feshie hills from the zig zags
- The long road home from the zig zags
Heading straight on after the path faded and using the Allt Easan na Bruaich as an obvious catching feature, and then taking a left parallel to the burn and down to the Loch Eanaich land rover track finished the more complex part of the descent.
- Looking back up towards Loch Eanaich
After a second lunch, I headed north, for the long trek along the track back towards Rothiemurchus, the main hazard here being mountain bikers, though they provided the first human interaction for about 3 hours!
- Looking back to Braeriach from the Loch Eanaich track
In contrast to the walk up through the woodland, the route down, with far more marshy patches, hot early afternoon sunshine, and on tired legs, was a chore, rather than a pleasure
Back at the car in 6 ½ hours. Only one other car at Whitewell, taking advantage of the perfect day.
- OS app data though the time is way wrong!
