Beinn Bhreac, Beinn a' Chaorainn and Derry Cairngorm

[Les Stuart]

Drove up to Braemar last Monday evening to stay at the hostel for a couple of nights to walk a few of the Munros from Linn of Dee. On Tuesday morning I arrived at the car park at the Linn of Dee to walk up Beinn Bhreac and Beinn a' Chaorainn and if making good time head for Derry Cairngorm. With adding the latter mountain into the walk, would in future save me a single walk, though as I was to discover later, it would mean a big height to gain from Lairg an Laoigh.
Set off from the car park and cycled the 5km to the Derry Lodge. Locked up the new bike which was a dream to cycle compared to my old one which in comparison, felt as if it weighed half a ton.

Took the path north through the forest then at some point I headed north east out of the forest and onto the thick heathery slopes which made it hard going.

Beinn a Bhuird in cloud

Reached the bealach between Meall an Lundain and Beinn Bhreac then headed north to the summit which was covered in mist. On reaching the summit I checked my GPS to confirm that the grid reference and altitude readings were correct and that I was at the recognised summit on the OS map.

Beinn Bhreac

Summit Beinn Bhreac

Dropped down north west from the summit before heading north for 4km over a peaty bog trying to avoid the worst areas of the bog. It seemed a long time to cover this ground, possibly because it is not a very interesting plateau especially in the mist.

Beinn a' Chaorainn

Summit Beinn a' Chaorainn

Eventually I reached the summit and the clouds lifted giving great views in all directions.

Beinn Mheadhoin

Cairngorm

Bynack More

Took a few photos, had lunch then set off south west down to the Lairg an Laoigh then took a short cut across some heathery ground to get to the path that goes west, passing the Hutchison Memorial Hut.

Hutchison Memorial Hut

Cliffs of Stob Coire Etchachan

At the hut I had a break and had to make the decision whether to continue the walk too Derry Cairngorm or just head back down the pass to Derry Lodge. The height to be gained from the Lairgh an Laoigh to Derry Cairngorm was going to be roughly 455 metres and steep in places. I decided to go for it as it would save me doing it as a single as I have already done the Munros that you would normally link up with it.
Carried on up the path to Loch Etchachan then headed due south to Creagan a' Choire Etchachan then south to Derry Cairngorm.

Loch Etchachan

Derry Cairngorm

Summit Derry Cairngorm

I had a break and took in the surrounding views and was glad that I did the whole route as the latter turned out to be very interesting and was the best part of the day.

In sight of the Lodge

From the summit headed south then south east back to the Lodge and picked up the bike to cycle back to the Linn of Dee.
It was a long hard day though very rewarding with the views and being in the heart of the Cairngorms.

[rockhopper]

Nice one Les some very useful photos and comments as I'm hoping to get up this way in the next few weeks albeit probably approaching from the north

[Les Stuart]

Hope you get good weather as it is long walks which ever way you approach them, though worth the effort when you get into the heart of the area.

Nice one Les some very useful photos and comments as I'm hoping to get up this way in the next few weeks albeit probably approaching from the north

[pollyh33]

Hi Les , great report again.

Two things .... how did you cope with 4km of bog? That's a long way without any path!!!!

And were you the only person out and about??? Had a good look at your photos and can't see any other sign of life!!

PS love the photo of Loch Etchachan

[gagfax]

Photo of the Hutch brings back memories, camped next to it last year. Thinking back i should have bagged the two eastern Munros when i was there.

[Les Stuart]

The SMC says stay above the watershed though it was a matter of working your way through it. Thats why it seemed to take so long. The first people I met was at Loch Etchachan which was probably around 3pm.

Hi Les , great report again.

Two things .... how did you cope with 4km of bog? That's a long way without any path!!!!

And were you the only person out and about??? Had a good look at your photos and can't see any other sign of life!!

PS love the photo of Loch Etchachan

[skuk007]

Great report Les. Did two of these quite recently and agree with you about the bog slog between the first two, not the nicest part of the day but luckily I had good views so could see Chaorainn slowly getting closer.

[monty]

Nice report Les. Thats quite a long walk but looks like the weather wasn't too bad. Good to add Derry Cairngorm and save yourself another longish trip just to go back for one.

[dooterbang]

Nice shot of loch etchacan.

Glad you went on to the 3rd munro. Thats a big walk, well done.

Can i have your old bike please

[Les Stuart]

Thats what kept me going the thought of having to come back in to do a single plus I was right in the heart of the Cairngorms with great scenery.

Nice report Les. Thats quite a long walk but looks like the weather wasn't too bad. Good to add Derry Cairngorm and save yourself another longish trip just to go back for one.

[Les Stuart]

Sorry about the old bike but the son in law took it.

Nice shot of loch etchacan.

Glad you went on to the 3rd munro. Thats a big walk, well done.

Can i have your old bike please