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I had been thinking of this route for a while but could not work out why the long walk out was not done as the walk in. It seemed easier to me to have the longish walk at the start of the day as it would help my legs get warmed up and enjoy the walk through an environment, the attraction of which may be diminished by fatigue. In addition the walk at the end of the day was going to be shorter.
The chance came when dropping Brenda at Edinburgh Airport at 05:00 on Sunday morning. I thought I may as well carry on up the road and use the day. The weather forecasts were far from encouraging but I figured I could give it a go and see what happened.
A quick coffee and a roll from the garage in Pitlochry sufficed for breakfast, there was not going to be much open at that time, parked up and walking at 07:00. On the way up the road from Blair Atholl there were a couple of Roe Deer, Hares and a Buzzard. A good start to the day.
The view at the start did not look encouraging but the hope that the odd break in the clouds coming up the A9 would be a good omen the resolve was still there.
Bullfinches were seen almost as soon as passing through the gate to the track. This was followed by the usual Wheatears, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks. A pair of Curlews circled around me calling, I must have been close to a nest sight I assumed. 2 smallish herds of deer were seen, the latter running around and eventually all leaping over a fence.
The rain came on as did the waterproof and continued on and off until well up towards the bealach under Carn nan Gabhar. There were a number of Grouse, some with young, disturbed on the path that lead over the shoulder of Beinn Bheag.
I also came across a strange plant growing in the middle of the path. It only stood about an inch high and the small red flowers were 3mm across at most. The only place I saw it on the walk.
The path up to the bealach was pretty boggy in areas due to all of the recent rain, the idea of undertaking that at the end of the day certainly did not appeal.
Eventually up to the bealach and a fairly easy pull onto the first summit. The last 150m were in the clouds. A stop at the cairn to eat something and 'admire' the view. It took about 3 hours to get here from the start. On the way down there was a Mountain Hare and a Ptarmigan to be seen.
It was about an hour across to Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (BCCb), with the waterproof going on and off a couple of times. Views across the rest of the route were an encouraging prospect for the rest of the day. I stopped on the summit here to have a brew, eat and rest for a while. I had seen no sign of anybody so far but thought I saw a figure briefly on the ridge below Carn Laith.
As I descended to the bealach between BCCb and Carn Laith the sighting was confirmed by a guy running up the hill. I am always astounded by these people, it is all I can do to get one leg in front of another sometimes!
An easy walk up and across to the summit of Carn Liath was almost in blue skies and starting to get hot. Looking back at the route so far was fantastic, and the views into the Cairngorm proper. Unfortunately I do not know there area well enough to identify them.
After another rest on top it was time to descend. I was suprised how steep this was and again pleased with my decision to do this route the wrong way round. I passed a couple of people on their way up, it did not look any fun.
The rain came on briefly getting back to the start but this did not diminish what was on of best days on a mountain for a long while (but I always end up thinking that, there is no such thing as a bad day on a mountain).
If anybody is wondering which way to do this I would strongly recommend this way.