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Walking: 20.5 km
Cycling: 15.4 kmAnother Cairngorm cycle-walk-cycle effort. Forecast was fair if breezy with the best conditions due in the afternoon. So not an early start & was on my bike just after 9am. I'd recced the
MTB approach in April and parked up at the stream NN 997897 (Allt Iarnaidh). Forecast was spot on for once - a fair head wind up Glen Dee with a some a cloud covering the tops but slowly lifting as I made my way north.
Beinn Bhrotain Approach #1
Beinn Bhrotain Approach #2
Shortly before I reached Allt Garbh and the turn west I spotted a couple of folk making their way south towards me. One of them was carrying something largish & bright yellow in his hand. They reached the turn west just before me but they stopped for a breather soon after. The bright yellow object turned out to be one of those rubbery plastic gardening buckets. One had a pick axe strapped to his back-pack while the other had a spade. So yes, path maintenance was their game. They mentioned the National Path but I didn't quiz them as to whether they were employed by said authority or if they where doing volunteer work. Being a Sunday I'd guess the latter. I bid them well and cracked on. It turned out that they were to be the only people I spoke to all day.
For half a k or so their handiwork was much in evidence and appreciated. At one point the gravelled path forks but the northerly one abruptly stops after 15m. After that the path becomes a purely foot created one. Going was pretty good with lovely long slab waterfall section.
Wet Steps: Allt Garbh on the slopes of Beinn Bhrotain. This stream hasn't had time to cut out a valley - it has just exposed a thin strip of the underlying mountain. With the last ice age having retreated from this area just 10,000 years ago there hasn't been time to build up much in the way of soil up here.
Allt Garbh (Beinn Bhrotain)
It levels for a bit and with the path becoming more indistinct I left the stream and made for the 1108m east top. This was a bit steeper and recent inactivity came home to roost. In addition I hadn't eaten anything since I'd set off 3 hours earlier. So I struggled - being a doomed summit you keep thinking the top it just up there a bit further... and it isn't. Anyway got to the wee summit cairn, flopped down behind it and had my lunch. But at least it was now cloud free. The wind was fairly whipping by up there. I'd got a nice hand-held anemometer / temperature gauge from my wife for Xmas but had yet to find time to use it. But today I did. So I knew the wind was in the 30-35 mph range with a peak of 44. With the temperature at 5-6⁰ C this was giving a wind chill hoovering around 0⁰ C. So I after my sandwiches and a few piccies I didn't hang around.
Peaking: The Devil's Point with the peak of Carn Toul peaking out behind it. Across the Lairig Ghru Ben Macdui is still enclosed in clag. Taken from Beinn Bhrotain's 1108m east top.
Bienn Bhrotain Plateau: from the saddle between the east top & the main summit
Beinn Bhrotain Summit #1: view south
Beinn Bhrotain Summit #2: view north
Monadh Mor From Beinn Bhrotain: with Sgor Gaoith in the background
From this east top to the proper one was easy going over the tundra like plateau. The descent to the Coire Cath nam Fionn bealach was not nearly so easy being very rocky, bordering on bouldery. Saw the only other walkers of the day on this bit but we were a couple of hundred metres apart so it was only a wave. Saw this couple again as I made my way back to the bealach from Monadh Mor but again it was only at waving distance. The planned descent down into Coire Cath nam Fionn didn't look too enticing but we'll get to that bit latter.
Coire Cath nam Fionn: from the bealach between Beinn Bhrotain & Monadh Mor with the back of Carn Toul dominating the view.
Carn Toul & Glen Geusachen: from near the summit of Monadh Mor
Monadh Mor Panorama: from the summit of Monadh Mor
The ascent of Monadh Mor from the bealach looked pretty steep from Beinn Bhrotain but in the end it wasn't too bad. My lunch had had the desired effect
More easy tundra terrain across to the day's second Munro. Not the most spectacular of peaks - it hardly justifies that noun at all - but a great sense of isolation & space. While I sat and had lunch #2 I contemplated my return route. In planning I had thought of continuing towards Loch nan Stuirteag but thought that added too many k to my route. But having seen descent into Coire Cath nam Fionn - very steep & a mixture of gravel and scree - I had another think on this option. In the end I did return to the bealach. Took it very steadily, wishing my walking pole was an ice axe. After a few metres I found a faint path that zigzagged down - the path not being very visible from the shoulder. After about 150m of vertical decent the gravel gives way and the slope slackens but the path also disappears.
Beinn Bhrotain From Monadh Mor: Beinn Bhrotain looking a lot more interesting from this perspective.
Glen Geusachen: the cloud that had been clinging to Ben Macdui all morning finally lifts
The going for the next 1.5 km is pretty rough but not too boggy. But then I picked up the path shown on the 1:25,000 maps (was worried this was a phantom one as I couldn't see it on the on-line aerial views) and I was home & dry as far as navigation was concerned. This section though Glen Geusachen was great, with the great wall of The Devil's Peak on one side & a much more impressive looking Beinn Bhrotain on the other. But 20km of walking was enough for me & I was glad of the bike for the 7km blast back to the Linn of Dee, arriving back at 5:20 pm.
The Steep Bit...
Glen & Burn Geusachen: The Devil's Point on the left with Carn a' Mhaim across the Lairig Ghru
The Devil's Confluence: confluence of the Geusachen Burn and the River Dee below the impressive presence of The Devil's Point.
Glen Dee & The Devil's Point
Flickr slideshow over
here - slideshow as this report is benefiting from the new wider 700 pixel pictures this site now allows - which is bigger than the std Flickr view size.
