2 meanings for "Blown Away" on Ben Avon & Beinn a' Bhuird

[Delice]

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This was the first day of a 3 day walking trips to the Cairngorms where Alex and I would be walking together for the first time since the early '80s [university walking club days]! After a wild week the mountain forecast was for more strong winds, but it didn't look too bad so we decided to take our bikes out from Braemar and sniff the air up the valley. If everything looked okay the plan was to cycle as far as we could up Gleann an t-Slugain and do Ben Avon - a long enough day in itself. But then there was Beinn a' Bhuird - it's only a little bit further, and you're up there anyway, so...... Well, we would see how we felt. Not sure how well we would be matched after a couple of decades!
We were dropped in the car park at Keiloch for a 9.30 start. It was pretty full already. We were obviously a bit slow off the mark!

A nice gentle cycle through the woods behind Invercauld House

The estate road round the back of Invercauld House is better than most public roads, with good signage and it was a pleasure to ride. The sun was already bright and the sky clear, so things were looking good! Lower down the valley and nearer the house the riding was on metalled roads through mature woodlands, but this soon turned into a good vehicle track winding uphill through younger plantations.

Hanger right for Slugain

A quick flash of the plateau beyond. Then into a narrower valley, opening up to grassy hillsides as we left the forestry behind. A little stonier now. We overtook a group of young Polish cycle/ walkers for the first time - our routes would cross over and over for the rest of the day. A slow but steady climb to the point where the path forked. Being a Girlie, I liked the sound of the 'Fairy Glen' along the valley bottom to reach the ruins of Slugain Lodge, where we would leave our bikes. Alex had favoured the zig zag higher up, but was too well-mannered to argue. Of course he was probably right, cos it turned into hard work, pushing the bikes up a narrow rocky path. I could hear him muttering so I kept my distance! It was a lovely hidden fold though, and we passed a small army of tents pitched all the way up the grassy strip, all set for some serious weekend adventures.

camping in the Fairy Glen - what a lovely spot

1st destination reached - the ruins of Slugain Lodge - we left our bikes round the back

Round a corner and there was Slugain Lodge, gleaming in the strong sunlight, and the first proper view of the plateau beyond - crags on Beinn a' Bhuird looking suitably dramatic. This brought on a fresh energy burst, and we set off on foot - still many a mile to go to even reach the head of the valley, and unfortunately Alex's tendon was giving him trouble and would slow us down. The Estate has obviously spent a lot of time and effort on their paths and drainage - it's very impressive and makes for great walking, steadily winding up the glen. Or you could have chosen to cycle right to the top - though that restricts the options for a return route of course.

immaculate pathwork takes you right up the valley

10 horizons looking back

Ben Avon was still hidden beyond, but we were getting great views into the corries and cliffs on Beinn a' Bhuird. At last we saw the giant boulder - Clach a Chleirich - marking the route up the last section of the valley and the final pull onto the plateau. A nice series of waterfalls. A line of ants passed along the horizon, making for the top. They were on the path above the bealach at 'the Sneck', and we soon followed them.

The Sneck on the horizon at last - 3rd destination

Across the Sneck to Beinn a' Bhuird - just a stone's throw from Ben Avon!

The wind had been strong all the way, but even more so as we approached the Sneck, and turned east to climb onto the plateau. You had to really brace yourself for every step up this bit [first meaning of 'Blown Away']. Dramatic views as the ground falls away north, to the cliffs of the Garbh Coire and the valley of Slochd Mor.

looking north into Slochd Mor

The distant summit of Ben Avon - Leabaidh an Daimh Bhuidhe

Topping the rise, the first view across the Ben Avon plateau to the tors at Leabaidh an Daimh Bhuidhe was striking [second meaning of 'Blown Away']. This was my first experience of the Cairngorm plateau proper since the 1980s and I found it awesome. It's so vast and I felt so small. Lucky for us it was a beautiful day, but up there in that strong wind I was conscious how exposed it must become - how easy to get lost, the complete lack of shelter, the miles back to civilisation etc. You could see the effect of the weather at every scale - from the smoothed edges of the individual rocks to the sculpted tors and the rounded shoulders off the plateau. The corries and rocky outcrops cutting through to relieve the vastness of the upland. Having said that, today we were certainly not alone! There were people everywhere and especially on the summit which gradually grew from a pimple to a giant tor! More like Picadilly Circus with up to 30 coming and going, crawling over the rocks and having photos taken! We reached there just before 2. Surprisingly we were able to find a sunny sheltered spot for lunch before we headed back the way we'd come.

The view from the very top of Ben Avon....kinda blowy up here!

Now the big question....what about Beinn a' Bhuird? You could almost touch it as you came back down to the Sneck, and you're up there anyway! But would Alex want to go on with his sore tendon? Fortunately Alex is a hardy soul and he knew I really wanted the next one, so on we went. This time with the Polish 4 just in front. Stronger wind again at the head of the valley and then a pull up Cnap a' Chleirich before we rounded the dramatic edge of the Beinn's corries. A different kind of scenery to Ben Avon [which provided some great views looking back] and we caught good distant views of Carn Toul etc to the west.

the bleakness of the Plateau - on Cnap a' Chleirich

looking into Corrie nan Clach

looking back at Ben Avon

More looking back at Ben Avon - it's pretty hypnotic!

Concentrating on following the edge it would have been very easy to completely miss the small mound of loose rock which is the North Top of Beinn a' Bhuird, but I saw 2 other walkers striding along the horizon and we struck off to find it.

The summit of a mountain? - surely you're having a laugh! [North Top of Beinn a' Bhuird]

stomping over the moorland round Corrie nan Clach

looking into Corrie an Dubh Lochain

fantastic rock sculptures

Now the long undulating ridge to the South Top....or is it the South Top? There's a discrepancy between the Harveys map and the OS. The sky clouding over now and becoming more gloomy. We struck SE for Carn Fiaclach which would take us down to the valley of Quoich Water. Unfortunately this section starts with a seemingly endless boulder field - very unpleasant at the end of a long day. I was quite shocked when I eventually reached a point where the lower slopes were revealed, running away to the grass and pine woods of the Quoich valley. It seemed absolutely miles away!

The long ridge off the South Top to Carn Fiaclach

We were making pretty slow progress by now and I was getting concerned the light would be fading before we got down. The wind had still not dropped and was sapping our heat and our spirits. I spotted the Polish team, by now a long way down the hillside, and that was reassuring. Of course nothing lasts forever, and the boulders did give way to short grass and gravel before we hit a proper path and lovely evening sunshine to raise the spirits again.

majestic pine woods above Quoich Water

amazing glow on the hillside to finish a spectacular day of views!

A bit of an uphill tramp out of the valley of the Quaich over into the Slugain. Never was the ruined lodge such a welcome sight! But no time to rest - we just wanted to get down, warm, fed and watered! We lugged our bikes cross-country for a few hundred metres to try the alternative zig zag path down. It turned out to be equally as rough as the path up the Fairy Glen - where looking across we clocked the tenters had returned for the night. Not long before we picked up speed and covered the ground back down to the car park in 45 minutes - back at 7.30. So a ten hour day with 2 munros unexpectedly completed!...There are so many meanings for being Blown Away!

[pigeon]

Great stuff Delice,looks a long day even with the bikes.Still to do these so good to see a few reports on them lately,cheers

[hardyman]

Great report again- but 10 hours and getting down after7pm. I can only assume you had a couple of hours lazing beside the babbling brook having a dip. Remember the route from a snowy ascent in jan.

[Stob Binnein]

Cracking report. I've still to do these two as my Caingorm complete rates aren't good. No matter how good the weather is when I leave the house it's always abominable when I get there. Sometimes it's still sunny in Aviemore, only for the weather to close-in as I arrive at the ski-centre car-park. I'm a bloody jinx in that range!

[quinners161]

Nice report - makes me wanna, might have these in the winter walk category

[Johnny Corbett]

Brilliant report and a lovely clear day you got. Your second photo was where the walker we met took the wrong turn, we also had a good look at the map at this point to double check. You got the summit on a busy day by the looks of it, where we got it all to ourselves and also good on Alec for continueing on.