The Fiacaill Ridge, a Cairngorm wild camp and Ben Macdui....
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:41 pmFiacaill Ridge, Cairngorm wild camp and finishing on top of Ben Mac
Hadn’t planned on getting out for a few weeks as the garden needed landscaped!! However quicker than expected erm landscaping?saw us finish at 15.00 and the forecast looked like the last good day/night of the recent great weather. So guide books open and internet on and a Cairngorm special was plated up! A possible cloud inversion may be possible the next morning and to increase the likely hood of this I decided to go high. Can only go one place higher than Macdui in the UK so I set off around 16.30.
By around 18.00 I was in the upper ski car par packing my tent and bag for the night. The only fly in the ointment were the high winds!! I had noticed the trees blowing around a fair bit on the drive up and on leaving the car I was surprised at how gusty it had become (a quick look at met office app – confirmed possible gusts of up to 50mph!! – was not on MWIS earlier). Anyway – thought I would head off and see as forecast was for winds to drop.
My plan of attack was to gain the plateaux via the Fiacaill ridge which I had never done before. I headed off and a bit of panting and heaving later I was walking along the start of the scramble on an airy ridge – fantastic. It was still windy but I deemed it safe enough especially as the steeper parts of the scramble were on the leeward side
I kept left of the scramble on the way up as the right hand side of the scramble is handsin pockets stuff. There was nothing too technical and only slight exposure in a couple of places but this did not detract from the enjoyment. The views were outstanding, and the only other people I saw on the whole trip were camped a few hundred metres below in Coire na t-Sneadcha…..
Scramble completed and I had resigned myself to heading home due to the high winds lower down. However on the top the wind seemed a little lighter so I headed towards Cairn Lochan’s summit – hoping for a more sheltered spot on its leeward side toward the Lairig Ghru. Finding a pitch was harder than expected as the further towards the Lairig Ghru I got the steeper the slopes became – eventually I found a compromise with slight shelter and not too much of a slope…..
Tent up, now about 20.30pm and I took a wander up round the rim of Coire an Lochain, stopping at the summit of Cairn Lochan to soak in the sunset. An amazing place and an amazing sunset. The cliffs shone red in the dipping light and to the south the rest of the Cairngorm plateaux slowly fell to darkness. A full moon rose to the south and the final embers of the sun died in the distant northwest.
Usually not too impressed with Macdui to look at, I was pleasantly surprised tonight as it glowed red longer than all the other surrounding hills including the 1200m peaks across the Lairig Ghru who fell dark long before Macdui. An impressive sight with the moon rising behind it
So to bed- once again found it hard to sleep – might have been the gusty winds but I think I eventually dosed off around 02.00 Woke at 04.00 as sunrise was around 04.45. I peeked outside on the side facing north hoping to see an inversion - nothing just dark , clear hillside. I was about to (try) and go back to sleep but luckily opened the other side of the tent to see the cloud streaming through the Lairig Ghru hundreds of metres below me (could just make out the pools of Dee). The cloud was streaming in from the south so was not getting out to the north. My mind was immediately set on getting to Ben Macdui as I expected the views south over the sea of cloud would be fantastic – I was not to be disappointed!!
I cracked on and by the back of five I was stood on the summit of Britain’s second highest peak. The sun hitting the 1200m peaks west across the Lairig Ghru was a spectacle and I dropped to the north of the summit to take in the inversion and sat for nearly an hour watching it.
I eventually dragged myself away and headed back along the tourist route to the head of the Goat track.
I followed the northern corries rim up and over Stob Coire an t Sneachda and descended to the car via Fiacall a’ Choire Chais. Way by 08.00am and home for 09.45 for a spot of coffee and breakfast. A great wee Micro Adventure…….
Hadn’t planned on getting out for a few weeks as the garden needed landscaped!! However quicker than expected erm landscaping?saw us finish at 15.00 and the forecast looked like the last good day/night of the recent great weather. So guide books open and internet on and a Cairngorm special was plated up! A possible cloud inversion may be possible the next morning and to increase the likely hood of this I decided to go high. Can only go one place higher than Macdui in the UK so I set off around 16.30.
By around 18.00 I was in the upper ski car par packing my tent and bag for the night. The only fly in the ointment were the high winds!! I had noticed the trees blowing around a fair bit on the drive up and on leaving the car I was surprised at how gusty it had become (a quick look at met office app – confirmed possible gusts of up to 50mph!! – was not on MWIS earlier). Anyway – thought I would head off and see as forecast was for winds to drop.
My plan of attack was to gain the plateaux via the Fiacaill ridge which I had never done before. I headed off and a bit of panting and heaving later I was walking along the start of the scramble on an airy ridge – fantastic. It was still windy but I deemed it safe enough especially as the steeper parts of the scramble were on the leeward side
I kept left of the scramble on the way up as the right hand side of the scramble is handsin pockets stuff. There was nothing too technical and only slight exposure in a couple of places but this did not detract from the enjoyment. The views were outstanding, and the only other people I saw on the whole trip were camped a few hundred metres below in Coire na t-Sneadcha…..
Scramble completed and I had resigned myself to heading home due to the high winds lower down. However on the top the wind seemed a little lighter so I headed towards Cairn Lochan’s summit – hoping for a more sheltered spot on its leeward side toward the Lairig Ghru. Finding a pitch was harder than expected as the further towards the Lairig Ghru I got the steeper the slopes became – eventually I found a compromise with slight shelter and not too much of a slope…..
Tent up, now about 20.30pm and I took a wander up round the rim of Coire an Lochain, stopping at the summit of Cairn Lochan to soak in the sunset. An amazing place and an amazing sunset. The cliffs shone red in the dipping light and to the south the rest of the Cairngorm plateaux slowly fell to darkness. A full moon rose to the south and the final embers of the sun died in the distant northwest.
Usually not too impressed with Macdui to look at, I was pleasantly surprised tonight as it glowed red longer than all the other surrounding hills including the 1200m peaks across the Lairig Ghru who fell dark long before Macdui. An impressive sight with the moon rising behind it
So to bed- once again found it hard to sleep – might have been the gusty winds but I think I eventually dosed off around 02.00 Woke at 04.00 as sunrise was around 04.45. I peeked outside on the side facing north hoping to see an inversion - nothing just dark , clear hillside. I was about to (try) and go back to sleep but luckily opened the other side of the tent to see the cloud streaming through the Lairig Ghru hundreds of metres below me (could just make out the pools of Dee). The cloud was streaming in from the south so was not getting out to the north. My mind was immediately set on getting to Ben Macdui as I expected the views south over the sea of cloud would be fantastic – I was not to be disappointed!!
I cracked on and by the back of five I was stood on the summit of Britain’s second highest peak. The sun hitting the 1200m peaks west across the Lairig Ghru was a spectacle and I dropped to the north of the summit to take in the inversion and sat for nearly an hour watching it.
I eventually dragged myself away and headed back along the tourist route to the head of the Goat track.
I followed the northern corries rim up and over Stob Coire an t Sneachda and descended to the car via Fiacall a’ Choire Chais. Way by 08.00am and home for 09.45 for a spot of coffee and breakfast. A great wee Micro Adventure…….
