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These four hills have been on the radar for quite a while and I gave them a good look over on my recent trip to the Cairngorms when I did Carn a' Mhaim & Ben Macdui
So it was just a matter of waiting for the weather to give me an opportunity to head back to Linn of Dee.
I did my usual research & not many folk tackle these four from Linn of Dee which I find surprising, unless the walk from the north is more pleasant
As usual with any walk from the Linn of Dee car park the bike has to accompany me, so it was stashed away in the back of the car & I arrived at the car park at 8.15.
The plan was to cycle past Derry Lodge and park/abandon the bike on the edge of the forested area, just before the path becomes unfriendly for cyclists, especially ones of my ability


Bike park
The way ahead
One thing that I did notice on my wee cycle was how much drier the ground was, bike got rather dirty on my last visit.
After parking the bike it was just a matter of getting into the usual walking routine and that would get plenty of practice

I don't know what other folk thing of whilst pounding out the miles, but I find my mind wanders and one thing I always try and come up with is a decent heading for the WR. Another thing that occupies me is Naismith and the timings, I knew I would BEAT him today as I was using my 2 wheeled machine, having said that I think I still would have beat him, so am quite smug
It was just a matter of following the path and the first big decision I had to make was, do I try and cross the Luibeg via the ford or walk an extra 400yds or so north and cross by the bridge. I opted to try the ford, especially as the ground appeared to be much drier, as it turned out crossing the ford was easy

Luibeg

The way ahead, uphill unfortunately

4 locals keeping an eye on me
The path skirts round the southern slopes of Carn a' Mhaim and then swings right into Glen Dee. The first target then appears The Devils Point and it really does look pretty impressive and you kind of think how am I going to get up there

Devils Point

Bridge over the Dee

Looking back at Corrour Bothy
The path splits in two just to the east of Devils Point, I took the left hand one which took me down towards Corrour Bothy and over the Dee on a shuggly bridge. I guess the bothy must have been full as there was a tent up outside. I didn't stop and continued on my way following the path which was now heading seriously uphill. One thing that I was keeping an eye on was the snow that appeared to be clinging to the ridge almost along the full length. Having experienced a similar problem in the Mamores a few weeks ago, as I got closer I was trying to work out the best and safest option.

The snow line

A closer view
As I was closing in on the ridge I noticed a guy ahead of me who had also been working out the best way ahead, we would later meet on the summit of Devils Point. Hi Andy hope you enjoyed the day and managed to catch the train OK

Snow feature

The preferred way onto the ridge

Looking back down into the glen

A local

Looking south down Glen Dee

Corrour Bothy

Looking up Glen Dee with Ben Macdui on the far side
Most of the day there had been plenty of helicopter activity, presumably training exercises they were never low enough to look down on them, here are a few shots



Once the Devils Point has been reached you would imagine it would be easy after that, wrong. Alright you have gained the majority of the height, but as DP is by far and away the smallest of the hills there is still plenty of ascending to be done and the majority of it is over boulder fields.
The Devils Point as you expect is a fantastic viewing point, after eating part of my piece and chatting to Andy I bid him farewell
The next port of call was Cairn Toul and to highlight the above point, you descend about 100m or so before climbing the 300m up to Cairn Toul.

Looking back to Devils Point

Looking across to Cairn Toul
There are 2 cairns on Cairn Toul, paid them both a visit, mainly because the path takes you that way but the northerly one is the true summit.

Great view down Glen Dee with Carn a' Mhaim on the other side

Still a few snow patches littering the hills
Next stop
The distance to the next Munro, I'll call it Angels Peak as I can pronounce that, didn't seem very far

It also didn't involve too much descending/ascending which is even better

There was plenty of avalanche evidence in the corries with plenty of snow still clinging to the eastern slopes.


Lochan Uaine

Lochan zoomed with some interesting 'icebergs'

Looking NE

The way ahead
After Angels Peak it was then quite a trek to the next and final summit Braeriach, this involved following the path round the very broad ridge, however very large snow fields soon interfered. I opted to skirt round the snow as the edges of the snow were very icy and it wasn't too much of a detour. Whilst wandering towards Braeriach I saw a gathering to the west of Pinnacles Buttress and wondered what was going on. Not long after I met more members of the group and it turned out to be a Duke of Edinburgh navigation expedition

Navigation Course

Snow easing inching away from the edge

Snow fields on the approach to Braeriach

Looking down

Braeriach cairn

Lochan Uaine
Aviemore?

Arty shot with nice snow bank in the foreground

Lochan Uaine zoomed
Once I reached my final destination it was just the small matter of descending, this turned out to be a bit of a nightmare and I worked out that it took me just under an hour to descend 500m. In my defence the terrain was either very loose small stones or boulders, I was just glad to reach the bottom safely, it was then a matter of heading east across tufty grass to pick up the path.

The descent route

Angle of descent & terrain

The way down

During the descent I just about stood on this bird, she had about 6 young chicks which scattered, I was too slow with my camera & just managed to photo her. She was also leading me away from her young

Looking back and it doesn't look difficult or steep
Once on the safety of the path it was then a matter of ticking off the miles, I knew once I reached the turn off for the Bothy it was less than 2 hours to the car

Before that I reached my bike and was glad of a sit down, albeit not the comfiest of seats

The cycle from Derry Lodge is almost a matter of freewheeling and I was certainly glad I didn't have to use much more energy as I didn't have very much left
Arrived back at the car bang on 9 and half hours after leaving and that had been one long walk.
When I got home, the sitting in the car had made my legs object to any form of movement.
The bad news is my right knee is really sore today, slightly swollen and every step is not much fun, especially going down stairs

I am hoping a bit of rest will ease the soreness, especially as I am heading NW on Friday, was intending to tackle the Sisters

Then on Saturday join basscadet for her compleation. Fingers crossed
The Cairn Toul traverse is a fabulous walk and for anyone who resides south of Perth I would recommend the Linn of Dee route
