Carn Bhac & Beinn lutharn Mhor

[quagga64]

Up early and put the bike rack on the car, took Christophers Reebok bike as my old one has a flat tyre. Headed up the A9 to Perth then took the Blairgowrie road for Braemar and arrived at Inverey about 9:35, put my walking boots in my rucksack and untied the bike putting the rack in the car before setting off on my first cycle into a munro about 9:45. It was a dry day and fairly warm though a bit overcast. The cycle was along a bumpy landrover track and a bit up and down, I found it pretty tough going especially as there was a bit of a wind blowing against me. The track follows the Ey Burn up Glen Ey for about 5 miles before reaching an old ruined shooting lodge called Altanour Lodge, this took about an hour and 15 minutes and my dodgy left knee was getting really sore towards the end. From here I dumped the bike behind the shooting lodge, where there were already two others, and donned my walking boots and set off on foot around the base of a large hill on the right called Carn Creagach and beginning to ascend the South ridge of Carn Bhac, it was fairly easy going and I arrived on the large flat windy summit of Carn Bhac at ten to one, an hour and 50 minutes from leaving the bike at the shooting lodge and just over 3 hours from leaving Inverey. While sat in the windbreak having a bite to eat, met a guy and his dog who said his wife had gone off to climb Carn an Righ after they had both climbed Beinn lutharn Mhor. Good views of the main Southern Cairngorms Range though there was a lot of low cloud around and it was very windy. Set off from the summit at 1:30 heading first West and then South over a large area of peat hags and slightly boggy ground where I stumbled upon a Grouse,s nest in 3 eggs after the bird flew out from virtually under my feet. After crossing this moorland it was up the very steep flank of Beinn lutharn Mhor to gain the ridge East of the summit. As I made my way to the summit there was a couple behind me and when I arrived another couple were already there so it was a busy wee place. We all huddled behind the large cairn as there was no windbreak and chatted before the first couple made off to descend down Glen Taitneach to head back to the Dalmunzie Hotel where they,d started from. The other couple who were from Wales and in their 70s sat and chatted for a while longer before they too set off heading back along the ridge as they'd came in the same way as me and also left bikes at the shooting lodge. I hung around for a bit and took some photos etc giving the elderly couple time to get away in front. Set off from the summit about half 4 and walked right along the length of the ridge and off the Eastern end then making the steep descent back down to the floor of Glen Ey and walking along the side of the burn to return to the bike at the shooting lodge at 6:10. On the cycle back I stopped off to visit The Colonels Bed which is a rock formation over a steep Glen with waterfalls running through it, unfortunately most of it has collapsed and is now pretty unspectacular although I did find a Kestrels nest on the cliff face on the opposite side of the gorge with at least 5 eggs in it. got back to the car about 7:45 and after tying the bike back on came back down the road though this time from Perth I took the M90 down across the Forth Road Bridge. Must have got in the back of 10 but was chuffed the way the old bike rack had performed as the bike didnt budge an inch all the way up and down.