Coldwetandhungry has passed her driving test (!!!) so is fit to be left alone while Mum and Dad go off to visit grandparents in Aboyne in the week before half term and manage to fit in a wee jaunt into the 'Gorms with the tent. We watched the weather forecast carefully and were promised a ridge of high pressure coming in on Wednesday afternoon and staying until Friday, displacing the wet and windy weather that seemed to have arrived the previous week.
Plan A B C D and a few others were considered ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous but the perfect plan eventually came together so on Wednesday morning we set off with our bikes, one with a new pannier rack and the other with a nice set of new panniers, parked up at LInn of Dee and cycled in to Derry Lodge. Now the last time I cycled was two years ago up to Fannich Lodge and I found it really hard work. Having the heavier stuff in panniers was a big help but still I think a little practice might not go amiss before the next time!
- Setting off with a lovely rainbow over Carn a'Mhaim.
- Carn a'Mhaim straight ahead and Derry Cairngorm with the sun on it
- nearly there now.
We found a nice spot by the Derry Burn within sight of the bridge over the burn and set up our tent, dumping all the stuff we would not need for the day, and having a bite of lunch and a brew. Then we set off again on the bikes up Glen Lui - the first bit across the flat bog was difficult for non-MTB-ers but then there was a nice stretch which took us through the trees at a good speed. We dumped the bikes at the last tree and continued on foot which I found much more comfortable.
- Looking back towards the last trees where we left the bikes
- Looking up at the cliffs of Carn a'Mhaim, approaching the ford of Luibeg Burn
Reaching the Lui Burn we decided it was not fordable today and continued upstream to the bridge which crosses over at a lovely gorge. We filled our water bottles here and continued up the steep hill, cutting off the corner rather than going downstream again to meet the path.
- Nope. I'm not fording that today
- another view of the ford. The pinewoods smell lovely
- burn again. The burn divides then joins up again past the ford
- Looking downstream from the bridge
- Luibeg Bridge
There is a pretty clear path all the way up to the summit of Carn a'Mhaim where we looked forward to seeing the famous views across to Devil's Point and the Cairn Toul-Braeriach ridge.
- Looking back down Glen Lui
- Weather still quite dark
- a burst of sunshine through the cloud onto the side of Derry Cairngorm. The cloud really was that wierd shade of blue
- another view of the same sunshine!
- Beinn a'Ghlo in the distance, the peak in the middle is Carn Fiaclach at the end of Beinn Bhrotain.
- Carn Fiaclach and Carn Cloich-Mhuillin (I think) with the sun on it.
Unfortunately the top was just above the cloud base so we got only a couple of glimpses of things through the cloud. It was very cold, and we had lukewarm almost tea and coffee as the gas stove was not up to it, the gas being almost empty.
- Lairig Ghru (yes really!)
- Rudolph on the summit with Sron Riach behind
- and me on the summit. You can see the almost views are tantalising!
Setting off back down we had plenty of time to get back to the tent before sunset.
- Sun down Glen Lui
Once we were sure we were clear of the big cliffs we went straight downhill "off piste" towards the bridge.
- Steeply downhill
- amazing orange grass
- back at the bridge
- dead tree
The cycle back was great. This time we followed the track by the edge of the Luibeg Burn and this was much better going.
We cooked up our tea and ate it in the growing darkness. We did not go straight to bed as we found an inch long tear in Rudolph's sleeping mat
. We have no idea how it got there but fortunately we had the repair kit that came with the mat so an hour was spent making a proper mend in the mat which managed to delay bedtime till about 9pm! Tomorrow we will head for Beinn a'Chaorainn and Beinn Bhreac with the famous Boggy Bog. Here's a link to that report http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=67646
