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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Setting off back down we had plenty of time to get back to the tent before sunset.
Once we were sure we were clear of the big cliffs we went straight downhill "off piste" towards the bridge.
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
