Mr X picked me up in his James Bond-esque Spy car (in my mind anyway) and we headed off up the road. It was dark and early and it was a long way. The weather and light improved as we got further North and we parked up at Glenmore Lodge shortly after 8.30.
Kit was donned and we were off. It was unseasonably warm once we had got going and the visibility was looking good. It was easy walking along good tracks and before long we reached the Lochan Uaine – it wasn’t really as green as I’d expected but it was fairly overcast so I’ll forgive it this time
Looking back – I believe this is Cairn Gorm
Shortly after, we arrived at the split in the path – we took the right fork, saving the left hand route to Ryvoan Bothy and the Corbett Meall a’ Buachaille for another time.
Ahead to Bynack Mor in the distance
Looking back to Meall a’ Buachaille
From here it was a simple walk along a track to the bridge, where our route became a path but was still easy going. We climbed steadily uphill. It was a beautiful day and we were sheltered from the wind as we climbed and sweated our way towards the plateau.
First objective reached – plateau
Once on the plateau the walking was easy. A few other folk were out but no-one seemed very chatty. Perhaps I’ve got so used to walking alone and people stop to chat more readily with fewer people? I always look forward to bumping into strangers when I’m on the hills, shrinking violet that I am
Looking back again – a wee bit of cloud inversion and Meall a’ Buachaille in the distance
Some very cool rocky things – Cairngorms aren’t so boring after all
The final push
The final steep rocky climb to the summit brought us out on top into a cold wind but some lovely views. I’ve never felt inspired by the Cairngorms (which is why I always go West unless the weather dictates otherwise
) but this mountain and the views from it have filled me with a bit more excitement for exploring the East Jaxter in the Cairngorms
Some photos were taken before the next part of the plan – Mr X wanted to explore the Barns of Bynack. It’s possible that this was some sort of drop-off point for secret agents
and that I was some sort of deep cover for a covert operation But if he told me he’d have to kill me. Or something We headed downwards on a bearing and initially found the Little Barns of Bynack – big rocky lumps. We had a wee scramble around but I was too short to climb up properly (and I thought injuring myself at the further point from the car was probably not wise… although Mr X would surely be capable of carrying me back
)On top of something
Towards the big Barns
We continued down the real Barns of Bynack – larger lumps of rocks that were very imposing and impressive! We were able to climb up into them but not all the way to the top sadly. Still, they were pretty cool.
Views from the Barns
Climbing the Barns
We found a sheltered spot for a refuel before heading back up. Back in the wind it was freezing!!
Looking back over the Barns
We climbed back down to the plateau via a slightly different route that entailed stomping through some snow
The way home
The route down was uneventful; banter was had, views were enjoyed and eventually we found ourselves on the home straight where there were a lot of people and a lot of dogs which Mr X duly protected me from (as all dogs want to kill me). Back at the car the boots came off and it was just a case of a 3 hour drive home. Oh it was so nice to be a passenger
