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Been desperate to get into the Cairngorms again since last September when I cycled to An Sgarsoch and Carn an Fhidhleir from the Linn of Dee. There's something magical about journeying through such a remote wilderness. Its calming and awe inspiring. To abandon the hustle and bustle of ordinary life and view nature in a land scarcely untouched is wonderful.
With 2 days of dry and warmish weather forecast and the daylight hours increasing once more I thought now was the right time to traverse the Faicaill ridge and hike into the heart of the Cairngorms and spend a night in the Hutchinson Memorial Hut.
Colin and I drove up to Aviemore at 7:30 from Greenock. Arriving at the Ski Centre at 10:30. We dropped into the Ranger office to document our plans and make sure they had a record of our route and time expected back. I can imagine they would get quite concerned if you just left your car there for 2 days without saying anything. I also left a note in the car window as I was scared the police might smash the window looking for a suicide note. Read about a family who went camping on an island in loch leven and the same thing happened to them so i was taking no chances
.
We set off from the car park at 11:00 and headed along the path towards the Coire an t-Sneachda. This was a very pleasant walk and the views toward the Coire and back to Loch Morlich were stunning.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Coire an t-Sneachda with the snow fading away in the sun.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Colin climbing onto the start of the Faicaill ridge with a good view back to Loch Morlich.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
As ridges go this one manages to pack a lot into such a small area. A dramatic descent down is required before the real hands on part begins.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
The meat of the Faicaill ridge is this brilliant scramble up onto the Cairngorm plateau. Not technically difficult but gives a good adrenaline rush on the way up.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Our first view of the great wilderness of the Cairngorms from the top of the Faicaill ridge.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
1.5hrs after reaching the Cairngorm plateau we were on top of the 2nd highest mountain in Britain.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Our traditional summit photo to capture our achiement of reaching the top. 15:00 on Ben Macdui
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
The Cairngorms get a bad reputation of being full of rounded hills but there were plenty of crags as we descended off Ben Macdui on the way to Derry Cairngorm.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Our second Munro in sight. Derry Cairngorm.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Made it to the summit at 17:00. This had the honour to be my 130th Munro.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Right below Derry Cairngorm was our accomodation for the night. You can just make out the Hutchinson Memorial Hut in the distance.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Great little bothy and thankfully only had one other occupant staying the night. Shout out to Tommaso. Very comfortable night with no need for the fire. The fairy lights are a good touch haha.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
After tucking in to some pasta and a few drams of whisky we were ready for bed. The wooden bench was surprisingly okay. Tommaso and Colin chose to take the floor but there was definitely room for another on the bench.
Morning greeted us with glorious sunshine. Today was forecast to be a belter. Rose from our sleeping bags at 08:00 had some breakfast and set off back to the car at 09:30.
Commemorating our visit to the Hutchinson Bothy.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Waking up in the middle of nowhere with a view like this doesn't get any better.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Crossing Derry Burn on our way to bag 3 Munros on the way home.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
The landscape of the Lairig an Laoigh on a summers day is enough to cheer up Scotsman who's survived the winter.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
I found myself taking a lot of panoramic photos to try and capture the sheer brilliance of the views but they never seem to be as good and actually being there. This is from the top of Beinn a'Chaorainn. You can just make out the granite tors on the summit of Beinn Mheadhoin. Our 2nd target of the day.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Summit of Beinn a'Chaorainn @ 11:45.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
We descended Beinn a'Chaorainn back to the Lairig an Laoigh and began to climb the east side of Beinn Mheadhoin. From here we got a great view of our previous Munro top in the distance.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Our first glimpse of Munro summit #2 for today.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
These granite tors were incredible and made it seem as though we were in Nevada instead of the Cairngorms.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
The true summit of Beinn Mheadhoin. Easy enough to get on top from this side.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Selfie on Beinn Mheadhoin. Wanted to get those granite tors in so this is my "summit selfie" even though we aren't actually on the true summit @ 14:30.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
We descended to the south west over Stacan Dubha towards the Loch Avon basin.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Me with the view of Loch Avon as we climbed down toward the resting place of the shelter stone.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Took us a while to find it but the shelter stone is hidden in this boulder field somewhere
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Some kind soul marked the right one with a wee cairn on top.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Colin perched ontop of the shelter stone with Loch Avon behind. Its actually rather difficult to get up there.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
We made our way round the side of Loch Avon via an extremely cold river crossing. Damn all that snow melt! Carn Etchacan rises above the boulder field.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Our path took us up Coire Raibeirt back onto the Cairngorm pateau.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
The late evening sun was marvelous as we reached the top of Cairn Gorm.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Final summit of an amazing 2 days in the Cairngorms. Cairn Gorm @ 19:00.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Cracking sunset as we left the top and descended back towards the car.
2 days in the Cairngorms by
Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr
Got back bang on 20:00 which is exactly the time I gave to the Rangers office. No one was around so we posted a note through the wee post box thing outside and hopefully someone received the message.
Stopped off in Aviemore for food in Macduis before the long journey back to Greenock. Was midnight by the time we arrived and boy that was a phenomenal sleep that night!
