Carn a Mhaim and Sgor Mor

[jim hutcheson]

Fortunate to be able to do mid-week walks and recently have been doing some of the Cairngorms routes,and with the recent good weather the conditions have been ideal.The usual option for the Munro is to do a bike and hike and include Ben Macdui into the route,As I had done Macdui previously,I saw an option to do the Munro and also add the Corbett Sgor Mor to the day.The route to Carn a Mhaim was straightforward,just followed the Walk Highlands directions,have to admit it's a beautiful area for walks.Once I came off the hill,rejoined the Lairig Ghru pathway for about 500 metres and then diverted south towards the Allt Prear nam Merieach stream,fortunately the water level was low and just past a noticeable waterfall I crossed over.Underfoot conditions were bone dry,imagine under normal conditions this could be a bog-fest,however made good progress due south and reached the point between Creagan nan Gabhar and Sgor Mor,fairly easy from that point to reach the summit.The views over to the main Cairngorm Hills was worth the effort.
The route out would be to stay up on the ridge to Sgor Dubh and head south-east back to the Linn of Dee,however I noticed a path at Glen Dee which looked promising,just headed for the stream which was south of the summit,once again easy walking through short heather,crossed over the stream and eventually joined the stalkers path north of the River Dee,from that point an enjoyable walk back to the Linn of Dee car-park.