2018s last Munro: Bynack More and a night in Ryvoan Bothy

[thorburn7]

So with the Christmas holidays in full swing I was itching to make use of some of my days off to get out on the hills for one last hurrah in 2018. I selected two days in between Xmas day and Hogmanay to attempt a Munro and bothy stay.
The decision was Bynack More and Ryvoan bothy. I'd heard some good things regarding the Green Lochan and the Barns of Bynack so this seemed to be a no-brainer.

Most of the Munros I have left to do are greater than 3hrs away so its been quite early starts at about 6am to get there and make the most of the daylight. With the overnight stay planned in Ryvoan bothy I thought a later start might be possible to setting off at 7am from Greenock was agreed. A whole 1hr extra sleep!
With me on this trip was Sam who is slowly edging closer to the 100 mark. Reached Glenmore Lodge car park at about 9:45am and were ready to set off by 10am.
It was quite mild considering the time of year which made the stroll through the forest very nice. It wasn't long before we spotted one of the highlights of the day.

Our first glimpse of the fabled "Green Lochan" Lochan Uaine.
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The loch from the far side, looking towards the wee view point.
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From the Lochan we continued on and took the left fork a sort distance to Ryvoan bothy. We made a quick pit stop here to offload some gear before tackling Bynack More. Luckily the 2 occupants were just leaving so we set out our stuff and then headed on.

A quick peek inside the bothy.
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We returned back down to the fork and took the other path which led us futher into the remote country of the Cairngorms.
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Ryvoan bothy in the distance behind us as we head for Bynack More.
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The weather was threatening to turn but stayed dry for our hike. Some strong beams of sunlight managed to pierce the thick cloud and light up the rear of Cairn Gorm.
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The low sun giving the summit of Meall a'Buachaille some warmth. You can also just make out Ryvoan bothy below it.
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As we climbed higher the sun was winning the battle above us and with very little wind, it was a joy to saunter up towards the top.
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These large boulders marked the summit of Bynack More.
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Summit selfie on Bynack More at 1:30pm
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From the summit you can easily see the Little Barns of Bynack.
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From the Little Barns of Bynack, if you head east you'll come across their big brothers.
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These rock formations are incredible and I would definitely recommend a visit if you've made it out this far.
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We left the Barns and headed back up and contoured round the west side of Bynack More and headed to Bynack Beag. We then descended northwest down into the glen and picked up a boggy path back towards Ryvoan.
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3pm and the sun already setting as we descended Bynack Beag.
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The twilight lasted long enough to see us back to the bothy without the need of torches. We settled in for the night with the trangias cooking our food and cut up some of the wood provided to warm the room.
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I'm still a novice with my DSLR but the night gave me an excuse to practice some long exposure shots of the bothy.
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I really like this photo of Ryvoan I took.
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A very relaxing night after a day in the hills and a wee selfie leaving the next day to docuement our stay.
Untitled by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr