
My closest previous encounter with Carn Bhac had been back in July 2009 when I had hiked in up Glen Ey late one stunning Saturday afternoon before camping just beyond the ruins of Altanour Lodge


So, with the decision made, I quickly revisited a report by kinley which I recalled having read a few months ago, in which he described (with the assistance of stunning photography featuring snow clad hills under a predominantly blue late-winter sky) a March 2009 high level walk in to and back out from Carn Bhac, avoiding what he described as the “glen crawling” route, so often the route of choice featured in SMC guide books. He also somewhat memorably declared that he liked to “get high quickly”.




After a swift turnaround by Darren (he had been Munroing and Corbetting in Arrochar on the Sunday and was at my house in Perth for 6.30 on the Monday morning), we set off along the A93 heading for Braemar. The road was deserted (especially in comparison with last Thursday when I crawled along in a solid line of skiers and snowboarders en route to Creag Leacach and Glas Maol) and shortly after 8 o’clock we were pulling into the ice rink-cum-car park at Inverey just as it was getting properly light.
Both Darren and myself are all in favour of exploring “different” or “unusual” routes, so we were keen to do the same or similar route to that described by kinley. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for more conventional or “tourist” routes, but today was neither the time nor the place. However, as well as going in high I was also keen to revisit Altanour on the way back out and to see the ruined lodge in the snow, in contrast to my previous high summer visit.

So, at 8.20 we set off along the road to the start of the track which climbs up through the forestry towards Creag a' Chait. Towards the top edge of the plantation, the views open up south east down Glen Ey and north over the River Dee to the Cairngorms.
Although the summit transmitter mast of Morrone is barely visible through the low cloud base and our other possible target of Derry Cairngorm was, along with her Cairngorm brothers and sisters, lying under a low grey blanket of clag, there were a few patches of blue sky threatening to open up above us.
There were some reasonable shorter range views on offer, but as we progressed along the broad ridge of Carn na Moine and into the hinterland beyond, the promise of cloud free skies and better views failed to materialise.
In fact, things actually started to close in and by the time we were leaving the 818 metre summit of Carn Liath and rounding the end of the track running east down the glen of the Allt Cristie Beag things were beginning to get a bit “floaty” (shades of Beinn Udlamain again Darren!


We had been careful to regularly check our position using the mapping app on Darren’s phone, and I had been frequently cross-checking using the good old fashioned map and compass trick. So far everything had stacked up so imagine our surprise when, a few minutes after leaving the 801 metre spot height and thinking we were still headed due south for Geal Charn, a quick check of the phone appeared to show us doubled back on ourselves and headed north back towards the 788 spot and Carn Liath beyond!




Anyway, we could see nothing except white – a kind of 360° surround sound white noise. Altogether very disconcerted, we decided to retrace our steps back to the small summit dome as best we could given the total lack of perspective to distance and aspect. There we threw up Darren’s bothy bag and after a brief tussle with it in the howling gale, we settled down for some lunch and an opportunity to regroup.
Now that we knew where we were, the map and compass gave us a bearing and after walking on this bearing for a few minutes, the software confirmed we were back on course. Reassured but still somewhat bemused as to exactly where and how we had gone temporarily wrong, we continued on our way towards Geal Charn. All we can think of by way of an explanation is that we somehow managed to contour around without actually realising we were on the turn!

From there on we experienced no more navigational hiccups and were soon safely at the Munro summit of Carn Bhac – my first of 2011 and one which left me tantalisingly poised two short of the 100 mark.
The option still remained to “stay high” and exit over the fascinatingly and evocatively named Top of the Battery, but the biting wind had started to take it’s toll, not least on Lucy, whose whiskers and eyebrows were now pretty much permanently iced up

It was good to see my July 2009 camping spot again, now thickly plastered in a layer of snow and ice, and after a brief pit stop amongst the trees of Altanour, it was a straightforward and uneventful march back out the glen with only a few stops for photos, including a reprise of my 2009 Beinn Iutharn Mhor shot from the bridge just to the north east of Altanour.

Cheers for the top tip kinley! Enjoyed it, even if we weren’t as lucky with the weather as you and Hazel! OK, the visibility was next to zero for much of the business end of the day, and the wind was pretty stiff if not exactly blowing a "flat gale", but it was definitely the way to go. In the words of the Lost Soul Band song from 1993, "You Can't Win Them All Mum".
