free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
loons on this walk: RTMcB, SMRussell (not so full of beans in the morning
)
4 Munro's but only 3 in the bag.
Route Summary: Cycled in to Derry Lodge, proceeded on foot up the east side of Glen Derry as per the outward instructions from:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/beinn-a-chaorainn.shtml. Descended Beinn a'Chaorainn then headed straight up Beinn Mheadhoin and followed the return route from
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk//cairngorms/mheadhoin-derry.shtmlCycle in from Linn of Dee to Derry Lodge was great took about 20 mins, return to car was even better
. Locked the bikes up next to a fallen tree. There was a party of 4 blokes on bikes with 2 doggies plus a second biker. Also, there were 2 more bikes locked up behind a shed. When we returned, there was just one solitary bike.
Walk up the east side of Glen Derry was gorgeous. We missed the start of the ascent to Beinn Bhreac by about 100m but easy found it in the trees. Straight forward ascent to bealach at 689m. Made a slight navigational error by heading for west top instead of proper summit on the east. Decent sized cairn with great views to SE Lochnagar and SW to An Sgarsoch and Carn an Fhidhleir. Judging by the clouds, the northern Cairngorms had the best of the weather on Sunday - slight touches of light snow/hail for small periods of time, more refreshing than unwelcome
Trek north to Beinn a'Chraorainn was decent but we reacquainted our selves with Mr Pete Bogness
. Snow covering made things more interesting otherwise the slog through bog would have been quite tedious. SMRussell regained her beans for the ascent up B a'C. I stopped to make some yellow snow and only caught up with her at the summit. From our vantage point, we picked out a route to directly ascend Beinn Mheadhoin. We aimed for a section of heather between two banks of scree, this would get us into the snow line where the gradient looked as if it leveled off nicely. Crampons and microspikes were useful on the steep descent of B a'C until the snow ended. Then it was a case of picking out a safe descent down the really steep scree and heather
We crossed the Lairig an Laoigh by the kidney shaped lochan and ascended up the steep east side of BM. It was steep but easily doable. Though I wouldn't fancy descending by this route
. Once on the snow, the gradient leveled off and we safely made our way up to the ridge line of BM and onto its mighty Tors! A wee scramble and we truly bagged BM. SMRussell is much more agile than me, took me a bit of effort to get my leg up and over
. Awesome views. Descending SW we stopped off at the cairn at 1163m to get a great view into Loch Avon and the Saddle between Cairn Gorm and Bynack More. Sadly the photo of Loch Avon wasn't great, but the view of Loch Etchachan would more than make up for that. Again crampons and microspikes were donned for the descent from BM, however whilst they did help, they didn't give that much grip on the slushy snow. Somehow SMRussell's juice bottle came flying out of her rucksack and descended BM on its own. A skillful bum-slide with ice-axe self arrest soon reunited juice bottle with owner, that was cool to watch
The crossing of Loch Etchachan presented no problems and we were soon on the ascent of Derry Cairngorm. We had thought of re-bagging Ben Macdui as last time we were here we couldn't see a chuffing thing
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=15864. However, as the weather looked like closing in we stuck with just rebagging DC. A snowy and bouldery ascent, seemed to take ages, but with great views of the Devils Point and Cairn Toul opening up we soon made it to the top. The descent of DC was just as we remembered it - long!
The brigde at Derry Lodge is always a welcome sight on the return. A yummy pineapple and apple pit stop before cycling back to car was just what I needed to fuel my legs for a swift bike ride. Driving home down the A93 we could see all the newly deposited snow by the Spittal of Glenshee and the deer were out everywhere
- Derry Cairngorm & Beinn Lheadhoin from Glen Derry
- A cloudy Lochnagar
- An Sgarsoch and Carn an Fhidhleir
- Ben Macdui looking tempting
- Icy water
- On top of Beinn Bhreac
- Snowy, boggy and watery route to Beinn a'Chaorainn
- Beinn Mheadhoin from Beinn a'Chaorainn
- Beinn a'Chaorainn Top
- looking east to Ben Avon - last weekends achievement
- North up Lairig an Laoigh, Bynack More's Big Barns just visible
- South back to Glen Derry
- A Barn of Beinn Mheadhoin
- SMRussell on BM
- My turn on BM
- Loch Etchachan
- Big rock in snow
- Beinn Mheadhoin & Bynack More from Derry Cairngorm
- Cairn Toul from Derry Cairngorm
- A much needed sock change!
- Deer on road back to Braemar