Ben Macdui

[gacameron]

My longest outing to date, both in terms of duration, distance and ascent. The walk in from Linn of Dee was pleasant, with a warm sun and little breeze making the busy path quite relaxing. The long walk to the foot of Carn a'Mhaim also serves for a good warm up for the day. Unless you are uneasy on the foot, it is best to take a slight shortcut before reaching the munro, choosing to cross the river by foot than walking further upstream to the bridge crossing point.

The climb up Carn a'Mhaim was steep and steady, although I suffered from my usual headache early on. However, we reached the summit just 3 hours after setting off, making good time. We then set off for Macdui, which dominated the skyline to the North West. The ascent up Macdui is made less enjoyable due to the boulder field which one must tackle, however once you reach the crest of the main boulders, the going improves and becomes less steep. It was at this point however that cloud settled over the summit, bringing with it a rather painful hail storm. We were able to see only 20 feet around the summit therefore, a slight anti-climax to climbing the 2nd highest peak in the UK.

We then consilted the map, took a bearing and headed for Derry Cairngorm, a rather less impressive summit compared with the previous two. The view back however provided some very spectacular views towards Macdui. The descent from Derry was tedious, however this was due largely to my body deciding it had had enough. It is a very long walk back to the car park at Linn of Dee, however from Derry Lodge it should only take an hour, which it did.

The best munro of the day was the first, although being the shortest, which provided the best views over to the devils point, braeriach and Macdui.