by tmobyrne » Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:29 am
Munros included on this walk: Braeriach
Date walked: 18/12/2009
Time taken: 8 hours
Distance: 29 km
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After 3 attempts I finally got to the summit on Friday 18th Dec 2009 at 12.11.
No pictures I am afraid but conditions were whiteout from about 1100m anyway.
Parked the car at the caravan park and walked all the way in up Glen Einich. Very light snow on the track so was a long but easy walk in. Could be cycled (if you have a bike!). Would not want to do this route in heavy snow, far too long. If doing this route in wet weather you could have a problem fording the Beanaidh Bheag river. Lots of wildlfe about on the day, large herd of deer and countless grouse who specialise in waiting until you are within inches of them and then taking off like a fighter jet, great for waking you up!!
Left the track at approx the position shown in the route on this website, no obvious route on the climb up. The first section of climb is up very deep heather which makes for very tough going especially when full of snow. Once you get to about 700m the ground gets stony. Luckily there was sufficient snow to walk on but crampons were needed as the snow was hard frozen. Visibility was reasonable up to about 1050m, after that it was basically a whiteout. Had my trusty GPS with me so made it with pinpoint accuracy to the summit cairn. Just be aware that this cairn is within a few metres of the cliffs at NN 95310 99903 so be extra careful in poor visibility.
By the time I reached the summit I looked like those folk that you see on the TV who trek to the poles; hair, eyebrows and moustache all covered in ice. It was cold up there, probably about -6C, water bottle well frozen.
Had a great but tiring day, pity it was clouded in but the majority of my Munro's have been the same in winter.
Terence