I also mentioned this to Anne who was extremely keen, meaning that only serious injury, death, or a catastrophically poor turn in the weather would get me out of this. I was committed. The initial plan was to head up to Linn of Dee, and walk to Derry Lodge. Depending on how we were coping with the weight of the packs, we'd either camp there, continue up to Coire Etchachan or perhaps even head up Beinn Breac and down off Beinn a'Chaorainn into Coire E to camp up near the loch.
Anne was a bit concerned about the distance, and ultimately it made sense to look at an "easier" option. The first one that sprang to mind was Loch nan Eun from the Dalmunzie Hotel in Glen Shee. I'd previously walked Glas Tulaichean and Carn an Righ by the standard route, and bailed on adding Beinn Iutharn Mhor due to an oncoming rainstorm. I did however pass Loch nan Eun and remember a grassy little promentary which looked a great camping spot, and had wanted to try it ever since. This trip would therefore handily kill two birds with one stone as BIM was only a couple of miles from the campsite.
We duly rocked up at the Dalmunzie Hoel, paid for parking and headed headed up the tarmac road, cutting off at the sign for Glen Taitneach.
Heading to Glen Taitneach John-Paul Bell, on FlickrThere's about a mile of grassy, but easy to follow path, which leads to a fairly rickety bridge, something which Anne, who isn't keen on water, or bridges, didn't find amusing
This then leads easily to a landrover track, which makes for easy progress, even with massively heavy packs on. It's a beautiful glen and a thoroughly enjoyable route. It was nice to walk it again without being drenched by two hours of heavy rain
Glen Taitneach by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrThe land rover track continues for a couple of miles, then there's a choice of following it across the Allt Easgaidh, or taking the rougher hillpath which keeps to the north side of the river. After stopping for a refuel, we took the path. Again, this section was great, cracking views and a real sense of peace and quiet passed the time really quickly. We were having a great time.
Futile Attempt at Avoiding Sunburn by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrWe continued up, enjoying the sound of rushing water and nothing else, stopping for the occasional photo and just generally loving being out.
Tributary Burns by John-Paul Bell, on Flickr
Back down Glen Taitneach by John-Paul Bell, on Flickr
Anne enjoying the scene by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrFinally we neared the loch, I nipped down to a waterfall to fill a spare bladder with water for our camp and we eventually reached Loch nan Eun, and followed the path easily to the grassy spot, which pleasingly, no one else had camped on.
View from Camp Spot by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrAfter pitching the tent and sorting out our gear, we sat on the shore and enjoyed the views of our remote lunch spot. We then decided that as it was only 2:30pm, we could tackle Beinn Iutharn Mhor which was under two miles away, though over a fair bit of pathless terrain, and if time permitted, also Carn an Righ. After a boggy walk round the loch, we made our way through peat hags and followed the burn up to the bealach between Mam nan Carn and Beinn Iutharn Bheag. In hindsight I could have cut uphill much earlier and also dropped too low to traverse Mam nan Carn without significant height gain to the bealach, though neither of these were at all problematic.
Heading to Beinn Iutharn Mhor by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrThere was also a fine view down Glen Ey to a distant Altanour Lodge, where I had been a month earlier to climb Carn Bhac (another scorcher of a day).
Glen Ey by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrOnce at the bealach, the remaining ascent of around 120m or so is pretty straightforward to the quartz-capped summit dome. The summit view is a fine one, giving great views north to the high Cairngorms, west to Carn an Right and Beinn a'Ghlo beyond, and south towards Glas Tulaichean. Not only that, but BIM has a beautiful long and curving summit ridge to it's other top.
Anne on BIM Summit by John-Paul Bell, on Flickr
BIM's graceful summit ridge by John-Paul Bell, on Flickr
Back to Glas Tulaichean by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrWe had a chat at the summit re our options on adding Carn an Righ. It was now 4:30pm, I reckoned it would take us three hours to summit CaR and return to camp, so although plenty of daylight, it sounded more appealing to head back to camp and take it easy, rather than knacker ourselves and feel rushed, so we returned via the outward route, though this time keeping higher and dropping off Mam nan Carn earlier. This gave us a great view of Loch nan Eun from above.
Loch nan Eun by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrThe descent and return to the tent was reasonably easier thanks to drier than usual peat hags, and set about preparing our dinner, which came in the form of Mountain House Spag Bol, which was more than decent. Anne was knackered and went for a lie down in the tent, I was content to just relax and enjoy my surroundings. It was impossible not to really. As the later evening light came, I wandered around to the head of the loch and got a couple of shots down Glen Taitneach.
Late Evening Light on Glen Taitneach by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrEventually it was time to attempt to get some sleep, which was tricky. I've never been a good sleeper in a tent. Some people count sheep, I tried to count the inordinate number of insects crawling around the inside of the outer shell instead. An unpleasant but successful tactic as I eventually crashed out. I was woken at 3:00am by grouse (do they ever shut up?) and after the eternal camping struggle of warm comfy sleeping bag versus desperate need for a "single fish" I eventually unzipped the tent at 4am, somehow getting out without letting dozens of forky-tails into the inner shell
It was quite a good decision as I was met by this scene:
Pre-sunrise sky by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrAnne stuck her head out of the tent and after approximately 3 seconds of discussion we decided to get up and get some sunrise photos. The loch was flat calm and bizarrely we weren't being annihilated by midges. I also decided to make breakfast, which consisted of a couple of McVities Breakfast Biscuit, some absolutely awful porridge and a coffee. We had a wander round, taking photos of the Loch and its surrounding hills bathes in glorious early morning light.
Reflected Sunrise by John-Paul Bell, on Flickr
Our Wonderful Tent Location by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrWe had a wander back round to the head of the loch, where the views across and back to our tent pitch were sublime. There wasn't a sound (apart from bloody grouse).
Golden Reflections by John-Paul Bell, on Flickr
If Carlsberg did pitches... by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrWith a slightly heavy heart it was time to pack up the tent, always a spirit-crushing task, even more so when all the gear has to be carried another few miles, over another munro
However, walking with views like these wasn't really a hardship. Once we got going we felt surprisingly half decent, considering all the walking yesterday, and five hours of broken sleep. We made steady progress, traversing the slopes of the un-named 858m point, managing to avoid the boggy bits, and being treated to some tremendous early morning views.
Carn an Righ & Beinn a'Ghlo by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrThis traverse took us to the bealach between the 858m point and the initial climb towards Glas Tuliachean. This was again OK at steady pace, with only one stop due to Anne's sunburn from the day before. She'd been fried and didn't want to risk wearing a her short-sleeved baselayer so borrowed what I thought was my long sleeved spare. It was in fact the same one I'd worn all yesterday and slept in. Oops
858m point and Loch nan Eun by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrThere was a brief respite at the top of the first ascent, and even a slight height loss
We stopped here for another refuel before tackling the next, steep-looking section of ascent. Again though, this didn't prove a problem and we soon got towards the top.
Anne take a photo of our camp spot by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrThe remaining ascent was much easier angled after a pleasant stroll along the ridge above Glas Choire Mhor. Anne went ahead to the summit to claim her second well-earned munro of a fantastic weekend.
Anne summits Glas T by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrAgain it was nearly flat calm at the summit, and an absolutely glorious morning. We lingered here for quite some time.
Trig on Glas T, with Loch nan Eun just visible by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrAfter hanging about for a while, soaking in the views (and getting more sunburn), we decided to make our descent West-ish before cutting down onto the great long track, a seemingly endless trudge in baking hot sun which eventually comes down to the ruined Glen Lochsie lodge.
Heading for Home by John-Paul Bell, on Flickr
The long, long track out by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrWe were both beginning to feel the weight of the packs now, Anne's feet were hurting and my shoulders weren't massively enjoying this part either. I think these things always feel worse when you know you're getting towards the end of a walk. I'm sure my pack felt heavier, probably on account of the large number of insects which were still no doubt trapped in the tent
It was quite a relief to reach the lodge. The walkers we encountered on the track down to the lodge were the first people we'd seen since yesterday afternoon. We sat here for half an hour just relaxing and cooling our weary feet in the burn running by the lodge in the Glen Lochsie Burn. It was absolutely freezing, but extremely refreshing and heaven on tired feet.
Trying to Cool Down by John-Paul Bell, on Flickr
Glen Lochsie Lodge by John-Paul Bell, on FlickrIt was finally time to get going again and try to knock off the last 3 or 4 Km back to the hotel car park. We decided on the main track rather than the railway line as the recent weather meant river levels would be quite low. However this didn't stop Anne falling on her a*** on the last one. I decided not to take a photo of this in order to survive long enough to write this walk report. I decided not to faff around rockhopping on the crossings, my decision to wear a quickdrying pair of trail trainers meant I could happily just walk through and my feet were relatively dry within minutes.
Eventually we arrived back at the car after an absolutely brilliant 26 hours. Our first wild camp had gone as well as we could have hoped and it certainly won't be our last. I'd thoroughly recommend Loch nan Eun as a wild camp spot, it's got a perfect location by an attractive wee loch, fairly easy access to nearby munros and fine sources of running water nearby. Time to start planning the next one....
barry wee tent the Banshee eh 
) further detailed investigations or alternatives routes can make fro rewarding trips like yours. Great stuff 
