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Colin and Jura were allowing me to join them on another adventure, so we all few up the A9 and arrived at the Reindeer Centre far quicker than expected – it pays to get an early start ahead of the caravans
There were a few midges around despite there being a distinct chill in the air – summer is definitely drawing to a close. We were quickly ready to go and set off up the track immediately behind the buildings. We briefly took a wrong turn before realising we were supposed to be going uphill
It’s always the starts of walks isn’t it…
Me leading the way
Soon we were out of the woods and the views were opening out.
The path was well made and easy underfoot which made the gradient less painfull
Meall a’ Buachaille
Looking backwards towards the Cairngorm Massif
Loch Morlich
We soon gained the ridge and met a couple of folk coming back down – early birds
It was a quick and easy stroll to the top of Meall a’ Buachaille and we could hardly believe we were already at the summit of our first target!
Cairnaggedon
Out towards Braemar and Morrone
Jura doing a summit pose (needs work
)
Loch Morlich Braeriach and Sgor Gaoith behind
Jaxter pose
Cairn Gorm and Bynack More behind
Surveying the road ahead
After enjoying the sights for a bit we headed off. It was an obvious path initially until we came to a split. I wanted to have a peek at Ryvoan Bothy and Colin said he didn’t mind so we took the left fork which, according to the map, ought to bring us out there. However this path totally disappeared and we ended up wading through heather and deep grass. We went of Straight Line Syndrome and just battered on down.
The long and winding road onwards
Ryvoan coming into view
Eventually we saw a very obvious path, snaking around and heading to Ryvoan….taking a sort of diagonal line we joined up with it and walked the last few metres to the bothy.
There was a stack of bags outside and Duke of Edinburgh log sheets. It must have been a cosy night in the bothy
We followed the track before realising it was a long way round and took a shortcut through a jungle (I blame Colin
) and emerging on the long and winding road as seen from above. It was an easy walk and we were smashing the miles as we chatted about all manner of nonsense
The path led us up onto the shoulder that led to Bynack More itself before taking the left fork and heading back downhill into the glen. We reached the corrie of the barns and crossed the Glasath which was a good opportunity to refill water bottles.
We continued along the path a few metres more until we were past the steepest section before heading directly uphill. It was a mercifully short and painless ascent and before long we were on the final pull to the summit of Creag Mhor.
Looking backwards to the Barns of Bynack
The way we’d come
Me spoiling the view
We reached the summit…well I got there first….
Then Colin and Jura
We sat down in a sheltered spot for some food, a discussion about where to go next (“Wanna go over Bynack More for funsies?” “Aye ok”
) and some photos.
Bynack More
Colin & Jura
Ben Avon
These appear to be the crags above Glen Loin but I’ve no idea what they are
Impressive though….
Cairn Gorm and the Shelter Stone crags
Panorama shot from Creag Mhor summit – Ben Avon to Cairn Gorm
Cairn Gorm and the Shelter Stone crags
Zoomed crags
The Barns of Bynack
Me taking photos
Cairn Gorm
“I could see if someone was having a pee on that crag”
Think this is looking towards Coire Etchachan and Derry Cairngorm
As we munched on our food Colin remembered Spiderwebb saying he was heading for Bynack More….so he called him and would you believe it, he was just approaching the summit! We waved at him and I used my super-duper-lens to get a photo
Spiderwebb on Bynack More summit
After chilling out a bit longer we got going again, retracing our steps down the side of boggy Creag Mhor before heading straight up Bynack, heading for the barns where I knew that the gradient eased. This is one of the things I like about Colin…he’s happy to go along with my mad plans (or at least he doesn’t complain, wise man
)
It was steep going but slow and steady saw us gaining height quickly. Stopping for a breather, the views down Glen Derry were pretty.
Colin stopping for a photo in front of Beinn a’ Chaorainn
Our previous summit, Creag Mhor and Ben Avon
We arrived at the barns…I’d forgotten how big they were and why I’d not managed to climb to the top in January
How big? This big
Beinn a’ Chaorainn, Glen Derry and Beinn Mheadhoin
From the barns it was an easy stroll to the summit of Bynack More….here’s Colin trying not to look tired
We arrived at the summit to discover that Spider had left…hardly surprising as it had been an hour since we’d spoken
It was pretty windy so added layers before posing commenced
Jura missed the memo
Meall a’ Buachaille – looks a long way away
The Cairngorm Massif
Panorama shot
Glen Derry
Beinn Mheadhoin
Shelter Stone crags, less impressive from this angle
Cairn Gorm I think
Jura
It was an easy but long walk from here so off we went, thinking we might catch the Spider on the way… Colin decided that this rock looked like a whale
Once we were down the steep top of Bynack More it was just a case of covering the distance….Looking back:
Looking down Strath Nethy
Meall a’ Buachaille ahead
River Nethy
Finally on the home straight
A quick pause at An Lochan Uaine
From here it was a case of dodging the bikers and the long last few miles to the car. We never did catch Spider
Once on the road it was a case of getting on with it; we were tired and had sore feet
Eventually we were back at the car and we figured that it was such a nice day that an ice cream stop in Aviemore was a necessity before the drive home