Somehow I was missing the Cairngorms so decided to revisit the beautiful mountains there. Have done Ben Macdui and Cairn Gorm more times before, always different routes, combinations of more Munros...That's the good thing in the Cairngorms, you can create your own routes, connect more mountains depends on your available time and fitness level. The area offers variety of options for your planning. Mostly clear paths to follow or easy orientation in a clear day, but very tricky in bad visibility or winter conditions...good navigation skills and experience need then.
This time I used the classic route from Ski Centre car park to be able to get back home early afternoon to pick my daughter Cheyenne from school at 3 pm. As it's 2h 45 mins driving from home I woke up at 01:30 am, enjoyed the peace of night driving to the North...started my walk at 6:15 am.
Distance 18.7 km, Time 5h 20 min, ascent 945m
Despite the cold wind ( typical for Cairngorms ) it was great day in the mountains, clear views and I got back home in the early time...
The Movie covering all the route with great views:
Some Photos:
- Ski Centre car park, empty at 6 am
- Looking back shortly after start of my walk
- Y Gully and Buttress view
- Looking back higher up
- Braeriach, Sgor an Lochain Uaine and Cairn Toul...
- Braeriach and Sgor an Lochain Uaine
- The summit of Ben Macdui
- Carn a'Mhaim, The Devil's Point and Beinn Bhrotain
- Beinn Mheadhoin
- Cairn Gorm in the distance
- Towards Shelter Stone
- Cairn Gorm closer
- The Buttress features
- Cairn Gorm closer...
- Towards Beinn Mheadhoin
- Looking back to The Buttress
- ...and further
- Cairn Gorm summit
- The descend way...and full car park then on the bottom
