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Grahams: Creag Dubh, Creag Liath
Date walked: 27/03/2011
Distance: 17.5km
Ascent: 1070m
Time: 4 hours 25 minutes
Weather: Overcast with sunny spells
A strange weekend really. My initial plans of spending Friday night in Duinish bothy, followed by a trip around some hills that way on Saturday, followed by a stop-in at Aviemore to join the Scottishhills meet for a meal, were thrown in the air when I discovered I would be off to work in Abu Dhabi at the end of the week, for 2 or 3 months. A rush down to Glasgow to renew my passport followed, leaving me with the option of a short day trip either on Saturday or Sunday.
I had Fuar Tholl in my sights for a bit, as I'd wanted to repeat this for ages, and it seemed like a great spot for what was likely to be my last walk before the end of June, but the weather forecast intervened, dumping lots of rain and low cloud on the west coast, so I was back to the east again. I had been looking at Creag Dubh and Creag Liath for quite some time, and they fitted the bill nicely, being easily accessible by public transport. Ironically this left me pretty close to the meet which I had just aborted!
Bus and train both serve Newtonmore very well, and for a similar cost, but I picked the bus as the timetable suited better. I was a litte wary that my rough calculation of 5 hours for the walk matched almost exactly with the window in the timetable. I had a feeling I would be slightly faster, but not much leeway there
Creag Dubh from Newtonmore:
Off the bus just before 9:30am, I walked out of Newtonmore in the direction of Laggan, planning to do Creag Dubh first. I made one of my increasingly typical river crossing errors here - instead of walking over the road bridge and up the track on the far side, I went past the graveyard in search of a smaller bridge shown on my map. It wasn't there, and I ended up wading in order to save backtracking to the road bridge
. I was glad of my lightweight choice of shorts and trainers, as I dried out almost immediately. I passed Biallaid and picked up a vehicle track which zigzagged up towards the NE ridge of Creag Dubh. A trodden path led off the track after a short while and passed through pleasant woodland. Even nicer once the leaves are out, I would have thought. This led more steeply through broken crags and onto the end of the ridge proper.
Ascent of Creag Dubh:
I kept losing the path on the ascent, as it contoured round the bumps on the ridge rather than over them. The only significant re-ascent was at An Torr. The going was boggy in places, but pretty easy, and the views opened up. Sadly the Cairngorms didn't ever fully reveal themselves, but the views across to Carn Dearg, Creag Liath and A Chailleach were good.
Shower over Strathspey:
Newtonmore and where the Cairngorms would be if it was clear:
Carn Dearg, Creag Liath and Glen Fionndrigh:
I was surprised not to meet anyone else up here, as Creag Dubh appears to be one of the more popular Grahams, being very prominent and easy to access. In fact I didn't meet anyone until I reached the car park at the end of Glen Banchor, near the end of my walk.
The summit was reached in a little over an hour, but I didn't hang around for long as there was a threat of rain, and many of the higher summits were in the clag. Still there were nice views up and down Strathspey. The SW ridge appeared to be better defined and more interesting than the one I had just ascended, so I started down the top part of this.
SW from Creag Dubh:
SW ridge of Creag Dubh:
Across to Carn Dearg and Creag Liath again:
Upper Strathspey - Creag Ruadh in center:
There was a path again, and it was drier than the one I had come up. No proper scrambling, but there was the occasional need to put hand to rock for balance. Definitely the superior way up Creag Dubh, if you have to choose one over the other.
Back up the SW ridge of Creag Dubh:
The ridge led me away from my next destination so I cut NW towards Creag Shiaraidh. Back in more familiar Graham territory here (bog, heather, tussocks). There is a fence to cross here, but it is only waist high, and there is no barbed wire. I went along to a gate, only to discover it was higher than the fence! Just stepped over the fence instead. I disturbed a large herd of deer over here. They scarpered onto the slopes opposite as I crashed down to Glen Banchor. Maybe I miss lots of wildlife because I'm too noisy
Deer on Creag Shiaraidh:
The Calder was pretty easy to cross, barely ankle deep. There was a sandy bank where I crossed.
River Calder:
Carn Dearg and Carn Ban:
Easy walking over the valley bottom, then I was onto Creag Liath. I fancied climbing this by the prominent S ridge (Uinneag Coire Each). Bit of a heathery scramble lower down but a faint path developed higher up, possibly coming from Dalballoch. I scattered another herd of deer.
Creag Dubh from the ascent of Creag Liath:
Creag Liath is very hemmed in by the surrounding hills, so doesn't offer much in the way of long range views. However, it does give superb close-ups of the surrounding Monadhliath, which are rockier and more intricate than you might expect. I hadn't been this close to these hills in years.
Summit ridge of Creag Liath:
Sron nan Laogh between Carn Macoul and Carn Dearg:
The summit was a little breezy, but the sun came out and gave the best weather of the day. I had a leisurely stop for lunch here. Although I hadn't been rushing, I was ahead of schedule, so had no concerns about missing the bus. I found a nice little perch out of the wind, overlooking the craggy E face.
Carn Dearg, Carn Ban and Gleann Ballach:
Carn Ballach:
Creag na h-Iolaire from Creag Liath:
Carn Liath summit looking SW:
Geal Charn:
Carn Dearg:
Cuillin was up here only a week previously, and conditions were very different (
report). I only crossed a couple of small snow patches in the entire walk. I'm not sure exactly which way he came up, but I have a feeling I took a similar line down, following a small stream which drops into Glen Fionndrigh. It was steep and heathery, but delivered me to the last river crossing of the day in about 15 minutes.
Looking up Glen Fionndrigh:
And again:
Creag Dubh from Glen Fionndrigh:
Creag nan Abhag:
It was an easy walk down the track in the glen, and I cut a corner, missing the house at Glenballoch.
Back to Creag Liath:
Creag Liath again:
I passed my first people of the day, a couple of ladies packing up their car after a walk. I wonder if they were on the Scottishhills meet? There were more people on the road down to Newtonmore. Seems like a popular spot for an afternoon stroll.
Glen Banchor and the western Cairngorms:
Lower Glen Banchor:
I enjoyed my walk back down the road. Strange how your perception changes with your mode of transport. If I had been in the car, I'd never have parked in the village and walked up the road, but walking back to the bus stop in no great hurry was very pleasant. Given more time, I might have gone cross country to Loch Gynack, ascended Creag Bheag, and got the next bus home from Kingussie. However with other commitments that wasn't an option.
South across Strathspey:
Was back with half an hour to spare, which gave me plenty of time to change out of my smelly trainers into some drier ones. I also had the usual quandry - look for a cafe or not? There was time to kill, but not quite enough to risk being caught halfway through a cup of tea, so I didn't bother. The cloud lifted temporarily on the way home, giving me a view to the summit of Braeriach. Later in the evening it was bucketing down.
An enjoyable little round, although not what I would have chosen as my 'last walk' had the weather been better out west. My much anticipated easter bothying trip is now on hold, but the hills aren't going anywhere!