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Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit


Postby jwramsay » Thu May 05, 2011 2:40 pm

Route description: White Mounth Munros, Glen Muick

Munros included on this walk: Broad Cairn, Cairn Bannoch, Càrn a' Choire Bhòidheach, Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr, Lochnagar

Date walked: 05/05/2011

Time taken: 10.5 hours

Distance: 29 km

Ascent: 1228m

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With perfect weather forecast for the weekend it was a 4am rise to pick Peter up in Glasgow at 5am and head off to the Lochnager circuit to hopefully complete all 5! (you've got to set your sights high after all). Had a backup plan drawn up for the Cairnwell 3 if the weather hadn't been great. We were very pleased to be able to speed on past those Cairnwell 3 on the A93 up to Lochnagar :D

We parked up at the carpark at 8am and due to the continued lack of power the 2 machines were out and a sign said "Enjoy your walk", so £3 saved. We followed the walkhighlands route so headed off in an anti-clockwise direction to tackle Lochnager first. It's a right tease of a mountain by giving you a wee glimpse now and again but saving the BIG WOW for when you first climb onto the lip of the Coire.

Tease! :
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More teasing:
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We headed along the long flat section before the houses, amazed at how tame the deer appear to be here. Then it''s into the lovely woods, a section that is just far too short as soon you are on the excellent path and gaining height quite easily. It's not too long before the views are opening up around you and then you reach the fork, where you veer left for Lochnagar. The climb gets a bit steeper here and then you are there - looking over the Corrie of Lochnagar. WOW, WOW, WOW and WOW. It doesn't get any better than this!

The Corrie of Lochnagar:
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Our decision to attack the circuit is vindicated as the Corrie is fully illuminated by the sun (we reckoned if we'd left it to last, then it's have been backlit).

We take lots of photos and have our first cup of tea and a snack.

Then it's time to experience the ladder, a well built path of large stones, which gets you right up onto the Corrie Rim. This is FUN! Camara out again for pictures of the cliffs. Can't get too close to the edge as its VERY blowy up here!

Cliffs:
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Lochan:
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The further round you go the better it gets. After a bit, you need to follow the path which is a bit away from the cliffs, to reach the upper parts of the Corrie and ultimately the summit cairn. Just before the cairn, there is the spout, which is a high gulley, still filled with snow.

The Spout:
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The summit is quite busy and there is both the trig point and the marker stone which points out the surrounding munros.

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After shooting another few dozen photos, it's time to descend he obvious path in a south westerly direction to catch munro No2. You detour just opposite the point where you'd head right to get to the viewpoint that is The Stuic, heading left. Not far and you have bagged another munro - I like this route! Rather than retrace our path, we head diagonally down to ragain the main path.

Jim & Peter atop Munro No2 (Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach):
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At this point the path crosses a burn - easily crossed but you can't miss it! A chance to replenish those watherbottles and have a bite to eat.

Then the climb begins to Munro No3, the one with the aircraft wreckage from the crashed Canberra. You don't bump into this stuff on the patch you need to hunt for it. We found some nose gear and a bit of wing less than 100 feet to the left down from the summit.

Canberra crash in 1956 - nosegear wreckage on Munro No3:
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Munro No3 (Carn an Sagairt Mor) with view back to Lochnagar summit:
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Cracking view over to the main Cairngorm mountains:
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Then downhill before a gentle climb to catch Munro no4, then another nice walk down and up to get Munro no5 - Broad Cairn. This is the pointy one visible from the carpark.

Jim atop Munro No4 (Cairn Bannoch):
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Jim atop Monro No5 (Broad Cairn):
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WOW, 5 munros completed, now for the rub. The walk back to the car is LOOOOOOONG. It's a great walk mind you.

On descending Broad Cairn, we disturbed a pair of ptarmigan, and I managed to get a few photos of them before they eventually flew off. The descent down from Broad Cairn is a boulder field. You do regain a path which leads down to the "bulldozed" path, which you follow all of the way back. At this point you have a choice, drop down to the banks of Loch Muick to take the lowroad or stay on the highroad (I'm sure there's a song in there somewhere 8) ).

Ptarmigan:
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We stayed on the highroad, to stay in the sunshine. The Loch Muick watherfall looked great as did the Queen mum's house right on the shoreline surrounded by the conifer forest.

Queen Mum's old house:
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Lock Muick and that Long walk back:
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View back over to Lochnagar:
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Eventually the path decends in a steep zig zag manner and you meet up with the lowroad. The carpark is getting nearer and nearer, the feet sorer and sorer. It's not long until we are back in the carpark for a well earned seat in the car!

5 munros in 1 day, WOW, what a day.


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Last edited by jwramsay on Sun Dec 27, 2015 10:49 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby iainwatson » Thu May 05, 2011 2:53 pm

congrats on the 5 in one walk,i'm off to do the same circuit on sat but it looks as if i'll be spending 9hrs in the rain :(
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby Peter913 » Thu May 05, 2011 3:57 pm

Nice shots there Jim what a fantastic day

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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby jwramsay » Thu May 05, 2011 4:13 pm

Peter913 wrote:Nice shots there Jim what a fantastic day

Peter


It was indeed Peter, glad you enjoyed it.
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby skuk007 » Thu May 05, 2011 5:54 pm

Another excellent Lochnagar report, seems like a real favourite in this nice weather.
Congratulations on getting 5 in one day, fair old hike but worth it. :)
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby Alastair S » Thu May 05, 2011 7:13 pm

Yet another crackin' Lochnagar report - well done JW :D some lovely photos in there. Looks like you were there just before the fire they had somewhere round Lock Muick.
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby ChrisW » Thu May 05, 2011 9:16 pm

fantastic achievement JW - great report and pics, makes my lochnagar alone look a bit sad :lol:
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby jwramsay » Sat May 07, 2011 8:18 am

ChrisW wrote:fantastic achievement JW - great report and pics, makes my lochnagar alone look a bit sad :lol:


Not at all!


I have not added the HD Video that I took. I left the wind noise in!!
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby ChrisW » Sat May 07, 2011 10:19 am

Great Vid JW, there was no wind at all when I did lochnagar but I think I was owed that cos when I did Broad Cairn I almost blew off the top :lol:
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby rockhopper » Sat May 07, 2011 12:44 pm

Lovely report there JW and some great photos. :D esp the spout pciture and the blue sky really contrasts with the crags. Looks like you really enjoyed it. :thumbup:
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby goth_angel » Sat May 07, 2011 9:11 pm

Some great pictures there. What day was this? I did this circuit on Sunday which was a cracking day. 8)
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby jwramsay » Sat May 07, 2011 10:37 pm

goth_angel wrote:Some great pictures there. What day was this? I did this circuit on Sunday which was a cracking day. 8)


Saturday - the day after the royal wedding
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby brian1466 » Mon Jul 20, 2015 7:22 am

Did this circuit last monday, quite a few periods of rain but little or no wind.
Great walk, really enjoyed it :D
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Re: Lochnagar 5 - The White Mounth circuit

Postby Sarah86 » Mon Jul 20, 2015 1:57 pm

Wonderful photos, what a great day you had for it. Lochnagar is one that really jumps out at me, the view from your third photo is fantastic.
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