Looked to the west cairngorms to tackle a couple of the more remote Munros in the area. Preferred or most documented route tends to be from Glen Feshie but Linn of Dee is always my go to starting point into the gorms if possible. Arrived at LoD car park a fair bit later than had planned for various reasons, 10.30 is late for the limited daylight in late October but anticipated that the MTB would save me an hour or two!

Was a bright Autumn day with less than 15% chance of rain and low cloud. Some walk reports suggested that White Bridge would be suitable place to drop the bike and start walking but the path on the south bank of the Dee looked manageable and decided to push on until it became too lumpy and steep. Found that the path was easy going and I'm by no means an accomplished mountain bike rider, eventually left bike at the path I was to take up south side of Carn Fiachlan Beag, where Allt Larnaidh joins the Dee (NN998:898). I reckon 45 mins from car park to drop off. There were a few drainage channels to negotiate but only one or two required a dismount.





going was OK albeit somewhat boggy where the water was flowing down the path, walking at a higher elevation would have been easier if it was any wetter. Climb up to Carn Cloich Mhuilinn peak was straight forward with some great views back down Glen Dee showing how much distance had been covered in quite a short time which gave some confidence that I would be descending in daylight. The peaty area in the lead up to starting Bein Bhrotain climb wasn't too bad and well placed rocks just at the surface made for solid stepping stones across a lot of the areas with standing water.



Leaving the plateau and starting the climb up the SE side of Bein Bhrotain has an extensive area of unbelievable Forna and wild flowers that I must admit has never really drawn my interest in all my previous walks. I found myself spending more time in the next 1-2 hrs looking down at the colours and different plants than I did looking up and across the panoramic views. No Idea what they were and if this area is always so blanketed by colours and plants or just happens to be more prevalent at this time of year before the cold really grips the heights? Took some photos but they don't do justice to the views under foot. and my photos were mostly HIEC format which WH can't upload.....



The climb up Bein Bhrotain was straight forward apart from the various sized boulders near the top and especially down off the summit towards Monadh Mor. I mistakenly took Angels peak as my next destination because the Monadh Mor peak was so insignificant with Angels Peak, Cairn Toul and Braeriach in the background. 45mins-1hr and I was back at the narrow Bealach between Leac Ghorm and Bein Bhrotain.



At this point there is a choice between retracing your steps back over Bhrotain or stepping down the Coire cath nam Fionn returning via Glen Geusachan, I decided that due to reducing light this return through the glen in the shadow of the corrie would be the least favourable option.



retracing my steps back to the bike was straight forward in the fading light (mostly), apart from taking a more northerly route over Carn Cloich-Mhuilinn which actually made the route longer as I had to traverse south to rejoin the path, by the time I started cycling back down the rough path to the white bridge it was pitch black as the cloud cover had got rid of any moon light or setting sun rays. It did feel that there were more drainage channels to hop over on the way back however but altogether a great was and was a lot better than some walk reports suggest, taking the view that this is a long, remote featureless hike. When you add the time gains from MTB, beautiful fauna, extensive views of the south side of Braeriach range it was one of my better days out!!