I’d been keeping my eye on the mountain weather forecast hoping that the conditions would be favourable for heading out to bag a few munros post-lockdown. Thankfully I was in luck, with “superb visibility” forecast for Saturday and having not been up a munro since October, I was desperate to get out of Aberdeen and up something higher than the top of my street!

I set my sights on Beinn Bhreac and Beinn A’ Chaorainn from Linn of Dee (I know, I know, avoid the popular beauty spots they said) but knowing that the car park would be busy on such a nice day, I hoofed it from Aberdeen, arriving at Linn of Dee car park at 8am and bagging the last available puddle of mud, sorry I mean parking space.

With the prospect of an 18 mile hike ahead of me, coupled with memories of previous, hateful experiences of “That Walk” between Linn of Dee and Derry Lodge, I took my bike in order to cycle those first few miles through Glen Lui to the lodge – boy was I glad I did. Breezing past groups of walkers I couldn’t help but feel slightly smug as one laden backpacker commented “she’s got the right idea”. It was a glorious day and it felt wonderful cycling up the glen in the sunshine. Oh to be free of concrete, granite, people and cars!





I locked my bike up near Derry Lodge and began the next phase of my journey on foot, heading up the east side of Glen Derry and smiling as the vista opened up in front of me. I could see Derry Cairngorm and Beinn Mheadhoin (my 100th munro) framed in blue skies and green pines. Eventually I spied the tiny cairn that signals a small path branching off to the right – blink and you’ll miss it – and followed this as it wound up through the trees. As some other reports have suggested, this path is fairly boggy, but as much as I wanted to curse the bog and the fact that my beautifully clean, unworn-in-9-months walking boots were getting caked in mud, I reminded myself that this is what I had been desperately waiting for all those months stuck at home.





The path is relatively easy to follow and becomes less boggy on the approach to the summit and there are a couple of small cairns that keep you on the right track as you reach the bealach between the two summits of Beinn Bhreac. I reached the summit cairn at exactly 10am, but there were others there enjoying a break so I decided not to hang around, heading straight to my next objective – Beinn A’ Chaorainn - which could be clearly seen ahead.



As many other walk reports have described, Beinn A’Chaorainn looks effortlessly close from here, but looks can be deceiving. The “flat” ground between the two munros is in fact a pretty bumpy ride with peat hags and more squelching bog to negotiate. I have to say that I was nervous about this section of the walk, having read the reports of others, and being alone I had visions of being swallowed up in a bog never to be seen again… but it was a clear day, and I could see the fragmented path and the route I needed to take, so I strengthened my resolve and made haste.



The path is pretty obvious for about half of the way across the Moine Bheadlaidh, but it does eventually disappear into a large peat hag. Nevertheless, by aiming to the right of Beinn A’Chaorainn as Walkhighlands suggests, there are no real issues and I was surprised at how straight forward it was! The Cairngorm plateau looked wonderful to my left and the striking white cotton grass made it very pleasing on the eye. This was not the nightmarish hell I was expecting, although I acknowledge that on misty, miserable days this would probably be an entirely different prospect altogether!



I made my way up the steep, rocky ridge of Beinn A’Chaorainn, managing to pick up a path to the summit cairn, arriving at 10.55. I was fairly chuffed at having made it up both munros before lunch and decided to sit down and have a breather and take in the amazing views across to Ben Macdui and Beinn Mheadhoin. The famous words of Nan Shepherd “It’s a grand thing to get leave to live” never seemed so fitting.





There is a vague path heading off the summit, heading in a south west direction. The going is rocky and steep at first, before giving way to a gentler grassy section. Then on the final descent down to the Lairig an Laoigh it becomes very sketchy. I managed to find a path of sorts, zig-zagging down some scree. There was someone coming up in the opposite direction so I figured I must be on the right track! He had just come off Beinn Mheadhoin and was now making his way over to do the two munros I’d just done. Alright show off!



Once I’d made it down to the glen, I started joyfully along the Lairig an Laoigh, chuffed with my day’s achievement. I say started joyfully, because as the path went on and on and on and on the joy gradually gave way to exasperation and fatigue. My boots kept getting stones in them and I had to keep stopping to empty them out. I cursed the trail runner skipping along with ease and grunted at the jolly mountain biker who proclaimed how much of a wonderful day it was. When would I ever get to Derry Lodge?



Eventually I reached the point where I had initially left the path by the small cairn that morning and knew that soon I’d be at the lodge and reunited with my mountain bike. Once there, I sat down to have my lunch and gave my feet a good rest. It was just after 1pm. The cycle back to the car park was a dream – I seemed to coast most of the way. Reaching the car park by 1.45pm I couldn’t believe that I’d made it round in six hours (okay I have to give the bike at least some of the credit for that!)



If anyone is reading this report and thinking about doing this walk, I’d definitely recommend cycling in to Derry Lodge. You’ll thank yourself at the end of the day for not having to trudge back to the car after an already leg-sapping walk along the Lairig an Laoigh. I should also say that the day I did this walk, visibility was perfect. Although I had my map and compass, plus GPS on my phone, I didn’t need to use them a great deal as I could see everything quite easily - I can imagine this walk being a lot more challenging on a rainy, claggy day as there are some sections where there is not a clear path to follow.