The forecast in the morning was for clearer weather to spread south west from the North West. That made me look forward to the day, dad and I went our own ways and I was now heading for the big tops at last. The walk up Glen Dee was fast but the weather was drizzly for most of the time. It was a 12km walk from the camp site to the way up to Carn A’Mhaim.

I had lunch in a dry spell before striking up to the bealach between Ben Macdui and Carn A’Mhaim. The winds gusted up to severe gale force on the way up to the first summit and I was pushed around. I omitted to bring my camera and left it in my rucksac. That was a mistake as the Devils Point from this angle was very impressive looking.

Back to my rucksac and I now had a huge boulder slope to ascend, which I did easily and efficiently. Strangely the winds didn’t batter me so much with my sack on. Perhaps the huge mass was too much to move for the wind. The showers were frequent but the sunshine only existed to the east. I had good faith in the weather forecast thinking each shower would be the last and subsequently omitted to put overtrousers on. On reaching Ben Macdui the last and most persistant shower started, that soaked my trousers and my socks. The descent to Feith Bhuidie was thoroughly miserable. The rain cleared but I was soaked, I found a camp spot in Feith Bhudie close to someone else’s tent.

The surroundings reminded me of the South Downs but the view out to the east was nice. The night was certainly cold with some frost.

Cairngorm from Cairn Lochan

Loch Avon from the slopes of Cairngorm

Shelter Stone Crag from the Saddle

The overnight gales subsided just as I got up and residual cloud soon cleared to give a very nice morning. The radio warned of rain to come but that rain was delayed until I set up my tent. My first summit was Cairn Lochan; it isn’t a Munro but is far nicer than Cairngorm as it has a fine set of cliffs going right up to the summit cairn.

The early time of 8am saw few other people and only one other person was present on the Cairngorm summit itself. My next target was The Saddle to the east where I would leave my sack and then head out to Bynack More. The vegetation here was almost semidessert with firm sand and very thin vegetation that is apparently unique to the Cairngorms. I got back to the sack by lunch time and it was now time to make my way to Loch Etchachan via Loch Avon and shelter stone crags. These cliffs are huge and the pink granite on the Cliffside suggests that rockfalls are a regular occurrence.

Shelter Stone Crag

Camping at Loch Etchachan

The path beside Loch Avon was rough with many boulders among heather slopes to be crossed. The end of the loch was reached and it was now a simple climb up to Loch Etchachan. I counted four other tents in the vicinity of the loch and it proved to be a popular place for camping. It’s popularity may be because the loch is the largest above 3000ft in Scotland. The cloud was a lot thicker now at 4pm and at 6pm light rain started. I was nice and comfy in my tent now.

Bynack More from Beinn a’ Chaorainn

Loch Etchanchan from the slopes of Beinn Mheadhonach

Views out to Ben Macdui etc.

The rain continued in the morning and I lied in until 10am when I went off to climb Derry Cairngorm. A navigational error was soon corrected and the cloud hinted at moving. Back at the tent my next task was Beinn Mheadhoin, a short easy scramble on the summit tor being the highlight for the summit.

A bank of cloud now threatened from the north and I rushed back to the tent trying to get down before the cloud arrived. I packed up and made my way down to Derry Burn and then up to plateaux of Moine Bhealaidh where I would spend my next camp. The clouds evaporated to give a super afternoon. I left my sack next to a small stream and then went out to climb the outlying summit before coming back for a late evening finish on the final summit where a view out north to the Moray Firth revealed itself. A fantastic finish to the day.

These were final summits in the main Cairngorms to be climbed this trip. The day dawned dull with low cloud and fine drizzle, not what the Radio Scotland forecast had said. From this side, Beinn a’ Bhurd takes on the appearance of a big Pennine lump, the dramatic features hidden away so far. The ascent wasn’t as tiresome as I imagined and I was soon on the very flat top. A compass bearing helped me to the descent to The Sneck, though a deviation of 200m from a subsidiary summit on the way was noted. Probably the sideways incline to walk on coupled with a long compass leg led to this deviation.

I packed my compass away prematurely as I thought the way to the Sneck on the map looked obvious: follow the long line of cliffs leading to it. The cliffs though are topped with a convex slope that gets steeper and steeper just like the descent to the Sneck. I followed this round but realised that I was walking for too long for I should have already attained the Sneck. I took my compass out and found I had contoured round for too long. The mistake was easily corrected and now I was ready to ascend the final summit.

Ben Avon’s summit tors give a more interesting though still easy scramble compared with Beinn Mheadhoin and the mist eventually partially parted to give fine views to the North. The rest of Invernessshire was under blue sky and it seemed that this plateaux carried the only cloud. By now the summits were busy with hillwalkers. This I found curious as the summits were at least 15km each from the nearest road. People must be very keen to climb them. Still the eastern corries of Beinn A’Bhurd are very impressive that is when you can see them.

I found the track down the glen to Gleann an t-Slugain fast going and there I noticed mountain bikes. That’s how they all reach these summits. I camped just above the forests behind Braemar and it was distinctly warmer down here that night compared with the last three nights.

Mount Keen from Glen Tanar,
the Mounth road seen above my tent

The air was humid and thunder was a definite risk today. I was to return to the Youth Hostel and then continue to climb the Glen Doll summits. Braemar was only 2km away yet I had to walk 8km via Invercauld bridge. I should have taken the initiative to hitch that time but I didn’t. As I got near the Hostel I thought I should leave the Glen Doll summits for another time, climbing them from Braemar would be long and tedious with a ‘there and back’ policy. It would be far better to climb them from Glen Doll itself.

Instead I went off to Ballater to climb Mount Keen. The Bus is very expensive at £3 for the half hour trip (£6 Braemar to Aberdeen). Mount Keen probably reflects the attitude you have to take to it, the ascent is via a broad heather slope with an almost English landscape surrounding it. You end up on a ridge separating Glen Tanar from Glen Muick, before going down to Glen Tanar.

I pitched my tent at 4pm and then set off very light with T shirt, Map and Mars Bar. The day was very hazy now with clouds arriving in very short notice. My pace was fast, I wanted to reach the summit before lightning threatened. Up on the general plateaux the skies darkened to the south as a cloud of heavy rain loomed. I got to the top feeling exhausted after the clamber and then rushed down taking care not to trip. It was one hour up and half an hour down from my tent.

Looking west from the slopes of Mount Keen

I reached my tent just as the rain started, there wasn’t much rain and no lightning but lightning was around as it interfered with the AM radio broadcast. That’s it, I’d climbed a good deal of summits and was very pleased with my trip. The midges were out for the first time that trip so I considered myself lucky, I think it was wise to climb the eastern summits this summer, the west wasn’t getting a good bargain at all with the weather.

The next day was nice and the pace back to Ballater was relaxed, it was a long trip home but I had some good sleep on the overnight coach.