The Northern Cairngorms: Mullach Clach a' Bhlair (114) and Sgor Gaoith (36)

Walk date: 18/02/06
My Munro #'s: 63 and 64

Ascending Carn Ban Mor. Just one hiker to beat:


Looking west over Coire Garbhlach:


The impressive Sgor Gaoith with Glen Avon below:


Last of the Cairngorms! This hike started with a nice climb toward Carn Ban Mor, with strong early sunshine and heavy powder snow by 700m. I was soon making fresh footprints after passing to the south of Carn Ban Mor and over a desolate and imposing plain on the way to Mullach Clach a'Bhlair. Going was slow most of the way with nothing to see due to rapidly closing weather. Nothing but white all around at the summit. The return felt much quicker, possibly due to just seeing some other people out there! On my way back to Carn Ban Mor, I re-directed a woman heading south-east instead of west for her descent. She told me she thought she was ok because she was going down. Hmm. As I had made my way to this point, I had developed an odd ankle pain, probably due to all the twisting in the heavy snow. As time was fine, I decided to press on to Sgor Gaoith, which turned out to be a much different and impressive peak. A few merciful breaks in the cloud allowed for some amazing views at this point. Well worth the extra effort. Took the descent easy due to ankle.

The Northern Cairngorms: Bynack More (54)

Walk date: 04/02/06
My Munro #'s: 62

That north ridge looking fine in the morning light:


East from the plateau:


South-west from the summit into the Cairngorm massif:


I became nervous about this week the night before as the TV kept giving out 'treacherous conditions' warnings; despite calm weather it was expected that a cold week would mean that the snow had become hard-packed and unforgiving for grip. However, certainly where I travelled there seemed to have been a thaw! On Dan from work's advice I took my bike along and cycled along good paths almost to Bynack Stables before starting on an easy climb to the plateau. The north ridge looked damn impressive but an easy path meant that the summit was soon reached - at 11am, just two hours out from the car! Having a boost from this speed, I then ran almost all the way back down to the bike, returning to the car by 12:30 in time for lunch! Not a warm day but ok, some moderate wind. Only came across patches of snow and ice. Back in the 'Deen by 15:30 and so forced to drink coffee before it got to beer time!

The Northern Cairngorms: [Cairngorm (6) and] Beinn Mheadhoin (13)

Walk date: 28/01/06
My Munro #'s: 61

Cairngorm summit:


Beinn Mheadhoin from Cairngorm:


Loch Avon in deep chill mode!


Summit of Beinn Mheadhoin, one of many outcrops!


First fresh Munro since Aonach Eagach! Good but big and EXHAUSTING day out. I knew this would be a challenge given the length of daylight at this time of year so I planned accordingly. My guidebook gave a 6-10 hours for this walk. As I usually am nearer the minimum I gave myself 7 hours to do this even in snow (although with a knowledge that up to 8 was possible). Due to this, I was up at 05:30, with the walk starting just before 09:00 from Aviemore Cairngorm ski centre car park. Took wrong branch out of car park and had to recover by climbing 200m up over a heather-clad slope. Much snow on ground all day long but fortunately no snowfall. Worst weather was on the drive out! From top of slope, route to Cairngorm was fine except that the fenced path to the summit after the cafe was unusable due to solid ice! The descent into Glen Avon via Allt Coire Raibert was challenging due to snow and ice on quite a steep slope. The journey was worth it though when the hidden glen of Glen Avon and its prestine Loch were revealed. The ascent of Beinn Mheadhoin was fine but time pressure meant that it was a push and that the short boulder field was a rather unwelcomed sight! In total cloud and snow, a lack of concentration at one point took me close to an overhang too! Anyway, on top the walking was good, but this hill has many false tops and I was very glad of the GPS simply so I didn't have to spend valuable time making sure I had really made it! Especially as I finally reached the summit past my 'official' half-way point timewise. Due to time, I decided to retrace my steps for the return rather than follow a recommended but unroute route that my guide-book had suggested going around the east side of Loch Avon before heading back to Cairngorm. The climb back to Cairngorm was very exhausting but I had to keep up the pace. I went west of the summit to save some ascent but I've since thought that the summit might have been better than the drifts and ice that I encountered instead. Thankfully I had a quick and easy descent down, getting back to the car at 16:10 with pitch-darkness at 17:00!

Northern Cairngorms: Cairngorm (6)

Walk date: Summer 1992?
My Munro #s: 2/284

This Munro was the second undertaken with the folks, although by this time my brother had opted out from the annual camping ritual, strange boy. Despite its high-ranking in the Munro table, Cairngorm presents little trouble especially if the weather is even remotely reasonable. The skiing development means firstly that the car park is already 600m up, secondly that wide, well-trodden paths (pistes...) cross the hill and thirdly that just below the 150m push to the summit there is the Ptarmigan cafe serving hot chocolate! Once we were on the exposed summit the harsh hail of the Cairngorms introduced itself of course and we made a quick exit, but in honesty as long as you don't get naive with the navigation this is a hill that can be taken at leisure at the right time of year.