19thMay2004Wednesday
Day at work. Lunch at the Ptarmigan. Sandwiches for tea.
Left at 6.10 to walk home. One heavy hail shower as I reached the Chalamain Gap path went off. Rest of the evening fine but cold. Walked through the Gap and down to the Lairig Ghru. Then across the Lairig Ghru and turned West into An Garbh Choire. Found the refuge empty but habitable.
Quite a long and cold, draughty, night.
20thMay2004Thursday
Spent my 48th birthday completing my walk home from work. Started cold at the Garbh Choire refuge. New snow on the hills above. Some sign of more showers to come. Cold breakfast with a little warm water from the flask to warm me up.
Very slow and steady climb up an eroded little path to the coire of An Lochan Uaine. Rested there and let another hailstorm pass. Set out slowly up the sharp ridge on the right, Angel’s Ridge to Sgor an Lochan Uaine, the so-called Angel’s Peak. It was fairly bouldery, but I found a couple of good scrambly bits and one huge fin of rock that I could have scrambled over had it been dry. The showers seemed to peter out, but I wanted to get to the top before they started again, and I made quick progress despite the heavy sack. The ridge ends at the summit.
There were very good views all round. I decided to take in Cairn Toul. Last time I was there was 1977. There is a remarkable window on the edge of the precipice above the corrie which I crawled through. A big cairn, but not a tenth of the visitors to its bigger neighbours. Down to a col and back up to Carn t-Saigart (as I prefer to call it). From this top you can look down on Devil’s Point which is a Munro.
Turned West then, on aching feet and toes, towards Loch nan Suirteag, but had a lunch by the Allt Claish an t-sabhail and gave my feet some relief. From then (at about 12.30) for nearly two hours, I walked west into the wind and a big hail and snow and sleet shower came across. It found a way into my overtrousers and I got wet legs. It stopped as I came to the end of the bulldozed track.
The track is a disgrace, eroded and being avoided by vehicles and walkers. I met a coast to coast walker shortly afterwards, heading for a high camp. I hope his sleeping bag was good, as we looked east and saw new snow on Cairn Toul and Braeriach.
The sun came out and the ground steamed as I crested the rise south of Carn Ban Mor, and I had a long easy walk down the track to Badan Mosach. I went down by the falls then crossed terrible stiles into and back out of the plantation and crossed the river flats to the bridge over the Feshie. It was a choice between this one and Feshiebridge.
Even the relatively less demanding ground to Insh had lots of interest, and I got a good hike on. The light was beautiful in the late afternoon. I don’t remember seeing Glen Feshie looking lovelier than seen from the Carn Ban track down, and similarly, Gleann Chomhraig and the main Strath of the Spey were beautiful to behold. Insh was a real homecoming, down through the lush green field back to our house.
Area :
The Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are ‘a little piece of the arctic in Scotland’ according to the SMC Munros Guide and the area contains many of the tallest peaks in the East Highlands. Ben Macdui (1309m), Cairn Gorm (1244m) and Braeriach (1296) are probably three of the better known and the whole area is full of steep corries and high plateaux. Access to the mountains is typically from Aviemore or Braemar.
