MIKE WOOD - 488361

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Walking Record

Details

Start Date : 06/09/2021

End Date : 07/09/2021

Duration : 2 Days

Style : Leader / Supervisor

Type : Quality Mountain Day (QMD)

Weather : Clear - sunny - good visibility

Wind : Gentle Breeze

Camping Type : Wild camp

Nights Camping : 1

Mountains : Braeriach

Flagged :

Description

ROUTE:
Day 1: Walked-in from the car park at Whitewell Cottage near Aviemore in late afternoon, following a good vehicle track south along the glen to Loch Eanaich. Pitched tent around 6.30pm on flat dry grass near the loch outlet , although this was somewhat exposed to the breeze. Day 2: I picked a direct route up a narrow ridge on the north side of Coire Bogha-Cloiche directly above the camp site, see photo, blocky granite with a little tower, not quite Scrambling Grade 1 but very enjoyable. We continued with compass bearings to Braeriach summit, returning via Wells of Dee and an unnamed cairn at Grid Ref NN 935 989, then down open slopes to the Coire Dhondail path. A brew and strike camp, back at car around 6.15pm.
CONDITIONS:
Warm, calm conditions on walk-in, (c. 20C) but with a freshening southerly breeze as we neared Loch Eanaich. The wind increased after supper and we had a noisy night with not too much sleep! Valley clear but much cooler with dense cloud cover on the plateau in the morning, some brief clearances. Warm and sunny once again on walk out.
DURATION:
Day 1: 10.86km, 244m elevation gain, Elapsed time 3hrs 11mins.
Day 2: See GPS Track below: 18.48km, 1071m elevation gain, Elapsed time 9hrs 34mins.
SKILLS PRACTISED:
Expedition wild camping skills, two-man tent plus food and butane/propane gas, sleeping bags, etc., (shared with my wife Marion). Route selection off-path on ridge to plateau, navigation using map and compass to reach Braeriach Summit and again to return across plateau via different route, to reach path and tent.
MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENT:
Starting in the Lowland Zone with some enclosed pasture, progressing through Rothiemurchus Forest with impressive "granny" Scots Pines on the southern edges. Out into open glaciated valley, with extensive moraines and other glacial landforms, vegetation cover mainly dry heath dominated by Calluna. Gained height up to Montane and Fell-Field Zones on Day 2 via a narrow ridge with abundant Blaeberry and Crowberry. The plateau was extremely dry this year, the exposed granite sand and gravel appearing very desert-like, with typical sparse vegetation cover of tundra-type species (Juncus trifidus common). Several Snow Buntings on the plateau, one came within a couple of metres of us!

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.

Map

MarkerMarker
Leaflet Tiles © Esri — Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, TomTom, Intermap, iPC, USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, Kadaster NL, Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), and the GIS User Community
Time Taken : 09:34:01 Distance : 18.48 km Ascent : 1071 m Descent : -1244 m Avg Speed : 2.84 kmph Moving Speed : 14.72 kmph

Images

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