
As a participant in the Volunteer Mountain Hare Survey I had to walk two parallel transepts across grid square NJ0604 on eastern flank of Creag Mhor. Due to the areas remoteness and the availability of public transport I chose to base myself at Ryvoan bothy for two two nights, which also gave me two days of walking in the Abernethy and Rothiemurchus forests. My route to the survey square followed the Lairig an Laoigh as far as Fords of Avon and I had lunch in the refuge. The high peaks were concealed in cloud, but it was obvious there had been a bit of snow as snow patches lay high on the shoulder of Bynack More. I then descended alongside the Avon before leaving the path and positioning myself on the steepening slope of Leacann a' Bhothain Dhuibh. Having completed my transepts of NJ0604 and recording no hares, I explored the fresh snowfields in the unnamed corrie south of Creag Mhor summit hoping to maybe find hare tracks. No luck but this did take me up to the summit rocks where I could enjoy the panorama of snow capped higher summits which had now emerged from the clouds. Traversing the peak I descended to the Corrie of the Barns and returned to the bothy, arriving just before dark.
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.