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.
A member of the Rockhoppers MC contacted me with a proposal to backpack around the Cairngorms as the annual New Year trip had been cancelled. I tweaked her plan and we left Inverness on the earliest possible train and caught the bus to Glenmore. The driver would not let as off early so we had to add Loch Morlich to our route up Rothiemurcus into the Lairig Ghru. It was a relief when the frozen path was obscured and we encountered deep snow in the pass. Breaking trail was strenuous and it became dark shortly after the summit. This day had been still and clear. The route to the bothy was straight-forward however and we arrived with head torches. Departing at dawn we headed around Glen Luibeg to Derry Lodge, then up Glen Derry to the Hutchison Hut, which was reached in daylight. Inversion conditions were in place and the lower section which was principally in below the snow line was frozen. That evening we climbed up to Loch Etchachan to scout the conditions as we planned an early start to attempt Ben Macdui and witnessed the deep snow on the frozen loch. We knew from our now nearly 3 day old forecast that the weather was due to deteriorate and we also had a long way to go to reach Ryvoan, hence the plan for an early start. We woke to hill fog and increasing winds. Retracing our steps to Etchachan was fine, but traversing round Creagan a 'Choire Etchachan took us into deep snow and white out. We had considered leaving the backpacks here, but any thought of this was abandoned as they would soon be buried under the shifting snow. Careful navigation was required to follow the ridge to the plateau. We were either in deep snow, or blasted by gale force winds if we tried walking on the crest. At the 1,200m contour I determined to turn round. The winds on the plateau would be appalling and we were already tiring and I knew will still had many difficulties ahead. The attempt on Macdui was eating into our time. Retracing the route to the outflow of Etchachan was reasonably straight forward however navigating across to the descent to the shelter stone was awkward in string winds and near whiteout. The normal descent path was banked out under fresh windslab and looked instable so we followed the vague ridge straight down to Loch Avon. Here conditions did not improve: hard banked out snow, deep holes made the usual path round terribly hard work. Loch Avon itself was frozen and stunning. The strong winds continued to build. There was no option to go up Coire Raibert, the Saddle and Strath Nethy our planned route the only safe option. Any hope that leaving the snow behind was shattered by the frozen path and the buffetting. It was pitch black by the time we reached Bynack Stable and relieved to reach Ryvoan and its hospitality. The final day took us out via Glenmore for the bus.
