Start: Mar Lodge Holiday apartment NO 09630 89892
Distance: 51k
Duration: 17 hours
Direction: W to Glen Lui; NW to Derry Lodge; WNW to Luibeg Burn; WNW Sron Riach; Summit and return to Summit; ENE to Loch Etchachan; NW to Shelter stone; ENE north shore of Loch Avon; E then NE following Avon river to Faindouran Lodge Bothy; E Glen Avon to Inchrory then North to road just outside Tomintoul.
Description: lots of learning points (LP) on this most challenging walk.
1. Left 4am with torch but missed shortcut path at Claybokie - this added 1k.
(LP) improve night navigation.
2. Due to weather forecasting sunny sunrise, changed route from Glen Derry to Sron riach and Ben Macdui. This added considerable distance and height gain, causing exhaustion later on.
(LP) Be more sensible about challenges. Don't over do it.
3. Ben Macdui summit was not sunny - it was thick fog visibility 10m! Went E but lost way, was lost about 1k from summit and worried about which way to go - if I got wrong, would end up miles out. Decided to return to summit to correct route. This gained correct route but added 2k.
(LP) better navigation in thick fog.
4. Following 'path' on N of Loch Avon, I tried to make up time. But 'path' was badly worn and did not exist in places. This causes sore feet and wet boots, by trying to go too fast.
(LP) Choose pace sensibly for conditions.
5. Reached planned lunch stop, Faindouran bothy, 2.5 hours late, very tired and with sore wet feet. Still very long way to go. Worried about reaching pickup at Tomintoul so continued.
(LP) It would have been much better to stop and stay at bothy - I had enough stuff to do so. Tell people in advance this is possibility. I had not done so.
6. I continued the long distance on land rover tracks. I had brought trainers and changed in to them, which helped walking and would have been good on tracks, however heavy rain then came unexpectedly and they too got wet.
(LP) Bad luck but it happens. Should have stayed in that bothy.
7. Having overdone it, 5 miles short of Tomintoul, I hit "the wall" - sudden loss of energy, like the power being switched off. Had to stop, exhaust all supplies left and then carry on more slowly.
(LP) My own stupid fault for over-doing it. At least I'd kept emergency supplies in case.
8. Reached Tomintoul 9pm and pickup, 2 hours later than planned; exhausted but OK. However, needed recovery days so could not do long walks next few days - opportunity missed.
(LP) Don't over-do it!
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.
