5.8km, 100m cycle + 21.4km, 1175m + 5.8km, 50m. 8.30am - 6.15pm
A long day which we started a bit late. The weather was foul, a combination of heavy rain showers lower down, hail, sleet and snow higher up, combined with strong to gale force winds on the tops. Gusts were knockdown strength, which made negotiating boulder fields covered with a bit of fresh snow very hard and tedious going. Matt Chapman and I also did Creagan á Choire Etchachan (Munro top) before dropping down into Coire Sputan Dearg. We had hoped to do Derry Cairngorm as well but a combination of strengthening winds, fading light and large boulder fields made that a bad idea! I managed to smack my knee on a rock when I slipped coming off in the 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.
