Wild places always call. Sometimes the weather does too. Blue cloudless skies, hot sun, the mountains
sharp and clear. I couldn’t resist. So I went to Braeriach for a circular walk
with a high camp that I think takes in just about everything the Cairngorms
have to offer from the forests to the mountain plateaux.
The walk began amongst the wonderful pines of Rothiemurchus
Forest. Even in the shade of the trees it was hot. The rivers and streams still
ran strongly though, full with recent rain. The path took me slowly up through
the forest towards the great cleft of the Lairig Ghru and the ragged cliffs of
Creag an Leth-choin.
Once below the cliffs and in the mouth of the pass I turned
more steeply uphill to climb the slopes of Sron na Lairige, the other wall of
the Lairig Ghru. A few walkers passed me, descending. Distant views opened up,
far hills sharp and clear.
A last climb and I was on the long broad summit ridge of
Braeriach looking across the snow-splashed cliffs rimming huge An Garbh Choire
to Cairn Toul, one of the great views of the Cairngorms. Across the Lairig Ghru
a few clouds were drifting over the summit of Ben Macdui, the first I’d seen
all day.
Away across the plateau I could see the silver thread of the
infant River Dee running across the mountainside before plunging down into the
corrie as the Falls of Dee. Reaching the stream I followed it to its source, a
collection of springs called the Wells of Dee. Here I camped, alone in a vast
landscape.
A thin mist slipping over the ground reduced the sunset to a
thin red line. At 2.30 in the morning I woke and looked out to a clear sky with
a bright crescent moon and the white streaks of noctilucent clouds rising above
the orange glow on the eastern horizon. I wandered round camp, revelling in the
silence, the beauty, the peace, the joy of being here. In the distance I caught
movement, a herd of reindeer browsing in the half-light.
Several hours later I woke again as the bright light of the
sun warmed the tent. A breeze gently rattled the fabric, a breeze that kept me
pleasantly cool as I wandered up to Einich Cairn and then along the edge of Coire
an Lochain where I gazed down snow-filled gullies to the dark waters of the
lochan.
From the mouth of the corrie an old little-used path zigzagged
down towards Gleann Einich with the long cliffs of Sgor Gaoith and Sgoran Dubh
Mor rising above, another splendid scene. A final descent down boggy heathery
slopes and I was on the wide track in the glen and heading back towards the
forest. Once in the shelter of the trees the heat hammered at me, making the
walking the toughest of the day. Amongst the glorious trees I was happy to slow
down, sitting often to soak in the life of the forest.
