On a sunny day in late April I decided to wander up to Cairn Gorm’s long north ridge and have a look at the abandoned El Alamein shelter, which lies on the steep bouldery slopes falling into Strath Nethy. I’d visited the shelter before and I remembered that it wasn’t that easy to find. It can’t be seen from the ridge, you have to descend a fair way down before it comes into view and even then from many angles it looks just like a pile of the boulders that surround it. Only the rusted metal of one gable end is at all noticeable.
The ascent along the edge of Coire Laogh Mor took me over
many slippery patches of soft snow. They weren’t steep though and there was no
need to get out my ice axe. The sun was hot and there was barely a breeze. Sun
hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen were the most important piece of gear.
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| El Alamein comes into view. Just visible bottom left. |
Starting down the far side to look for the shelter I was soon in the shade though it wasn’t any cooler. I dodged round several large snowfields then thought I could see the shelter far below. A little further and I was sure.
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| El Alamein |
El Alamein was built by the military in 1963, one of three shelters high in the Cairngorms. After the Cairngorm Disaster of 1971* when six people died after failing to reach one of the shelters it was decided they should be removed. Two went, El Alamein remained. Why? Perhaps it couldn’t be found! More likely it was felt that no-one would ever try to go there anyway. It’s not on a route to anywhere. There are no paths nearby.
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| El Alamein with Bynack More in the background |
So why is it here? The general view is that it was meant to be constructed on the ridge above but the builders either misread the map reference or were given the wrong one. If that’s so they just obeyed orders and built it here though they must have wondered why. Or perhaps the weather was stormy on the exposed ridge and they thought they’d drop down to somewhere more sheltered and ended up here.
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| Beinn Mheadhoin from El Alamein |
Whatever the reason this is where it is, in a splendid wild situation half way down a rugged mountainside with a tremendous view. If you wanted to build a shelter as a peaceful haven in the mountains this would be a perfect spot. I sat outside watching the hills glowing in the late sun.
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| El Alamein and Bynack More |
Like the other shelters El Alamein has a metal framework with hessian-like material over it for insulation and then rocks piled on top. It’s quite high inside but there’s not much floor space. Three people could sleep inside, maybe four at a squeeze. The hessian has now rotted away in places and some of the rocks have fallen down from the sides, hence the exposed metal at one end. There are holes in the roof and the walls. I guess it would still provide a little protection in an emergency. But then I can’t imagine anyone descending the mountainside and finding it in bad weather.
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| Cnap Coire na Spreidhe |
Leaving the shelter I headed back up to the ridge to watch the sunset from Cnap Coire na Spreidhe, a subsidiary top of Cairn Gorm. A bright moon, three days off full, hung in the darkening sky. I descended on the Ciste Ridge path with the deep red sky spread out before me. Loch Morlich was a shining jewel in the dark forest. In the distance I could see the lights of Aviemore. Soon I needed my headlamp.
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| Sunset |
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| View down Coire na Ciste to Loch Morlich |
I made a little video of the trip, with a look inside the shelter.
*The Cairngorm Disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairngorm_Plateau_disaster
