First Overnight Trip In Two Months: The Cairngorm Plateau & Ben Macdui

Sunrise on the Cairngorm Plateau

With a sunny couple of days forecast it looked ideal for an overnight trip in the hills, the first for two months following an operation on a hand. Not wanting to push my hand, which is still not fully better, or my fitness, which has suffered due to the layoff I decided a relatively short trip in familiar territory was a good idea. I didn’t want to deal with storms either, just see how my hand and body deals with a return to walking with a full load and sleeping in a tent.

At this time of year I avoid camping in forests or glens due to the midges unless it’s really windy. As only light breezes were forecast a camp high on the Cairngorm Plateau seemed sensible. An afternoon start was somewhat delayed by two meetings, the first before I’d left the car park. Here a couple who’d read my books recognized me and we had a short chat. It’s always good to talk to readers.

Next I met a publisher! I hadn’t gone far along the path when I met Bob Davidson and Moira Forsyth, once of Sandstone Press, who were finishing the round of the Northern Corries. It was great to see them. I will always be grateful to Bob for publishing my book on my Pacific Northwest Trail walk, Grizzly Bears and Razor Clams, which had been turned down by other publishers on the basis that no-one had heard of the PNT and therefore no-one could be interested in it and why didn’t I write a book on the Lake District anyway, they always sell? Bob went on to publish another three of my books.

Cairn Lochan

Anyway, back to the walk. This isn’t a plug for my books, honest! As I crossed below the Northern Corries and started the climb to Miadan Creag an Leth-choin a few people passed me descending, including a mountain biker bouncing down the rocks, but I had no further excuse to stop and chat. Progress wasn’t fast anyway, the heat saw to that. Last time I walked in such hot weather was at the start of the Cape Wrath Trail back in May. Slowness was fine. I wasn’t going far and I was revelling being back in the mountains. The sun was bright, the sky deep blue, the temperature high, but the land showed the ending of summer, the grasses faded, an orange and brown tint replacing the green. The cliffs of Cairn Lochan glowed in the sunshine.

Late afternoon on the Plateau

Reaching the Cairngorm Plateau I started to think about where to camp. I’d set out just thinking I would pitch my tent ‘somewhere up there’. Now I was ‘up there’ I had to decide where ‘somewhere’ was. I considered the long Feith Buidhe valley where I’d camped many times. No, not this time. I went on to the next stream, the Garbh Uisge Beag. I couldn’t remember ever camping here. I would rectify that now. I wandered a little way down beside the burn and found a good grassy site not far above the water with a view east to Beinn Mheadhoin and north to Cairn Gorm.

The red light of dawn

I settled in for a peaceful night. A gentle breeze whispered in the grasses. A hot meal, a bit of reading, time for sleep. I woke early, the first grey light creeping into the tent. Out to the east the sky was red above the shadowed hills. Dawn was beginning. No more sleep! Streaks of cloud above Cairn Gorm turned pink and orange in the first rays of the still hidden sun.

Sunrise soon

An hour after I woke the sun appeared, a searing white disc rising through redness over the shoulder of Beinn Mheadhoin. Soon the heat started to rise too. Another hot day was beginning. The night had been quite warm anyway given the height (1150 metres) with a low of 10°C. Shorts, sun hat, and dark glasses again.

Camp

The summit of Ben Macdui was less than 2km away. Leaving the tent I headed over the North Top, it’s flat summit strewn with circular rock walls protecting bivi sites, and on to the trig point where a couple of snow buntings hopped around waiting for crumbs. Too soon after breakfast for me to be stopping for a snack but I could see others in the distance heading this way so I guessed the little birds wouldn’t have too long to wait.

Cairn Toul & clouds

As always unless the mist is down I walked west a few hundred metres to where the slope begins to fall steeply into the Lairig Ghru pass. Along this edge are the best views from Ben Macdui, right across the pass to the great mountains of Cairn Toul and Braeriach. This is a spectacular vista only the top of which is seen from the very top of Ben Macdui. Few people see it though.

Rock spike & Braeriach

There’s a spike of rock here, stood up, I guess, by someone in the distant past. I always head for it, a marker for the view, a familiar and distinctive stone amongst a mass of rocks. I feel a connection with whoever erected it.

Cloud over Strathspey

To the north the sky was grey and hazy. A band of low white cloud hung over Strathspey. Here it was hot and bright. Back at camp I drank water and nibbled energy bars before packing up and heading along the stream towards the steep drop-off above the Loch Avon basin. A walker was coming towards me, which was unusual as there’s no path here and I rarely see anyone in this area. Behind me I could see a distant line of people heading for Macdui along the well-trodden main route.

As we approached each other the man veered towards me. “Do you know these hills well?” “Fairly well”. “I’m not sure where I am”. “Where are you heading?” “Ben Macdui, I think I’m going the right way but my watch keeps telling me I’m not”.  He had a print-out of the route from a guidebook or website and a watch that was pointing him towards the nearest point on the path to Macdui. This however was in the wrong direction, given where he was. “Just keep following this stream and you’ll hit the main path. It’s not far”. He assured me he had a real map in his pack though he didn’t produce it. He’d seen Loch Avon so I guessed he must have come down Coire Domhain and then round the edge of the cliffs but I couldn’t be certain and he couldn’t give me enough information to work it out.

Feith Buidhe & Loch Avon

He continued on towards Macdui. I continued on to the edge of the drop to the Loch Avon Basin then followed it round to where the racing water of the Feith Buidhe begins its crashing, roaring descent. This is always a tremendous spot; rugged, dramatic, wild. I love it.

View from the top of Hell's Lum

From the Feith Buidhe I wandered round to the top of Hell’s Lum Crag and then into Coire Domhain where I picked up a narrow path. This is used by climbers to reach the top of the cliffs and two of them were coming towards me now, one with a rope draped across her shoulders. She stopped. “Chris?”. It was Jessie Leong, a writer, mountaineer, photographer and more, whom I’d only spoken to before on zoom calls when we were judges for an outdoor gear award. Now we’d met for the first time, in the heart of the Cairngorms. She and her companion were off to do a couple of routes on Hell’s Lum.

"Is this the start of the Fiacaill?"

At the head of the corrie I could see figures along the edge of the Northern Corries, as I expected on a sunny Saturday as it’s popular and easily accessible. Soon I joined them for the last stretch of my walk to the descent route down the Fiacaill a’ Choire Chais. In no hurry and with the sun beating down I ambled along the edge of the cliffs above Coire an t-Sneachda admiring the buttresses and pinnacles. Leaving the path for a viewpoint right on the edge I noticed a party of six were following me. “Is this the start of the Fiacaill ridge?” I looked at the steep drop below. “Er, no. Definitely not”. I pointed out the big cairn at the top of the ridge, a kilometre or so away. “That’s where you want to go”. He said something about descending from a saddle into Coire Cas so they could get back to the car park. I advised against descending the Coire Cas headwall and again pointed them to the Fiacaill cairn.

This is the start of the Fiacaill

I left them eating sandwiches and carried on to point 1141 and that big cairn. Here I sat in the sun and thought of all the times I’d sheltered behind the cairn from rain, and wind, and snow, and of how glad I’d been when it emerged reassuringly from the mist during blizzards and I knew my navigation skills hadn’t let me down. The party of six passed me and started down the ridge. Soon I followed. I’d thought it hot on the Plateau. Now it felt like I was descending into a furnace. I reached the car soaked in sweat.

Early morning light over Beinn Mheadhoin

The trip was a success. A great walk and camp in perfect weather in a favourite place. My hand was sore but not enough to intrude on my enjoyment. I still seemed to be reasonably fit. It won’t be another two months before I’m out again.

Clouds & Sunshine: An August Day On The Cairngorm Plateau

A pool on the Cairngorm Plateau with Sgor an Lochain Uaine in the distance

The first day of August and a short break in the rainy weather forecast I went across the Cairngorm Plateau to Ben Macdui, a walk that I always enjoy.

At first the day was typical of high summer, a haziness in the sky, a washed-out slightly faded look to the land. The thin clouds were far above the summits, the weak sun occasionally breaking through with heat and brightness.

Lochan Buidhe

Soon the clouds darkened to the south and began to break to the east. The change in the light brought colour and contrast to the landscape and interesting shapes and patterns in the clouds.The pleasant day became spectacular.

The summit of Ben Macdui

The stony summit of Ben Macdui was shaded by high pale clouds. To the south the hills were hidden in thicker clouds. These were moving fast towards me and I wondered if I’d make it back across the Plateau before I was enveloped so I didn't linger. A quick snack, some water, a few photos and it was on with the pack and away.

Clouds approaching Cairn Toul

However, as I turned to head back north the skies ahead of me cleared and the sun shone. At the same time the clouds surged along the cleft of the Lairg Ghru to my left, covering the big mountains on the far side. As I walked in the sunshine I could see the clouds advancing at the same speed, paralleling my route, an unusual experience.

Ben Macdui & Cairn Toul

Turning for a last look at Ben Macdui before dropping down the shoulder of Cairn Lochan I could see wisps of cloud just touching the summit.

Cairn Lochan

Lower down the sun shone on the cliffs of Cairn Lochan but immediately above them the clouds were thickening. The sunshine stayed with me all the way to Coire Cas and the end of my walk though by the time I reached there the clouds were down on the summit of Cairn Gorm. The weather window forecast had been just right. A great way to start the month.

 

Two Mountains: Liathach and Ben Macdui

  

Back in 2018 I, along with other regular contributors, wrote about our favourite mountains for The Great Outdoors magazine. Now choosing a favourite is actually impossible. There are so many fine mountains. But I had to pick ones so I went for two key mountains from two of my favourite areas of the Scottish Highlands -  Liathach in Torridon and Ben Mavdui in the Cairngorms. These are two very different mountains. Here's what I wrote about them.

Liathach

Towering above Glen Torridon in the North-West Highlands a great ragged rock wall some 8 kilometres long Liathach is one of the most dramatic and impressive mountains in the UK. More a mini mountain range than a single mountain Liathach is built of layers of dark reddish Torridonian sandstone, the highest points capped by pale quartzite. Its name comes from the latter, Liathach meaning the grey one. There are two Munros on Liathach – 1055 metre Spidean a’Choire Leith (peak of the grey corrie) and 1023 metre Mullach an Rathain (summit of the pulleys) – plus four subsidiary Tops. Sir Hugh Munro listed it as just one mountain though – Mullach an Rathain wasn’t granted Munro status until the 1981 revision of Munro’s Tables.

The classic view of Liathach is across Loch Clair, which lies to the east. This make a perfect mountain scene with the mountain reflected in the water which is fringed with trees and reeds. Easy access means that this view is much photographed. Only the eastern end of Liathach is seen however and the full size of the mountain is hidden. To see the whole southern aspect of Liathach in all its glory you need to go further and higher, up into the hills south of Glen Torridon from where the whole magnificent mountain can be seen stretching out. 

 

From Glen Torridon Liathach looks impregnable, the sandstone terraces very steep and only split by narrow gullies, and there are indeed only a few ways up for walkers and these are not easy. The finest route is the traverse of the whole mountain. This involves some Grade 2 scrambling if the dramatic Am Fasarinen pinnacles, which lie between the two Munros, are taken direct. The rock is rough though and the holds good. There is a narrow traversing path on the south side but this is very exposed and eroded in places, especially where it goes round the head of gullies. It’s slippery when wet too. Looking down into Glen Torridon the tiny cars on the road seem to be almost directly below. This mountain really is steep. If you don’t fancy the pinnacles or the path each Munro can be climbed separately but this is to miss out the essence of the mountain.

Spidean a’ Choire Leith is a great cone of angular quartzite blocks. The usual ascent is via a very steep stony path that leads up Toll a’ Meitheach from Glen Torridon to Coire Liath Mhor and a dip in the ridge between the easternmost Tops of Stuc a’ Choire Dhuibh, which gives superb views of Beinn Eighe across Coire Dubh Mor, and Stob a’Choire Liath Mhor. Rocky walking leads over the latter to Spidean a’ Choire Leith.  From the ridge there are spectacular views into the northern corries and across a wild watery landscape to primeval looking hills. There are other routes to Spidean a’ Choire Leith from Glen Torridon but these are pathless and require good route-finding skills.

From Spidean a’Choire Leith the whole of the mountain can be seen. What really draws the eye are Mullach an Rathain and the Northern Pinnacles, a spur of the Munro running out to Meall Dearg. The last is the most difficult Munro Top on the mainland. The traverse of the loose Northern Pinnacles is a difficult and exposed scramble, with some sections Moderate rock climbs. Dropping down into the corrie to the east and then climbing steep slopes to the col between the Pinnacles and Meall Dearg is much easier but the ascent still involves some scrambling.

The sting in the tail of Meall Dearg only concerns completionists collecting Tops as well as Munros. For everyone else the difficulties of the traverse are over once the Am Fasarinen pinnacles are climbed or bypassed. The walking to Mullach an Rathain is the easiest so far, the ridge broad and less rocky. Once the summit is reached there are splendid views west to Beinn Alligin, Loch Torridon and the distant Isle of Skye.

The southern slopes of Mullach an Rathain can be ascended or descended anywhere west of the Allt an Tuill Bhain right down to Torridon village.

The north side of Liathach is very different to the south. Instead of an unbroken wall there are deep corries and long spurs. This complex side of the mountain is well seen from the path running up Coire Dubh Mor and then down Coire Mhic Nobuil. Coire na Caime with the Am Fasarinen pinnacles at its head looks particularly splendid from this path. Once out of sight of the road in Glen Torridon the feeling is one of remoteness and isolation. The landscape is chaotic and unforgiving, dotted with boulders, lochans and rushing streams. There are many possibilities for spectacular wild camps. This side of the mountain is one for exploration, for wandering into the great corries below the mountain walls to revel in the wildness of a mountain sanctuary. Few people venture here.

Under snow Liathach looks truly alpine, a tremendous white mountain soaring into the sky. There is no walking in these conditions, just mountaineering. The ridge traverse is a Grade II winter climb. Just climbing either of the two Munros requires winter skills and knowledge. Liathach is a serious mountain at any time but especially when there is snow and ice.

Ben Macdui 

The highest summit in the Cairngorms and the second highest in Britain 1309 metre Ben Macdui is a great sprawling complex mass of a mountain covering a huge area. Far from roads and with many lower peaks close by Ben Macdui isn’t easily visible from the valleys of Strathspey or Deeside and when it is picked out it just appears as a rounded bump. You need to climb high in the hills to realise just how splendid it is.  From Lochnagar and the White Mounth to the south-east it appears as two gentle domes rising above huge Coire Sputan Dearg. Seen from Braeriach and Cairn Toul to the west it’s a rolling plateau falling steeply into the deep cleft of the Lairig Ghru. These two views reveal the bulk and height of the mountain in a way that cannot be seen from lower down.

The northern side is different. Here Ben Macdui is the final rise of the vast Cairngorm Plateau which is itself mostly above 1000 metres. Approach this way from Cairn Gorm and there’s a feeling of the arctic even in summer as you cross a landscape of gravel scree, boulders and sparse arctic-alpine vegetation. In mist it’s a mysterious place where careful navigation is needed. When snow covers the Plateau it really feels as though you could be in Greenland or Antarctica. Only the trig point on the summit of Macdui shows you are in Britain, if it’s not buried in the snow that is. In winter conditions Ben Macdui is also potentially very dangerous. In a white-out the terrain is featureless and there is no shelter for a long way. Good mountaineering and navigational skills are needed when it’s snowy.

 

The south and the east give very different ascents, both requiring long walk-ins, and both showing the complex nature of the mountain. The climb up the long Sron Riach ridge from Glen Luibeg has tremendous views into Coire Sputan Dearg, that from Glen Derry winds past Loch Etchachan, set in an impressive bowl below the cliffs of Carn Etchachan, then above the Coire Sputan Dearg cliffs.

The views from Ben Macdui are spectacular and wide-ranging but the best ones are not from the very top where there is a large cairn with the trig point on it plus a panoramic viewfinder erected in 1925 by the Cairngorm Club. However the big gently rounded summit means that views are cut off and only the tops of nearby hills can be seen. Walk a few hundred metres south or west until the slopes start to steepen and the views open out. The most tremendous is straight across the Lairig Ghru to the massive east face of Cairn Toul while to the south there’s a long view down the lower Lairig Ghru and out over lower hills to distant Beinn a’Ghlo.