A Sunny Walk Through The Lairig Ghru to An Garbh Choire

Camp in the Lairig Ghru below Sron na Lairig

Early April has been a time of warmth and sunshine. A few days ago I sat on the summit of Cairn Gorm, shirt sleeves rolled up, gazing at the golden-brown hills, the snow on which I’d camped less than three weeks before gone. It felt and looked more like July than April.

Summit of Cairn Gorm, April 9

As we approach the middle of the month the weather is changing though, the sunshine soon to be a memory. Snow is forecast for Cairn Gorm, rain for the glens.

During the hot weather I had one overnight trip. I’d looked down into rocky defile of the Lairig Ghru many times during the last few years but I hadn’t walked through this magnificent pass since a trip with Tony Hobbs in October 2022 when the weather was wet and windy. It was time I went back in more benign conditions.

Leaving the forest

As on the trip with Tony I started out in the wonderful Rothiemurchus Forest, slowly climbing through the magnificent old pines until these began to fade away and I could see the cut of the pass not far ahead. A late start meant as the steep sides began to close in I was soon in shade though the hills above glowed in the evening sun. A chill breeze blew down the pass between the craggy northern sentinels of Creag an Leth-choin and Sron na Lairig.

Creag an Leth-choin catching the late sun.

I camped just before darkness fell on a patch of rough grass between two arms of the stream that runs out of the Lairig, the summit of which wasn’t far above. The ground was dry though I guess it’s damp most of the year and not that good a place to camp. On this occasion it was fine.

The cold breeze kept me in the tent*. Thin clouds meant there was no starry sky so I had no incentive to leave the warmth of my sleeping bag.

Waiting for the sun

Dawn was chilly, the temperature down to -2.5°C. There was ice in my water bottles. The days might be hot but the nights were still cold. When I ventured out the ground was crunchy with frost. But high above the sun was brightening the hills. I thought how often I’d waited for sunshine and warmth to reach a cold camp, how many mornings had been like this. It must be hundreds. I’d relished every one. An early riser passed by on the path not far above the camp

An early morning walker passes by

The sunshine arrived just as I was starting to pack up, causing a delay as I took pictures of the camp in the new bright light and waited for the light dew on the tent to dry. Then It was hefting the pack and heading up to the boulder fields that lace the pass, making the walking awkward. This is a rough, rugged, hard place.

Sunshine!

Beyond the top of the pass there’s not much of a descent at first as the path, such as it is, wends a way past the three Pools of Dee, one of the sources of the river Dee. Once past the last of these dark waters, hemmed in by steep, stony slopes, the view opens out. The Allt na Lairig Ghru emerges from a boulder field and begins its race down the slopes. Soon it will join the Allt a’ Garbh Choire to form the infant river Dee.

A Pool of Dee

The main Lairig Ghru route keeps to the left of the stream. I was heading into An Garbh Choire though and took a less distinct path on the right that curves away from the Lairig Ghru and into the mouth of this huge corrie, one of the finest in the Cairngorms. Away down the glen I could see the silver thread of the young river Dee twisting between the steep dark slopes of Cairn a’ Mhaim and Bod an Deamhain (the Devil’s Point).

Sgurr a' Mhaim, Bod an Deamhain, & the River Dee

Soon my attention was seized by the huge spread of cliffs around An Garbh Choire. There was still much snow though not the usual amount for this time of year given that snow usually lingers here longer than anyone else. Shapely pointed Sgurr an Lochain Uaine, often overshadowed by higher neighbour Cairn Toul, stood out in the sunshine. On the other side of the corrie huge rock pinnacles rose out of the smaller Coire Bhrocain to the summit of Braeriach.

Sgor an Lochain Uaine & An Garbh Choire

I sat on a rock and admired the tremendous view. The sun was hot. I looked at the steep stony slopes leading up to Coire Bhrocain. I planned going up those and then on to Braeriach. It looked hard work in this heat with a big pack. Maybe a snack and some water would energise me. It didn’t. I was just happy to sit here and absorb the wild beauty all around.

Back through the Lairig Ghru

Eventually I conceded that I didn’t have the desire to climb further. This was enough. I’d retrace my steps back through the Lairig Ghru, no hardship as it’s such a fine route and the light and shadows and views would be different.

Looking back to Creag an Leth-choin from the top of the forest

Notes:

During the walk I took some little videos which I put together for my YouTube channel. My last post has the link to this. I am still learning how to make passable videos!

The Hilleberg Akto in the Lairig Ghru

*The tent was my original 30-year-old Hilleberg Akto, which I’d used on my continuous round of the Munros and Tops in 1996. I was using it for the first time in many, many years as it’s the 30^th anniversary of its launch. It performed faultlessly.

A video of a trip through the Lairig Ghru to An Garbh Choire in the Cairngorms

 

A Hot Day in the Cairngorms

Creag an Leth-choin

Finally sunshine and heat! Away with the dark clouds and the rain and the cold winds. Summer has arrived. Well, for a day anyway. Tomorrow thunderstorms and heavy rain. But that’s to come.

Enjoying this rare burst of summer in the outdoors couldn’t be missed. Real heat, high humidity and the possible early arrival of the first thunderstorm didn’t make a long high level walk sound attractive though so I decided it was time to visit a fine rocky peak that gives superb views and which I don’t climb often enough. 

The Lairig Ghru from the southern slopes of Creag an Leth-choin

 

Creag an Leth-choin (aka Lurcher’s Crag) is an outlier of the Northern Cairngorms rising high above the deep trench of the Lairig Ghru. In Munro’s Tables it’s listed as a subsidiary top of Cairn Gorm, which always strikes me as odd as there’s two other summits and some six kilometres between them. Out on a long spur jutting north from the Cairngorm Plateau it feels like a separate hill. 

The Chalamain Gap

 

Although 1053 metres high and with crags all along its west face and a rocky summit ridge Creag an Leth-choin is much easier to escape from in the case of bad weather, something in my mind as I watched the big cumulus clouds building up over the higher hills as I approached the rocky ravine of the Chalamain Gap. Once into this cleft I felt the full force of the sun as the breeze that had cooled me a little vanished. The rocks were warm, the air felt thick and stuffy. I was soon over the boulders though and out into the wind again, a deceptive wind as it was actually quite warm and whipped away sweat that was soon replaced only to be dried again. The result was a big thirst. On damp cool days I often go for many hours without drinking anything. In this heat I needed to drink every hour or so, and drink deeply too. 

Hot weather hill essentials - sunhat, sunglasses, sunscreen and water

An old little-used intermittent path led to the boulder-strewn summit ridge of Creag an Leth-choin. To one side were the great cliffs of Coire an Lochain, still splashed with snow, on the other, even more impressive, steep slopes fell away into the Lairig Ghru with mighty Braeriach rising on the other side. It’s a magnificent view point.

The summit of Creag an Leth-choin with Braeriach in the distance

I followed the edge of the crags for a while, revelling in the view down the Lairig Ghru, then turned and descended rough wet slopes down Lurchers Gully and beside the Allt Creag an Leth-choin and the Allt Mor. The tussocky ground made for hard going with only traces of old paths to follow. But the rushing stream gave clear cold refreshing water and there were flowers and birds and the hills to watch. 

Looking across the Allt Mor to Cairn Gorm and the Northern Corries

 

Back home and it’s approaching midnight now and a full moon hangs in a clear sky. It’s still 19°C outside. When will the storms arrive?

The Cairngorms At Their Most Magnificent.

Sunset from Ben Macdui

Spring in the Cairngorms can bring alpine-like conditions with bright intense light as the sunshine reflects off the snowfields. The clarity can be startling with distant white peaks etched sharp against a deep blue sky. That’s how it’s been this week as high pressure has brought settled conditions for the first time this year.

View back across the Cairngorm Plateau to Cairn Gorm

A high camp, possibly the last on snow until next winter, seemed a good idea so late one afternoon I headed across the Cairngorm Plateau to Ben Macdui. The mountains were split between winter and summer, half almost bare of snow with the rocks glowing warmly in the sunshine, half still covered with a sheet of white. After a day of hot sun the snow was soft and easy to cross though I did sink in rather far on occasion. There was no need for ice axe or crampons though. Not today.

Sunset over Braeriach

 

The sun was just touching the horizon as I reached Ben Macdui. A couple were camped right next to the summit cairn, with their stove set up in its stones. I wandered west to my usual viewpoint overlooking the great gash of the Lairig Ghru. The sun was setting behind Braeriach, the low clouds above the mountains an intense mix of orange, yellow and red, the snow on the hills tinged with pink. I sat and watched as the sky darkened and the colours grew deeper and richer before starting to fade as the dark blue of the night sky began to dominate.

Camp beneath the moon

 

Turning away I descended a short distance east of the summit and pitched my tent on a vast open snowfield under a vast starry sky. A bright almost-full moon rose in the east. There was no wind and the temperature hovered just above zero. For once there was no need to shelter in the tent and I stayed outside watching the sky. It was a perfect evening.

Sunrise

Dawn came with a red sunrise and a pink cast on the snow. A chill wind now swept the snowfields and I stayed in the tent for breakfast, taking photographs out of the door.

Dawn view from the tent

 

As the sun strengthened and the day grew a little warmer I packed up and set off for the Lairig Ghru. Once across the shoulder of Ben Macdui I descended by the Allt Clach nan Taillear – the Tailor’s Burn. The soft snow of the previous day had gone, frozen hard overnight and I needed crampons and ice axe on the steep upper slopes. Across the Lairig Ghru the great mountains shone in the new daylight.

In the Lairig Ghru

 

Long before I reached the floor of the Lairig Ghru I left the snow for deep heather that made for awkward and unstable walking. I was glad to reach the path and turn northwards to follow the headwaters of the River Dee, sparkling in the sun and racing down full of snowmelt, up to the half-frozen and silent Pools of Dee. Crossing the high point of the pass I noticed avalanche debris below the big cornices on the edge of Sron na Lairig.

Then it was through the rocky ravine of the Chalamain Gap and back below the Northern Corries to Corrie Cas and my car. I’d been out just over twenty-four hours. Twenty-four magnificent hours.

Camp below the stars