Grampian Weekend Day 1: Lochnagar and Glen Muick

Distance: 24.7 miles (40km) Ascent/Descent: 1110m/1250m 
Start/Finish: Braemar to Ballater Terrain: 75% gravel/surfaced road, 25% Good high-elevation trail Transport: Good Stagecoach bus service between Braemar & Ballater 
Route: Route Map/Profile
Day 1 of 2: Next Day

Summary
 
A great non-technical cross-country route from Braemar to Ballater via Lochnagar and Glen Muick. Relative to other blog entries this was a very short day, in fact less than 3 hours 50 for me as I treated it as a workout at times! But if you look at the profile there's not much up and down other than the initial up and final down, and its all so runnable. Having said that, a fair amount of time is spent 1000m up on an exposed plateau, no place to crock an ankle, so carrying emergency clothes/blanket is common sense (as is "just taking the bus instead" for some).

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I've never been a fan of the phase "there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing". Fair enough for a survivalist. But generally I'm out on the hills by choice, and when you can't see shit and your picnic's soggy a multitude of breathable layers doesn't turn the sky blue. However, this is not a moan about how I spent 8 miles around 1000m+ on the White Mounth wishing it would clear up so I could see fantastic views over the Grampians, Cairngorms and down into Deeside. I'd been up here and seen it before, allbeit 20 years ago. Today I had a blast along an excellent and relatively easy trail with a sharp wind helping me along, and the weather just added to the sense of wildness and probably kept Lochnagar relatively peaceful for a weekend in August. Me & my dad were up in Braemar - he was looking to do a walk around Ballater as he hasn't done much over that way before. So I settled for running there, wherever he'd parked the car, and do a jolly cruise of Lochnagar and Glen Muick.

Looking back towards Braemar from the start of Glen Callater

During a break in the rain, and starting from outside the Fife Arms Hotel, I headed up the single-track road past the golf course, retracing the route I did when going Blairgowrie to Braemar via Jocks Road - finishing in darkness! Today I almost missed the little bridge over the River Cluanie after a couple miles, already in a running trance! Once found, the bridge let me get over to the base of the landy track up to Loch Callater. I reminisced about the last time I'd been here when it was Winter and dusk, and I remembered how much I'd enjoyed that. Today it was nice in a different way - seeing it in daylight, even with the rain starting to build up again, the sun made an effort and cast a low rainbow in the glen behind me. On approaching the loch I should have continued through the gate past the lodge to pick up the path to the White Mounth, instead I continued on to the shore, a nice enough detour, but it did mean a tough heather-avoiding ascent straight up the hillside to get myself on the path again which seemed to have already gained a fair bit of height where I finally joined it.

Looking over Loch Callater towards line of Jock's Road

From here it was easy angled on a well-maintained trail but lots of boulders on it to keep the eyes from looking at the view over the loch. The path curves away from the glen, dipping momentarily before starting to climb onto the Mounth proper. So I layered up a bit, gloves and hat went on, then proceeded to enter the clouds. After a few minutes and on reaching a stone-wall with rusty fence posts, I left the path to reach the summit of Carn an t-Sagairt Mòr, a fairly pointless exercise in these conditions other than an easy summit to bag since the path went so close.

Looking back down the contouring trail (L. Callater hidden below)

I got the full brunt of the wind up on the top, thankfully blowing from the side, but it meant running with one eye as I headed down the other side to find my path again. A mountain-bike-pusher appeared from the mist ahead, he was bent into the wind and probably about ready for a nice landrover track by now. I briefly dropped into a hole in the clouds before rising back up onto the plateau proper, gradients remaining easy until a final but brief pull up Lochnagar to Cac Carn Mòr, then its a case of turning more N to reach the marginally higher summit of Cac Carn Beag and its trig-point-topped Tor. Enroute to this I played chicken with a charging black lab, it wanted to join me on my run back off this soggy windswept lump.

More cheek-freezing wind as I retraced a route back to the larger cairn and then beyond to continue SE then E over the plateau, tracing the edge of the cliffs on a good path which after a mile dropped fantastically down the large scree, slab-by-slab, out of the cloud and back to a more friendly-looking world lit with patches of sun. The loch of "Lochnagar" was now visible to the left and an impressively conical lump ahead which I couldn't be arsed climbing. I was soon "layering-down" to a T-shirt again, picking up a landrover track that rises up from the top of Glen Muick.

Dropping quickly from Lochnagar via a dirt road

From here it was an easy and very fast run NE down the glen along an excellent car-free track, just a couple miles of road at the end before arriving at Ballater feeling invigorated. My dad had come off the hill only 30minutes before, having had a soaking up the hills followed by a cup of tea and scone. The weather forecast promised better for tomorrow, so we decided we'd maybe do a walk...

A fine cycling/running track down the length of Glen Muick

Next Day (Sunday)

Speyside Way - Part 1

Distance: 50miles (80km) Ascent/Descent: 1260m/1070m  
Start/Finish: Buckie to Grantown on Spey  
Terrain: Mostly easy river-side rail-trail, some long stretches of tarmac, boggy hillside for 7 miles after Cragganmore 
Transport: train to Elgin then good early bus service to Buckie, train and  citylink bus services at Aviemore Route Map1/2 | Route Map2/2

Summary

There's plenty great info on the Speyside Way online, but I struggled to find many blogs covering exploration of the whole thing.  Most blogs that I did find were runners race reports from the Speyside Way Race, which covers the original 36mile length of the route (before it got extended to Aviemore and Buckie).  Being low level and never too far from civilisation it feels like a good Winter option.  The public transport at either end worked out well, allowing a 7am start from Buckie in spite of catching the train to Elgin late on Friday and staying the night there (plenty buses, and not so many trains South from Aviemore in the afternoon/evening).

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It's still dark, not long past 7am on a Saturday morning, three of us running briskly along a frosty railway path directly towards a full moon, sound of waves crashing against the nearby shore, and the whole day ahead to look forward to - just brilliant!  For one day at least, we had become part of those annoying morning people who get up and "do stuff" before everyone else wakes up.  (And then post about it on Facebook).

We left the square in Buckie and with some success followed the waymarkers along the coast, squashed between the road and shingle.  It was dark and I'd never been here before so can't really describe what we were missing, but we weren't missing lots of puddles and stones!

Daylight was imminent as we entered the woods near the mouth of the River Spey - this bit of singletrack was a blast, then out of the trees and past the old empty hotel and along tarmac to the wildlife centre.  Dolphins are a common sight from here.  This morning we just had to make do with a cloudy sunrise and the sounds of breakers somewhere behind the dunes.

From here we were finally heading more S along the bank of the river, starting the journey upstream towards the Aviemore and the Cairngorm National Park.  At first the scene was very flat, farmtrack beside fields of stubble and muddy woodland, then after a few miles of this we were running under the A96 road bridge and into a park on the edge of Fochabers, where the first of many forested hills roll up above the Spey.  The river was always closeby on our right.

Earth Pillars Viewpoint (after Fochabers)

You don't see much of Fochabers from the Speyside Way itself, which heads away from the river along a burn then routes you back S past and around the school to join a singetrack tarmac road.  The next few miles of the route are along this, which from the few other blogs I've read can be a disappointment for walkers, but for runners/cyclists its pleasant enough I thought - climbing immediately up onto hillside, traffic rare, views opening out.  On top of the first rise is a sign for "the Earth Pillars", and curiosity got the better of us so we followed the narrow path into the trees in search of them.  What we found was a nice viewpoint above the river, but no pillars.  It was only after returning to the Speyside Way road and following it down into a deep gully and steeply up the otherside that we understood.  Looking back across to where we'd been, the steep hillside itself was composed of pillars of earth rising above the Spey.  The road here would make for great cycling - challenging but pretty.  Today we had to be very careful with black ice.  Knowing we still had a long journey ahead of us, we took a brief walking break on this hill (its a great excuse) then enjoyed some relaxing downhill tarmac through thick pine forest before emerging onto open hillside that allowed inspiring views over the Spey and to the higher hills cloaked in haze beyond.  That's where we were heading!

The road drops down to Boat o' Brig, an impressive structure, but rather than crossing the river here the route zig-zags offroad up into the trees and so begins the climb onto the shoulders of Beinn Aigan.  I really enjoyed this bit - again other blogs have understandably groaned about the forestry and lack of views, but there was something really nice about the track up through the trees here, really peaceful running country.  And after climbing to 200m altitude we were rewarded with another just-off-trail viewpoint back downstream towards the coast - looking very distant now!

The forest track starts descending, occasionally threatening to climb again but generally allowing downhill coasting, back off the sides of Beinn Aigan to meet another country road by the river.  This is followed to the A94 just N of Craigellachie, where a sign said "Bar" and I so started talking about Guinness, and would continue doing so for the next 25 miles.

Here we made our rendezvous with Norrie, who would join us for an out-and-back run along the Speyside Way (he ended up clocking a marathon!).  Again the way doesn't really enter town, but I needed some water or sports drink so went in search for some, ending up at a garage on the road to Dufftown before I found any so owed an apology to the others by the time I rushed back down.

Looking back to the coast from Ben Aigan (not picnic time of year though)

So now there were four of us heading along the bank of the Spey along old railway trail, the river always near.  Again Aberlour was bypassed closeby on the left.  It was really nice, easy running along the rail path, very enjoyable even on tiring legs.  The Spey wound its way through the hills, quite closed-in at times, and the scene was of damp winter colours (reds, golds, browns of the trees and bracken, green fields with sheep, grey river and sky!). 

I can't describe the speyside way without mentioning distilleries, we passed a fair few, some right against the path.  There were also "preserved" railway stations that I recognised from photographs - Blacksboat being one.  Surprisingly not very many other people about along the way today, I guess it is early January, but I can only remember seeing two groups of cyclists, and I can't recall seeing any backpackers!  We had been very lucky with the weather.  When I'd planned this weeks ago I had kind of hoped for a crisp winters' day with a coating of snow, but what we had was fine - a cool cloudy day and a light wind from the S, which we were sheltered from in the valley and trees most of the time.

After what seemed like miles and miles along leafy railway path by the river, we crossed the Spey and arrived at Cragganmore where Fionna's dad was waiting to take her back home after a 34mile morning's run!  Dad's are great.  We took photos, said goodbyes, then it was just me, Carrie and Norrie for the next bit, heading W along the river.  Norrie had ran more than he planned but was fair chuffed when he realised after another kilometer he'd have covered half a marathon, which meant a marathon by the time he got back to his car at Craigellachie!  So shortly he was saying goodbye to and it was just two of us left to continue the journey along the Spey.

Bridge by Cragganmore

Its not long after Cragganmore where the scenery changes quite a bit - mostly because the route departs the railway and river bank and heads S up onto boggy hillside, and so the enclosed river-side is left behind and quickly we found ourselves surrounded by an open landscape of rolling heathery hills, the Cairngorm National Park was getting very close!  Again I found it quite inspiring - the flat farmlands and coast felt a long way away now.

This was the start of what's described as the "toughest" section of the way.  Its all relative of course - the Speyside Way is generally very easy, but after running 36 miles the  boggy ups and downs along hillsides are never going to feel like a stroll in the park!  The route climbs to cross the A95 road then climbs some more up through birch and onto muddy forest track.  I commented to Carrie how chuffed I was that we had got this far in daylight.  We'd covered the ground a lot quicker than I anticipated having assumed we'd be in darkness now, navigating by headtorch, which other than the obvious "training benefit" really defeats the most of the purpose of doing this stuff, for me anyway.  Neither of us had been along the Speyside way before (well the bit as far as Nethy Bridge anyway) which was much of the appeal of doing this route.

We were now traversing the NW slopes of the Hills of Cromdale, the Spey lost somewhere below on our right, the hilltops lost above grey murk above on our left.  And then the drizzle started.  The next few miles were up and down, forest track interspersed with sections of mud, tufty grass, bog, often enclosed by fences, lots of gates, lots of stepping stones which were hazardous due to a coating of icy moss, and more often than not I opted for the safer if unpleasant cold-wet-feet option!

Some more gates, fences, mud.  Yes I was tired now, and I had enjoyed my day but by this point I was counting down the kilometers to a warm hotel in Grantown and never mind one pint of guinness I was now thinking more a "sesh" of guinness.  Maybe the bar would have some Cairngorm Brewery beers too.  Carrie was after fish an chips, then beer.  It all felt like fantasy here on the cold damp hillsides.

"10km to go!" I announced, somewhere on a steep uphill section which entered thick spruce forest ahead.  I had my phone with the route on it so generally knew exactly how far was left.  We'd recently just passed a stone plaque with the Cairngorm National Park logo on it.  And it was still daylight - although the sky was darkening very, very slowly.  And having not eaten much today I was feeling the cold a bit more now!

I knew we were on the "penultimate" hill of the day before dropping back down to the Spey, the A95 and the railway path again.  When we got there, it really did feel like the final stretch, just 3 miles to town, and mostly easy going.  Back to flat fields, with the village of Cromdale on our left.  We crossed the Spey for the final time today via a tarmac road, and then onto a really nice woodland path which took us into Anagach Woods - pine trees and carpet of heather.  We clocked the "50mile" mark somewhere in here.  It was near-dark in the woods, but we could still just about manage without headtorches, and soon I was able to announce "Civilisation!  I can see a street light!"

We emerged from the woods at a Speyside Way info sign at the bottom of a lane, and agreed to stop running there.  The hotel was found, eventually, and I made contact with the folks who were up exploring the area too, and so it wasn't too long before we were enjoying the beer, food, warm clothes and great feeling of satisfaction in the pub.

Above and Through the Lairig Ghru

Distance: 33 miles (53km) Ascent/Descent: 1860m/1860m 
Start/Finish: Linn o Dee (near Braemar) 
Terrain: 70% trail, 20% gravel/surfaced road, 10% Rocky Tundra (off trail) 
Transport: car  (or bus to Braemar & taxi)
Route: Route Map

Nice single-track by River Dee, Devil's Point behind, slopes of Bheinn Bhrotain to L

Summary
The Lairig Ghru is part of a classic 18 mile walk between Aviemore (Rothiemurchus) and Linn o Dee (Braemar).  The strange loop described here takes a high route Northwards on the mountains to the West of the Lairig Ghru, then returns back through the Lairig itself.  There are some interesting variations of this, e.g., a tour of the summits around Glen Geusachan, thereby including Carn Toul and the Devils Point.  When I set off I wasn't sure exactly what I'd end up doing, especially given the weather forecast.  The described route does provide two contrasting aspects of these mountains - they look a bit lame when seen from the rocky high ground to the W, whereas they rise impressively above cliffs and hanging corries.when viewed from the N or E.

Heading to White Bridge by the River Dee

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The forecast wasn't great - reality check from met. office indicating rain, 70mph gusts and -5degC windchill on Cairngorm summits, a bit different from the 19degC and cloudless skies I was enjoying as I left work on Friday, walking through Edinburgh and watching festival-goers enjoying their beers outside the pubs.

Saturday morning in Braemar was dull but not that bad, the wind was still to pick-up and let's be honest 14degC isn't exactly bad for Scotland, just half what it was last time I was here.  

Might as well give the Cairngorms a try, I figured, if it got too nasty I could always come back down and do a low-level loop like Lairig Ghru followed by Lairig an Laoigh.  That appealed more than experiencing a Winter's day in August, being buffeted across a stony plateau which I could only see 50 yards of in any direction.  And it might clear up!  So we all tell ourselves.

Like two weekends ago, but in quite different weather, I left the car at Linn o Dee, this time heading W towards White Bridge where the Dee makes a right-angled turn.  I crossed this bridge and followed the river's E bank upstream, the wide track followed for the first 3 miles now left behind and replaced by a well-constructed singletrack that still had enough rocks on it to demand concentration.  I became aware I was already "in the zone", loving that feeling of heading off into the wilds again.  That's what the Cairngorms do best - they don't have the pointy shapes of the NW Highlands, but they do give a great feeling of "out there".  An intrepid mountain biker with a German accent (and probably a bruised arse) slowly bounced his bike over the stones towards me, he was also clearly buzzing with enthusiasm, already been up and down mountains and now on his way to bag the remote lumps of "Sgarsoch and Ealar" to the SW.  A reminder of how late it was - already afternoon.  Well I guess it gave the clag more time to b*gger off.

I followed the track until it does a U-bend to cross the Allt Garbh just beyond where title photo taken, then as the weather looked fine from down here I took a L fork to follow a seemingly newly constructed path that ascended the N bank of the Allt, this pretty much being my route up Beinn Bhrotain.  I was quickly reduced to a walk (back to UTMB training!) and the trail quickly reduced to a muddy strip through bashed knee-high heather, all a bit awkward, it quickly improves but I wasn't running again until above the waterfall higher up where the burn changes course.  Once on higher ground the path seems to disappear.  The clag was coming down the mountain-side now so time to reach for the map and compass (no pre-programmed garmin route today).  The jacket and gloves came on as the rain arrived, assisted by a sudden strengthening of wind.  Pretty bleak.  Nothing to see here.  I basically took a direct NW line towards the rocky dome of Beinn Bhrotain's main summit.  Terrain was runnable at first, wind-clipped grass and heather, but when I hit the gradient and barricades of rocks I gave up on the pretense of running and settled into a big stride that was probably faster anyway.  I arrived at the trig-point, sheleted by a fanatastic wall, so I quickly got myself low to the ground against this to escape the wind and consult the map.  And eat some more of those Jaffacake bars.  And flapjacks.  And wonder why the hell I had chosen to come up here and not stay down in the glens.  No regrets. 

A glimpse Glen Geusachan - sun shining somewhere!

From here it was pretty much a case of continuing on the NW bearing, which meant slightly traversing whilst descending, the rocks were pretty evil  (Derry Cairngorm was nothing in comparison), they were wet with ankle-hungry gaps between them, and the wind wasn't helping my balance.  I dropped down below the clag and could see a bit of the world again.  Just a bit, but enough to get me reaching for the camera in case I never saw anything else for the next while.  I could see the bealach below and a definite path emerge from it heading up towards Monadh Mor.  To my right I

A path emerges from the bealach towards Monadh Mor

could see down into Glen Geusachan - which looked like a pretty wild place to be.  It was a really steep way down from here but I judged it safe enough should I decide the need to escape the windy plateau!  For now though I was surprisingly cosy in the Haglofs LIM jacket, and keen to go on.  

A miserable sod descended out of the mist (so called because he didn't say hello or even acknowledge) and disappeared again below.  I climbed up towards where he'd come from, the path eventually disappearing but the terrain was much nicer and all runnable - it became all flat and featureless and cloaked in clag again so I had to keep an eye on the bearing ( NW till it starts to drop again then N).  

And so I unemphatically arrived at the cairn-topped lump called Monadh Mor.  And departed just as quick.

Harsh landscape of Moine Mor - Bhrotain & Monadh Mor in background

The cloud lifted and suddenly I could see for miles, there were splashes of sunshine on distant hillsides.  It was quite featureless to the W - the Moine Mor - I preferred looking E over Geusachan.  I found some inadequate shelter from a band of rocks and sat to eat and take photographs of this strange place.  Ahead near the watershed was a lochan, beyond which rose the slopes leading to Cairn Toul, Angel's Peak and Braeraich.  And a spring to take water from.  Three of the highest summits in Britain not looking so exciting from this remote, elevated angle - their much more celebrated corries and precipices hidden from view. It was good to see this contrast during today's run.  

After descending to the watershed, trying to decide where to go next, I again looked across the Moine Mor, rolling for miles towards Sgor Gaoth etc, wondering if there were any other dafties getting buffeted around up here.

In the end I admitted to myself once again that I like bagging Munros - worse still - bagging Munros that I haven't already done!  Carn Toul and the Devil's Point I'd done years ago as a student, the days when there were 273 Munros and Sgor an Lochain Uaine wasn't one of them.  The latter would eventually be my next target (sometimes called Angel's Peak), there was no Angel up there today, just wind and clag again.  As I ascended from the SW on increasingly rocky, pathless tundra (which was easy enough going) I started to see other walkers on the "main ridge" - more of a wedge than a ridge - gentle from my direction, cliffs on the other.  I eventually gained the path the walkers had been on, and headed ENE through the rocks, back into cloud, it was like the edge of the world to my left, and the wedge had narrowed into a ridge up here when I reached the small summit area.  I immediately dropped down as safely as I could to the lee side, which meant my feet were dangling over an abyss of cloud whilst I ate a roll and packet of crisps.

Retracing my steps down the path, I headed for Braeriach, certainly the highlight of the day for me.  Perhaps because by the time I'd hauled myself onto its rocky plateau (Carn na Criche), the clag had been dispersed and the more impressive aspect of Sgor an Lochain Uaine and Cairn Toul was on display.  I ran across the plateau assisted by the wind, crossing the river Dee again, this time no need for a bridge, a single leap was enough (the Wells of Dee were about 400m to my left), and climbed up through the stones back towards the crest of Garbh Coire, then finally NE for 300m to the summit.  Wow.

Looking over the Lairig Ghru from near the summit of Braeriach, Lochan Uaine beneath Cairn Toul

I'd certainly left the best for last.  Descending E and very quickly I was on a nice rocky ridge from which I could look down and across both sides.  Aviemore not far away, the world looking rather civilised over there in contrast to the other direction!  I was heading along the path marked on the OS map which descends 3 miles over Sron na Lairige.  Path improvements were taking place on the steeper, lower slopes.  As I dropped down, there was more and more sunshine and by the time I arrived at the Lairig Ghru beneath Lurcher's Crag it was Summer once again.  Jacket off, hat off, gloves off.  Now to finally tick-off another thing I'd always wanted to do - actually go through the Lairig Ghru.  

Lairig Ghru

And into the wind.  The Lairig Ghru is runnable, to a point, then its boulders.  Its also very beautiful (on an evening like this) and so I hardly minded the enforced slow-down, trying to ignore the fact I might miss my dinner back down at the Fife Arms Hotel!

Currour Bothy puts the Devil in perspective

I saw other walkers/climbers hanging-out at Corrour Bothy - a building dwarfed by the Devil's Point which in turn was dwarfed by its higher neighbours.  What a great evening for sleeping out wild.  At this point I reflected on my thought's about how the Cairngorm's don't really do "pointy and rugged" - from this angle the Devil's Point does a reasonable impersonation of the Buachaille!

I took the uphill L fork away from the River Dee to head for Glen Lui and eventually Glen Derry.  27 miles done and feeling good, the trail improving, and so I started to really run, like old times, taking risks now I was off the hill and seeing others about.  And sure enough I clipped a rock and became airbourne, this was going to be a nasty one, stupid boy.  God knows how but I

Looking N up Glen Lui from Lairig Ghru Path

managed to get my other foot beneath me, immediately clip another rock, repeat, regain control and continue forward.  What a recovery.  I went back into conservative mode after that, feeling very lucky.  Sure enough a through-packer came past me the other direction just moments later.  Back down to Caledonian Pines with the River Lui meandering through them, another highlight of the day, more people with their tents around Derry Lodge where I crossed the footbridge in the opposite direction to 2 weeks ago, and then a 3 mile easy run back to the car at Linn o Dee.  And yes I made it in time for dinner, by about 10 minutes.  Another great day.

Glen Geusachan, enclosed by Beinn Bhrotain (L) and Monadh Mor (M), Devils Point (R)

Heart of the Cairngorm

Distance: 30.3 miles (48.5km) 
Ascent/Descent: 2000m/2000m Start/Finish: Linn o Dee 
Terrain: 20% gravel road, 70% Good trails, 10% off-trail  
Transport: Linn o Dee (near braemar) buses from Aberdeen and also
some Summers (2013) there's a service from Blairgowrie/Aberfeldy
Route: Route Map

Summary
This is a real cracker!  It took me a while to settle on this particular route, but so glad I did.  Although it takes in four Munro's, there are easier routes for bagging these (and including more) summits, but I wanted to explore beneath as well as above, especially around Loch Etchachan and Loch Avon.  Oh and never have to look at any of the ski-world to the North!  I also wanted to start from Linn o Dee because Glen Derry is such a nice approach into the wild.  From Derry Lodge the route heads up the 100% runnable path to Derry Cairngorm, then boulder-hops to Loch Etchachan, does an out-n-back onto Beinn Mheadoin, drops to Loch Avon (which really does feel like the heart of the Cairngorms as it is often considered), before ascending steeply from there up to the plateau and Cairngorm Mountain.  From the cairn, drop SE to "the saddle" (I descended a little down Strath Nethy for water here), then up mostly easy slopes to Bynack More on nice terrain with open views.  Then after a steep descent through the heather its a mostly-downhill 10mile trail-run back to Glen Derry then Linn o Dee. 

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Derry Lodge, where many leave their bicycles

I enjoyed the early morning drive up the A93, the glens were still clagged with mist but I broke through momentarily into pure blue sky and brightness on the Cairnwell Pass. The thermo in the car read 8degC at Braemar, it would be 20degC warmer by the time I got back there at 4pm. (Aviemore was the hottest place in Britain today with temps reaching 29.5, so a fine day to be 1000m up on the summits!) 

Easy trail up into the blue.  Smell those pines!

The car park at Linn o Dee was thick with midge, so no faffing just straight on with the pack and off through the misty Caley Pine forest onto gravel road for 3miles to Derry Lodge, already there were already a fair number of munro-baggers' bikes scattered around here.  My route was heading for Derry Cairngorm, so over the footbridge I went onto an excellent track through the heather and pines, quickly gaining height, soon enjoying fabulous sunshine. It was only 8:30am but already very warm above the clag, the visibility was superb, Lochnagar dominating the skyline to the E, Beinn 'a Ghlo to the SW, and once onto the ridge proper,  I could admire the mouth of the Lairig Ghru with Cairn Toul's eastern corrie looking like a missing tooth.  

View back over Braemar way, Lochnagar the highest bump on horizon

The air was scented with warm pine and heather. Ascending up to the bouldery summit of 'Derry is relatively gentle (surprisingly runnable) and the ridge broad, but the views down both sides are fine with the meandering river Derry in its lush glen below to the right, and the Cairngorm 'big boys' to the left.

From the summit I descended the bouldery slopes N  towards the 3-way-bealach above Loch Etchachan, eventually catching up with some other runners near the water - a father and his young son (about 12!?).

After a brief chat, filling the bottles from the outflow of Etchachan, I ran up to the summit of Beinn Mheadhoin wondering if I'd just met a future 'Killian Jornet'! Sat on the summit tor and munched cookies in the sun.  Killian and his dad weren't far behind - I met them again as I retraced my way back to the loch, then turned N to join the trail that drops down to Loch Avon and Shelter Stone. 

Loch Avon beaneath Beinn Mheadhoin 

The heat was really building, and having dropped beneath some vertical rock (Shelter Stone Crag) this was really beginning to feel and smell like the Alps.

Once around the N shore of Loch Avon I stopped to drink from Allt Coire Raibeirt, and eat the crisps and bread rolls that had been toasted by the sun, before proceeding on the the very steep ascent beside the "Allt", one big rocky step after the other so I don't care who you think you are there's definitely no running up here!

...Until that is quite suddenly the Corrie is reached and the path transforms into a ridiculously manicured ribbon of gravel.  They were still working on this and gave me a wave as I jogged past.  So it was time to join the crowds at the Cairngorm mountain I thought, with its road, train and ski slopes.

Looking back  across the now-hidden Loch Avon to where I'd been - Derry Cairngorm just visible

View SW over Coire an Lochan towards Braeriach et al

Surprisingly there was only one couple sat at the summit cairn, but I didn't hang around anyway, heading off-trail now, E to eventually pick up a trail that would take me down between crags into Strath Nethy.  Getting thirsty again, so I dropped from the watershed to where the River Nethy is born so I could refill my bottles from it, then retraced onto a gradually disappearing trail NE up the shoulder of A' Choinneach, the highlight of this being the views back over Loch Avon again - truly worthy of the label "heart of the Cairngorm".  Legs getting tired so I was glad this was the last climb for me today,  finishing on the summit of Bynack More with its rock "barns".  Even with dead legs and thoughts dominated by pints of Guinness, these are interesting.  Freaky.  Two sets of them, the little brown barns on the crest, and the much bigger and totally differently grey ones down the slope a bit. 

The photos don't really portray the size - i.e. the little ones on the left are only about 6m high, whereas the big grey ones are about 20m.

Fords of Avon Refuge (MBA-maintained)

I had another sun-toasted roll with crisps at the summit then headed off-trail steeply through the thickening heather aiming for the main Glenmore-Braemar through-route known as the Lairig an Laoigh*.  It was really nice (and important) to get back down to water as the temperature continued to rise into the afternoon.  There wasn't much climbing left in the legs but they felt great again heading down to Glen Derry - probably because I'd stopped, eaten and drank so much.  There were a few more people down the glen - all with huge grins on their faces knowing they were bloody lucky to be where they were on such a fine day.


* My dad had done this a few days ago with an 80litre pack and a 72 year-old sense of adventure (a-walk-in-cairngorms). He was going to wait till the weekend when I could be around (safety-in-numbers) but the weather window earlier in the week looked too good to miss and there were no guarantees it would hold.

Ryvoan Bothy Circuit

Distance: 27.3 miles (44km) Ascent/Descent: 420m/420m
Start/Finish: Choice of Aviemore, Boat of Garten, Nethy Bridge or Glenmore Lodge
Terrain: 85% easy gravel, 15% quiet road
Transport: train and citylink bus serve Aviemore.
Route: map

An Lochan Uaine - between Ryvoan Bothy and Glenmore Lodge, Cairngorms

Summary
This route is so popular I feel like one of the last outdoors enthusiasts in Scotland to have done it! Lesley had cycled it many times before, a girl at work had also reccommended it, and during breakfast at our accommodation in Boat of Garten, our host went and suggested it too! Not that we were particularly in the mood for a "mission" after a late Friday evening in the Boat Hotel! I can now see why its such a favourite - rarely on road and passing through forest, mountains and moorland, yet mostly flat and easy going (just one or two brief parts that require care if on a bike). And there's some gems en-route such as "The Green Loch". In spite of all the endorsements there is only a short section of the route which felt "busy" this weekend. The views deeper into the Cairngorm wilderness really caught my imagination for future exploration.  

River Spey, near Nethy Bridge, Cairngorms behind

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Low morning sun in Abernethy Forest

I've mentioned before that September/October is my favourite time in Scotland. Okay it was baltic, but we were lucky to wake up to blue skies, still air, frost on the ground. Boat of Garten was silent, the air tinted with woodsmoke. We extracted Lesley's bike from the boot of the car and quickly got moving East out of the village via the bridge over the alluring River Spey.

Lesley pedalled along the road whilst I jogged along the adjacent "Speyside Way". It was probably only once we'd escaped the road, empty though it was, and entered Abernethy Forest that we really started to enjoy this journey, the groggy too-many-beers-last-night feeling being replaced with how lucky we were to be here! The pine forest had the ubiquitous carpet of heather, blaeberry and an occasional ant-hill. Blue sky above, dew sparkling in the sunlight, birdsong accentuated by the stillness, and now we'd done a couple of miles the coldness was refreshing rather than bitter (like the Guinness at Aviemore later). We shunned the road-side route of the speyside way to take the loop through the trees, then picked the "way" back up as it parallelled a single-track road for a bit then headed East again towards the wee town of Nethy Bridge (shop).

Start of "rights of way" to Braemar/Glenmore

After a break at the picnic tables by the River Nethy, we followed the road up past nice river-side homes we wish we owned, eventually onto gravel and back into the forest.  It was starting to cloud over now as we pedalled/ran deeper into the woods, a very subtle gradient taking us up towards Forest Lodge and the RSPB nature area.

 There was a choice of routes and we accidentally took the higher one up to Rynettin Farm, which was worth the extra effort for the view across the moorland into the Cairngorms proper, the higher points of which now carrying a dusting of recent snow.  It was a bit of a surprise exiting the forest and passing by a field of cows - with boarded-up farm buildings above - having seemingly left civilisation a few miles ago. 

Descending from Rynettin

An Lochan Uain

From here we were entering the mountains, but never having to climb them - the track dropped down from the farm to join the easier route that we'd missed, then undulates along the moorland, flanking the Corbett "Meall a' Bhuachaille" (also a popular walk in its own right, with a manicured path up to its summit from Ryvoan Bothy - this area was the only "busy" part of our day!  There's a hill race up Meall a' Bhuachaille in October, although this shuns the manicured route and goes straight up the side!).

View from a rock, into the wild (Cairngorms)

The rain was coming down as we approached Ryvoan bothy, so we took shelter there and were soon joined by many others.  Lesley produced the hip-flask, obviously trying to slow me down!  She didn't need to worry as it was mostly downhill from here - although a bit of care is needed when cycling the immediate descent S from the bothy.  At the bottom of this hill is the beautiful An Lochan Uaine (Green Loch), so time for another stop.
The path was manicured gravel from here to Aviemore, and provided a nice alternative to the surprisingly busy Glenmore Lodge road.  We broke the journey at Aviemore (Guinness and food) and eventually got moving again for the final 5 miles along the speyside way (cyclepath) back to Boat of Garten.  The food was heavy in the belly but we weren't in a rush - this is another beautiful stretch of moorland with views over the cairngorms, just a shame the rain returned - very cold rain, arriving in squalls.  That's why I don't have a photo of this bit, but here's a blog with a stunning view of it:

http://westcoasthikers.wordpress.com/great-britain-2012/speyside-way/aviemore-to-boat-of-garten/

Glen Tilt and Beinn a' Ghlo

Distance: 23.5 miles (38.5km) 
Ascent/Descent: 1670m/1670m 
Start/Finish: Blair Atholl  
Terrain: 45% gravel, 40% Hill tracks, 15% road.  
Remote moorland but generally dry/firm underfoot
Transport: train station and citylink bus services Blair Atholl
Route: Route Map

Lower Glen Tilt

Summary
Glen Tilt is bicycle-heaven.  It forms a great through-route from Blair Atholl to Deeside which I used many years ago as a student when cycling from Fife to Aberdeen!  It also makes for easy walking/running acess into (or out of) stunning remote country.  Next to Glen Tilt but generally hidden from view are the broad rounded heather-clad lumps of Beinn a' Ghlo, which boasts three Munros.  This route takes in the summits of the Beinn first, then gives the tired legs an easy trot back down Glen Tilt.  Once onto the first summit of Carn Liath, the gradients are generally gentle and the cols are shallow which makes it all very runnable. There are great views over high moorland to the Cairngorms, but my favourite view is from the descent down into Glen Tilt.

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With less than 2 weeks until the Grand Raid des Pyrenees, and only 2 weeks since enjoying a fantastic run at the Lakeland 100 race, I chose this run as a way of keeping the fitness ticking over, hoping not to do any damage to muscles that were still in recovery mode.  (My original plan for this loop was to return via Carn a' Chlamain - a Munro on the NW side of the Glen.  This adds 4 miles and 650m ascent.)

Memorial Stone - Carn Liath rising beyond

There's parking in Blair Atholl opposite the entrance to the Caravan Park, with shops nearby.  That's where I started from, going through the Caravan Park and along forest track to the Glen Tilt Car Park (an option to shorten the run a bit!).

Beyond the old bridge over the River Tilt, a single-track road leads E up to Loch Moraig, making relatively easy work of the first 200m of today's ascent.  (There's a small car park up here - full by the time I was jogging past after midday).

A gravel track branches off to the NE, the gradient remaining gentle, then after a mile of this it was time to start climbing proper, forking N over a small crest, past a couple of huts, and once through one of the only areas of bog I'd encounter today.

Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (1070m),
with Carn nan Gabhar to R (1129m)

It was an enjoyable climb up Carn Liath, a climb that gets steeper with height, where the trail became loose gravel.  Zig-zags helped me keep a gentle upwards shuffle going.  I should really be practising 'power-walking' up hills but the shuffling feels easier on fresh legs.  I think.  Fast low cloud clipped the summit above, and sure enough once out of the shelter and onto the final gentler rise to the summit cairn it was time to put the jacket on and cut out that windchill!  From here, the running is much easier and there is a rough path to follow.  Beinn a' Ghlo is higher than much of the surrounding countryside so on the right day its a great viewing platform.  The ridge snakes downwards a bit from here, first heading NW, then NE over a lump, then N down to a bealach where there's an opportunity to fill water bottles without losing much height here if you contour N for 300m. 

Some more "snaking" E then N along increasingly rocky and broadening ridge before the next summit is reached.  Already there's only one significant climb left for the day, which suited my still-recovering legs just fine!  The cloud lifted again and I could see far into the remote country to the NE - basking in sunshine - with the Cairngorms clearly visible beyond.

Looking from Airgoid Beinn SW back over Carn Liath

I took in the top of Airgiod Beinn (view above) before climbing the final Munro of the day, Carn nan Gabhar. 

Looking back S towards Carn nan Gabhar

Now followed 2.5 miles of easy downhill running along the N continuation of Beinn a' Ghlo, then NW over Meall a' Mhuirich (898m) following traces of path.

The sun was really shining, the jacket was off again, a feeling of being on-top-of-the-world, happy days!

Descending through the heather towards the beautiful Glen Tilt

Dail Feannach above Glen Tilt

Dropping down into Glen Tilt requires a bit of care - its very steep, the heather is tall, but there is what I assume to be an old and little-used stalkers' path which is well worth finding as it zig-zags safely downwards.  (Don't be tempted to drop down towards Dail Feannach like I did - just stay on the direct line for Glen Tilt, aiming for the footbridge as soon as you see it, and you're very likely to find the path I refer to).

Looking down Glen Tilt, 9 downhill miles to go!

A great place to fill the bottles

After enjoying the sunshine for a moment, sitting by the cascade and re-filling the bottles, it was time to pick up the pace down the easy track. The sunshine was such a bonus - it hadn't been forecast! And it was very warm too.  There were a few mountain-bikes chained to fences along the glen, which makes a lot of sense for exploring the hills around here.

With only 4 miles to go the glen begins to twist and drop a little steeper.  There is a final short rise to overcome before arriving at the Old Bridge of Tilt, from where the route rejoins the first outward mile.  A great accessible day out.