{"id":5408,"date":"2019-06-02T11:24:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-02T10:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=5408"},"modified":"2019-06-02T11:24:01","modified_gmt":"2019-06-02T10:24:01","slug":"backpacking-the-cairngorms-4000ers-plus-a-few-more-munros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bl6.co.uk\/wordpress\/2019\/06\/02\/backpacking-the-cairngorms-4000ers-plus-a-few-more-munros\/","title":{"rendered":"Backpacking the Cairngorms 4000ers (plus a few more Munros)"},"content":{"rendered":"

There must be easier ways to bag your 100th Munro but I’ve never been one for doing things the easy way. After a week staring out of the office window at glorious sunshine and blue skies, I set out on this weekend adventure through the Cairngorms on the most dreich of days.<\/p>\n

Within an hour I was seriously considering the possibility of turning around, going back to the car and driving home. I hadn\u2019t even reached the Ptarmigan restaurant on Cairn Gorm, the first of eight Munros I was planning to climb on this ambitious weekend.<\/p>\n

The Cairngorms 4000ers is a big enough backpacking challenge, taking in Cairn Gorm, Ben Macdui (the second highest mountain in the UK), Cairn Toul, Sgor an Lochain Uaine (better known as the Angel\u2019s Peak) and Braeriach.<\/p>\n

Having climbed all these hills before, with the exception of Cairn Toul, I decided to include a few new Munros to my route, just to add to the equation. Bod an Deamhain \u2013 the Devil\u2019s Point \u2013 is easy enough to add to the round, but if I could do an out-and-back to Derry Cairngorm and nip over Carn a\u2019 Mhaim at the end of day one, that would give me four new Munros over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Four was the magic number for me, as I was sitting on 96 Munros at my last count (not that I am counting, you understand), so that would take me to 100 \u2013 a nice achievement whether or not I go on to complete the list.<\/p>\n

But the pouring rain had me soaked before I\u2019d made much progress, my approach gloves sodden and the wind whipping through my minimalist two layers that I\u2019d started out in. I donned a mid-layer and decided it was too early in the weekend to switch to my only other pair of gloves.<\/p>\n

I plodded upwards, lost in my own thoughts and contemplating another way down from the Ptarmigan should I give up when I get that far. \u201cMorning!\u201d The voice leapt out of the rain as though from another universe. A female runner bounding past. We met up again as we both sought shelter in the lee of the restaurant\u2019s walls, a last hiding place from the elements before we would leave this incongruous manmade box and head into the hills for real.<\/p>\n

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The summits – Cairn Gorm, Derry Cairngorm, Ben Macdui, Carn a’ Mhaim, Bod an Deamhain (Devil’s Point), Cairn Toul, Sgor an Lochain Uaine (Angel’s Peak) & Braeriach<\/strong><\/p>\n

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We chatted and told each other our plans. It felt like a commitment to me. I would continue my journey. She passed me again on the staircase to the summit and I saw her outline head off to the north-east as I approached the massive cairn at the top. She would be home and dry before I reached my next summit.<\/p>\n

Sheltering behind the weather station a few yards further on, I changed into my dry gloves and immediately felt better \u2013 despite the snow shower that now greeted me. I could barely see back to the summit cairn, so took a bearing off the top and dropped down towards Coire Raibeirt. A fellow backpacker was heading in the opposite direction, on her way out as I was going deeper into the mountains.<\/p>\n

It had been probably 10 years since I\u2019d used this particular route, and the path down the steep drop to the Loch Avon basin has been massively improved, though it still required concentration. I carefully made my way down, below the cloud now, crossing the Allt Coire Raibeirt before stopping for a break at a huge boulder overlooking the Shelter Stone Crag. I watched a distant lone figure climbing the path up to Loch Etchachan, where I was heading next, as I ate and drank and breathed in the wild surroundings.<\/p>\n

Water was fairly pummelling down the Feith Buidhe, making the river crossing less straightforward than I\u2019d remembered, though it didn\u2019t involve getting wet feet in the end, thankfully. By this point the rain had been so immersive that my normally reliable camera was out of action due to the water ingress, so I used the waterproof GoPro as a backup. I was glad I had something to record this adventure on.<\/p>\n

From the outflow of the mesmerising Loch Etchachan, I headed up the path towards Macdui, timing my ascent to work out where to break off to pass around the western edge of Creagan a\u2019 Choire Etchachan and onwards to Derry Cairngorm. This was virgin territory to me and with zero visibility I was on the compass and checking the contours to make sure I was heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n

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The video<\/strong><\/p>\n