Cairngorms 2004

The idea

The idea was born while browsing the Internet. We spotted a route called the Glen Affric way. We did not intend to make use of the services offered on the page, but it was a good starting point. However, it turned out to be quite hard to reach the starting point. From the one week we had available, we had to use at least three full days for travelling to and from the starting point.

Therefore we started looking for something else, possible areas in our minds were Rannoch Moor, Glencoe and the Cairngorms region. The latter had our preference, since we had not been there yet.

On a road map, we estimated that walking from Aviemore to Blair Atholl would make a nice trip. On the Ordnance Survey webpage, the route following the Lairig Ghru and Glen Tilt seemed quite nice. To make the route more challenging, we decided to put a number of Munros into it.

The route

The actual route differed a bit from the planned route, since we learned that walking 4 Munros on one day with backpacks weighing up to 20 kilos was too much for us. Below are the bits we actually walked.

Day 1: Flight to Glasgow, and by train to Aviemore. Walk about 4 km to Coylumbridge. Here we stayed on the Rothiemuchus campsite.
Day 2: The plan was to walk from Coylumbridge to Corrour Bothy, topping four Munros on the way: Breariach, Sgor an Lochain Uaine (Angels peak), Cairn Toul and Devil's Point. However, when we reached the top of Breariach, it became clear that we would not be able to reach Corrour bothy before sunset, and we knew that the descent from Cairn Toul was rather hard. Therefore, we chose to camp midway between Breariach and Angels Peak.
Day 3: In the morning we climbed Angels Peak and Cairn Toul (and the unnamed top) and descended to Corrour Bothy. We were rather happy to have stayed the night on top, rather than doing the descent in pitch dark. It was a long and difficult descent. See the detailed description of day 3 below about our stay on the top! Since we were now some 10 kms behind on schedule, we did not reach our intended camp near Fealar Lodge, but instead camped near the ruin of Bynack Lodge.
Day 4: We nearly walked in the delay on our schedule, but we realised that topping another three Munros on the last day would not be feasible anyway. On this day we walked from Bynack lodge to somewhere along Allt Glen Loch river.
Day 5: We arrived in Blair Atholl at the end of the day after some 16km. We've used the Blair Castle campsite to stay the night. We did not top the three Munros in the neighbourhood of Blair Atholl, since we were tired and still had some 3 km to walk in on the schedule. Besides that, we learned from our first day that a distance over 20 km with more than one Munro was too much for us.
Day 6: Today we took the train from Blair Atholl to Glasgow and slept in a hotel in Glasgow. We had plenty of time to stroll through the streets of Glasgow.
Day 7: We got up early and flew back home from Glasgow to Amsterdam.

The map below showed the map we used for planning our trip. The blue route is the intended route, the red routes are alternatives for bad weather or other problems. We walked the blue route, except for the mountains on the bottom of the map, were we took the lower red bit.

Scanned images are copyright of Ordnance Survey

Day 1 - 13.10.2004

Our adventure starts on Wednesday the 13th of October. Today, we'll travel from home to Aviemore, Scotland. We'll walk some 5 kms and camp on the campsite in Coylumbridge, on Rothiemurchus estate.

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Piet, Tim and Stefan all geared up.

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When we arrive at the campsite after the flight and train journey, it is already quite dark. We have to set the tents in the dark on the Coylumbridge campsite.

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The last opportunity for a few pints in the pub next to the Aviemore bunkhouse before we set off on our trip.

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We planned to make a picture of the Aviemore train station to mark the start of our trail, but we forgot. This sign is second best...

Day 2 - 14.10.2004

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Breakfast at Rothiemurchus campsite

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Finally, the real start of our walk. Off the roads and away from mobile phones, computers, etc.

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Cairngorm club footbridge

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quickly gains some 400 metres of heigth.

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We leave the wood and get a view of Braeriach in the clouds on the right.

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To get on the flanks of Braeriach, we need to cross a river. This one is easy...

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Time for an extended lunch with soup and hot chocolate.

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A view on Ben Macdui on the other side of the Lairig Ghru river.

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No words... (and no breath)

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Nearly there...

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Another view down on the Lairig Ghru river and on Ben Macdui.

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A great view on the little lake halfway between Sgor an Lochan Uaine and Cairn Toul

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Day 3

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The weather turned foul and we have to get up very early since the wind increased to over 100 km/h and our tents were not designed for that...

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Little visibility

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Cairn Toul, we believe. It is hard to tell if this is all you can see...

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Finally down in Lairig Ghru and warmly inside Corrour Bothy. Time for breakfast!

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day 4

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day 5

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The endpoint of our trip, we deserved a treat.

Day 6

The train journey from Blair Atholl to Glasgow takes almost the full day so we spent the night on a campsite.

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Day 7

After a good night rest in a hotel in Glasgow, we head back home

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