Summer in the Gorms revisited - Beinn a' Chaorruinn

No I have no clue how to pronounce this either........

We'd had a new arrival before this walk...we'd dropped the Trek off and procured a lovely mountain bike for Claire from the shop in Ballater - whilst having a rest day after our excursion onto Carn a' Mhaim....she was called Layla and this was to be her first trip...

View up Glen Derry

Being an old hand at such things now - Claire whizzed along the bike leg to Derry Lodge, where we locked the steeds and set off. Beinn a' Chaorruinn is one of a brace of hills on a small plateau above Glen Derry. The peaks are almost outliers of the Beinn Avon/Beinn a' Bhuird massif (a VAST area of high ground in itself), the other peak being Beinn Bhreac which I had done in a hurry one winter morning racing the incoming weather (and winning!!). They are separated by a vast tableland called the Moine Bhealaidh which has the reputation of being a little boggy - given it had been scorchingly hot for the last week we thought it was the perfect time to do it!!

Beinn a' Mheadhoin from Glen Derry

Creagan a' Choire Etchachan and the Hutchinson Hut

Another joy was the approach, up the length of Glen Derry to it's summit before leaving the path and heading straight up the hill. Despite more searing heat (and even Claire thought it was hot again) the approach was an absolute delight....Glen Derry is a superb glen with amazing views into the MacDui massif and it's outliers. More was to come when the path divides, with one branch heading off towards the Hutchinson Hut, Creagan a' Choire Etchachan and Loch Etchachan, whilst we took the other path up the Glen. The views were amazing and the cliff looks VERY appealing for the climbers (both winter and summer actually). You could bike a fair way up the glen, although there are places you'd have to carry - and this is something worth thinking about...the bothy is right under the cliffs as well and would be an amazing base. Leaving the path at the col we began a slow but steady ascent. There were some signs of fitness showing, and the heat necessitated a slower pace anyway. Slowly but surely the summit was reached - crowned by a large cairn, and lunch was declared.

 Beinn a' Ghlo in the distance

Once again the views were amazing, with the vast high ground of the Avon/Bhuird massif (where you could drop most of the High Peak and lose it before seeing the next road) along with Bynack More, the hills of Lochnagar and Beinn a' Ghlo. The latter seemed to be the mountain of this holiday, everywhere we went we could see it - probably due to it's height and isolation. These hills are also an amazing viewpoint over to MacDui and it's satellites and it helps a lot to help build a picture of how the Cairngorms fit together as a whole jigsaw, especially for Claire who has not been to the area as much as I. That being said, a lot of my visits have been in winter and it's amazing to see the huge size and scale of the area. Claire's knee was feeling a little sore and so she eschewed the top bagging that I undertook [Claire does NOT collect Munro's anyway as she tells me!!!!] and we met where the two paths intersected. Given Claire's knee (and her lack of Munro collection) we wandered across the Moine Bhealaidh towards it mid-point before finding a very good and reasonably gentle route into Glen Derry. From there we tottered back to a very suitable bridge with very suitable pools - and a splashing was had!! before wandering back to the Lodge, back on the bikes and to the car-park....where the river was once again calling...

Looking over Glen Derry to Beinn a' Ghlo

Pen-y-ghent.....the start of Spring....

The forecast was glorious for the day a couple of weeks ago, and, rarely, it was a weekend when Claire wasn't on-call - part of the reason for our lack of getting out recently has been Claire doing some on-call weekends (thus freeing up most of the rest of Spring and Summmer). I wanted a break from marking books and preparing lessons so we set the alarm and headed up to the Dales.

Pen-y-ghent from Brackenbottom

It's not actually that far to the Dales from ours - only about 1 1/4 hrs - and so we didn't need a crack of dawn start. Upon arriving at Horton it became obvious that we weren't the only people with the idea of going up Pen-y-ghent that day. We did manage to find a parking spot on the road next to the campsite and, having got boots on etc, we headed off. Given Pen-y-ghent's name (it means Hill of the Wind) and the fact it was still March we had brought along fleeces etc...it soon became evident that they were redundant in the extreme; it was a glorious day, as can be seen. It was also painfully obvious that other people were taking advantage of the glorious day. Our ascent of Pen-y-ghent was slow, due to lack of exercise and fitness in the most part. The lower section was like a procession and it got worse when we joined the Pennine Way and the path through the escarpments. Those who were zooming along earlier now slowed right up and it actually became quite frustrating. Claire put in a spectacular burst of speed to overtake some of the pink perspiring person's on a section where there was a choice of two paths - but suffered for it a bit higher up.

The summit was utterly heaving and so we wasted no time in carrying on. Bizarrely, once over the summit and starting the descent the number of people thinned out on the spot. Going down thus became a nice pleasant late morning walk - with lovely weather and views over to Ingleborough.

Looking to Ingleborough from the descent path.

Lunch at Hull Pot was another great idea - only 300 metres of the main path (and on the path round towards Foxup and Halton Gill) it was almost like being in another world with hordes of people wandering off the hill and turning left for Horton  - almost robotically. We were able to bask in the sun with rolls, cake and hot ribena and enjoy our lunch - before joining the hordes for the descent to Horton....followed by pints of tea at the cafe (and being able to sit outside) and a gear fix at the Rohan shop....