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...
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| 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!!
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| Beinn a' Mheadhoin from Glen Derry |
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| 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.
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| 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...
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| Looking over Glen Derry to Beinn a' Ghlo |
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