Beinn Bhrotain

1157m

Monadh Mor

1113m

Braeriach

1296m

Sgor an Lochain Uaine

1258m

Cairn Toul  

1291m

Devil's Point

1004m

date climbed

5/8/2014

time taken

12 hours

distance

52km, including 10km on bike (32m)

ascent

2000m (6,600ft)

OS Map

Landranger 36

Weather

Fair

Starting point :  Linn of Dee

After the wonderful traverse of the Eastern Cairngorm Munros I was very excited about completing the traverse of the Western Munros including my favourite Scottish mountain, Braeriach. The Cairngorms have been quite rough with me over the years and I have had some terrible weather whilst walking in them. On one occasion, the wind on Braeriach was so strong that I was picked up in the air and then thrown unceronomously down on the ground and that was with a full camping pack! Today though the weather was much kinder to me and I really enjoyed seeing the mountains at their benign best.

The bike ride from the Linn of Dee to White Bridge was getting quite familiar after my trip to the Geldie Lodge previously. The walk started on the West side of Glen Dee until a faint path lead me onto the hills heading for Beinn Bhrotain. As I gained height, again it was great to see across to the hills further East and South that had climbed during my August Munro trip. The top was soon reached followed by a descent and steep ascent of Monadh Mor. Braeriach still seemed a long way away to the North and it took quite a time before the rim of An Garb Choire was reached ready for the walk along the edge to Braeriach’s peak. It was great to look down into An Garb Choire and see the tiny bothy at the bottom. I have used this bothy twice, once with the school Fell Walking Club and then as retreat from the weather on a later expedition. Braeriach summit had a number of visitors and made a sociable lunch stop for me. It is funny how the mind erases unpleasant things and so I had forgotten all about the boulders on Sgor an Locaine Uaine and Cairn Toul. This slowed progress down a lot due to the care and attention needed to ensure a safe passage across them. Once down from Cairn Toul it was a very short hop up Devil’s Point to finish the summits for the day. During my second lunch of the day on this summit I was joined by a very handsome stoat who surprisingly did not seem to be interested in bits of biscuit I was throwing in his direction. The descent to Corrour Bothy is steep but not too long. I had stayed at this bothy before a number of years ago and it was surprising to see how much smaller it was inside than I remembered. After the bothy, all that remained was the long walk back to the bike on the East side of the Dee and then the bike ride back to the Linn of Dee. A very very long day!