1981 » Braemar and Cairngorms
June 1981 Braemar & Cairngorms (Malcolm)
20 Munroes and 16 tops. 17100ft. 71 1/2 miles.
June 26th. 1981.
Malcolm.
6 Munroes and 1 top
Creag Leacach. Glas Maol. Cairn of Claise. Tom Buidhe. Tolmount Carn an Tuirc. (Glenshee).
Parking at the Cairnwell Car Park at over 2000ft must be a good start to any day.(Except for the squalor of the ski tows etc).
We headed from Meall Odhar to Creag Leacach with a cold north wind , cloud, hail and sleet. From here it was back to Glas Maol, out to Cairn of Claise, then further out to Tom Buidhe requiring some careful navigation. Driving hail greeted us here. Tolmount and Carn an Tuirc completed the round. The café at the car park was welcome.
16 miles and 3350ft.
June 27th 1981.
Malcolm.
5 Munroes and 5 tops.
Lochnagar. White Mounth. Carn an t-Sagairt Mor. Cairn Bannoch. Broad Cairn. (Glen Muick).
Our start point was the visitor centre in Glen Muick, crossing the Spittal and following the good track uphill. There were few views and it was cold on the ascent of Lochnagar. There was plastered snow on the summits. Then followed the White Mounth, Carn an t'Sagairt Mor, Cairn Bannoch and Broad Cairn, with an impressive number of tops thrown in. As the day progressed so the weather improved and we ended up with excellent views of the Cairngorms with a good covering of snow on the high summits.
18½ miles. 4100ft.
28th June.1981.
Malcolm.
5 Munroes and 10 tops
Cairngorm (Repeat). Ben Macdui (Repeat). The Devils Point.
Cairn Toul. Braeriach. (Cairngorm 4000's)
For this big day we were blessed with clear sunny weather throughout.
We took the Cairngorm chairlift at 9/15am. From the summit of Cairngorm we then absorbed a number of tops en route for Macdui. From Corrour Bothy we climbed again to reach Devils Point followed by Cairn Toul and Braeriach. Along this stretch Malcolm met someone he knew. We visited the Sinclair hut (since demolished) and found it in a poor way and being used as a doss house by down and outs. The cross-country route back to the car seemed to take an age. We finished at 9/45pm and were glad of the late opening of a restaurant in Aviemore for replenishment. A great day. .22 miles and 6350ft. 12½ hour day
June 29th 1981.
Malcolm.
Four Munros.
Mullach Clach a'Bhlair. Meall Dubhag. Carn Ban Mor. Sgor Gaoith (Feshie)
Again we were lucky to have a clear day with good views at all times.
We parked at Achlean in Glen Feshie, followed the river upstream on its west bank for a couple of miles, then took the vehicle access road eastwards ascending Mullach Clach a Bhlair . We then kept to the high ground for a fairly easy stroll back to Meall Dubhag, Carn Ban Mor and delightful perch of Sgorr Gaoith. This gave a good tea stop, resting in a heathery hollow with views down to Loch Einich and across to the broad shoulder of Braeriach. There was a simple descent to Achlean.
15 miles. 3300ft. (Some years later we battled for the remote Top, Tom Dubh, in a blizzard. I had a cornice incident, and we had to abandon plans to repeat Sgorr Gaoith, after poor conditions on Carn Ban More, now demoted).