Braeriach (1296m) - 29th June
Distance: 38km (Bike 24km, Boot 14km); Ascent: 1200m (Bike 300m, Boot 900m); Time: 10h
Braeriach is the 3rd highest mountain in Britain (after Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui). It can be approached from various starting points, but it is very remote and requires a long approach wherever one starts; many people opt for camping out and taking 2 days over it. Using a bike for the approach I opted to start from Coylumbridge (Loch an Eilean would have been an alternative).
I parked in a large layby on the B970. The cycle out starts by the campsite in Coylumbridge and is on a good track through Glen Eanaich, all the way to Loch Eanaich. It involves several stream crossings, for one of which wet feet were unavoidable. About halfway there is a higher vehicle track and a lower footpath - I took the vehicle track on the way out and the footpath on the way back. With the altitude change, it took 2 hours to get to the start of the walk and 45 mins to get back.
Just before Loch Eanaich a narrow track ascends towards the lowest point of the escarpment SW of Braeriach. This path becomes very steep and requires a bit of care as it rises next to a waterfall at Coire Dhondail. Once above the escarpment and onto the Cairgorm plateau the end of the path is marked with a cairn. I then made a pathless ascent of Cam na Criche, up a steep and seemingly never-ending grassy slope. The relentlessness of this ascent was interrupted by a very showy Dotterel that came to look at me. Once atop Cam na Criche (1265m) the going became much easier. On the way out I stayed high, flanking Einich Cairn, partly because I wasn't sure that the Wells and falls of Dee were passable and partly because the Cairngorm herd of Reindeer were on the slopes of Einich Cairn and I went for a closer look. As can be seen on the map Braeriach is surrounded by steep corries and these offered great views across to Cairn Gorm, Ben Macdui, Devils Point and beyond. A pair of Ring Ouzel were nesting in the corries near the summit. I returned along the edges of the escarpment, crossing above the falls of Dee on a small snow field. Near here was a pair of Snow Bunting and this may be the first time I have heard Snow Bunting singing. It wasn't easy to pick the right direction to get directly to the cairn marking the start of the path down and I slightly overshot it to the south, but the steep cliffs on the west side of Loch Eanaich were a good guide. |
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