Sunday, July 13, 2008
The high tops of the Cairngorms
Armchair browsing of books of the highlands will always tempt a person to put the Cairngorms in the second division, and views from Aviemore do little to alleviate this opinion. However, whenever I visit this high and expansive summits, I'm always sharply reminded that they are equal with the very best in the highlands, and that their sub-arctic landscape and caledonian glens make for a unique experience.
This year we had a 2 day camp in upper Glen Derry at just under 2000 ft and after an evening walk up Beinn a' Chaorainn ( a connoisseurs munro..!!), we had a wonderful days walk over Beinn Mheadhoin (Vee'an apparently), Ben Macdui, and Derry Cairngorm. The walk had a good blend of path and pathless and a day of brooding skies and passing shafts of sunlight made for an unforgettable day.
I saw an article on the web which summarised the feeling you get on these tops. This guy (Cameron) was standing on Breariach, and I think nicely summarises the feeling I had at the summit of Stob Coire Sputan Dearg, the extremely worthwhile south top of Ben Macdui.
"Stand by the summit cairn on a clear day and gaze down the long, empty miles of Glen Dee, past the bulk of Beinn Macdui and the long arm of Carn a' Mhaim on one side and the angular outline of Cairn Toul on the other and you'll be overwhelmed by a sensation of space and distance, an emotion that wills you to fly."
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_19990829/ai_n13942153
The attached photo on Beinn Mheadhoin shows the essence of Cairngorm walking - plenty of space to really stride out and stay high for a long time. The full series of photos is on the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adeeh2/sets/72157606139230679/
Wish I'd been there.
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