8
Accompanyment:
Jeni Strachan
Munro Stats:
Height
4295 ft (2nd highest Munro) "Hill of the black pig"
Difficulty
7.5/10
Enjoyment
9.5/10
Route:
What an adventure this walk ended up being. My sister re-named the mountain Ben "Make-do-ee" afterwards! Again... a little more planning would have paid dividends but then I would not have the stories to tell afterwards and where would be the fun in that?!
It was this walk that made me no longer trust Mr Mcneish's artwork or chat (Hint 1)! My sister and I decided to do this walk knowing that it was the 2nd highest Munro - but not really anticipating how long it would take. First rule of Munro club I'm sure!!! But nonetheless we started in high spirits even stopping in Braemar for a coffee in the cafe "taste"... when we really should have been up at 6am and starting the walk at 8am or so!!! (Hint 2)
We took mountain bikes and the path to Derry Lodge was cracking!!! Great scenery cycling by the river as can be seen here:
Just before the lodge the OS map talked of a bridge. It's obviously no there any more:
Just at the lodge I had a go at crossing on my bike. It was successful... not!
The walkers bridge is in fact behind the lodge and after that you go across a field then back onto quality track to the drop off point for bikes. (Remember this field for the trip back...)
1km from the drop off point my back bike tyre popped (-(-boom-)-) and I walked the last 1km deciding to repair the puncture there while my sister had a break. After locating the rip, repairing it and blowing up the tyre I was surprised to see the inner tubing herniate out of the tyre rim. It was my brother's bike I was borrowing... and the back tyre had perished half way round the tyre and it would simply pop again if it had to take any weight. (Check your tyres before leaving - Hint 3).
Thankfully I saw a solution with my duck tape and taped the tyre inside to outside - which worked! Hint 4: always take duck tape with you - it is invaluable in many emergencies!!! After securing the bikes we headed up the mountain.
What a climb! Fantastic views, amazing rocks, lovely weather. Wouldn't have rather been anywhere else! :
We reached the top after lunch and time was ticking on.
We followed the path and were intending to head up Derry Cairngorm on the way back to the bikes. The sun was setting and it became clear that this path was heading us off track.
But how could this be?! We were just off the top of the OS map as we passed a wee loch - but we were still on Mr McNeish's map which claimed there was a path that headed back onto the path for Derry Cairngorm. Bollocks!!! We lumbered over the steepness south of the path we were on and got ourselves back onto the Derry Cairngorm path.
By then we had a decision to make... Do another ascent and climb down the other side of Derry Cairngorm... (in retrospect I wish we had done - but my sister at the time was unwilling to climb any more. The path would have been better - but what were we to know lay ahead of us?!)... or climb down as much as we could down the side of the mountain (it was getting dark and we were knackered). So down we went. Before long the view was this:
We had walkie-talkies and used them whenever my sister lost sight of me. There was no path and to minimise the risk of one of us going over on our ankle we split my poles and basically walked like beaters through the hilly heather heading down and back to the bikes. One thing in our favour was that it was a full moon that night. Unfortunately it was rising over derry Cairngorm and until it was high in the sky we were in almost pitch blackness. We could barely see the top of the heather and no way could see anything resembling a sheep path still.
Another obstacle that cropped up were the six small rivers we had to cross in order to get across to the other side of the glen. Fub fun fun. But not when you have to contend with a girl... and have to coax her across!!!
We looked up at Derry Cairngorm and saw a flare... SHIT! We were almost certain our mother had called mountain rescue. Surely they would have gone up there first since she knew where we were going. It was about 10pm at this point and looking back to where the summit of Macdui was we were convinced we could see flashing helicopter lights! No way! No way! "Hide the OS map Jeni!" was one thing that was said!!!
But thankfully it was not a rescue but tricks of the night. A low lying cloud hitting the bright moonlight of the night was a spitting image of a flare and no helicopter arrived!!! The full moon also brought visions of certain supernatural animals into mind and on several occasions after beating the heather (to gauge depth) and some grouse wakes up and jumps at you flapping its wings all of a sudden... scared the hell out of us!!! We eventually found the path and were SHATTERED!!!!!:
Finally we got back to the bikes and had a quality cycle back to "THE FIELD". The path seemed to glow in the moonlight. Our legs were close to falling off by this point and with Derry Lodge in sight we entered the 4x4 dirt track across the final field before the lodge. (-(-SPLAT-)-) I went full on over my handlebars as my front tyre went into a massive hole, camouflaged by the night. Winded I stood up and waited for Jeni to catch up. Surely nothing else could happen tonight... wrong!
We stood and watched as six animals approached from the 2 O'clock position in front of us and ran approximately 150-200m away from us in a semi-circle around the back of where we were. The stopped abruptly one after the other... 1...2...3...4...5...6. Half surrounded, and after a second of exchanging "What the..." looks... we got straight back on our bikes and cycled like we'd never cycled before back to the car. What were they??? They weren't deer. Dogs? Wolves?...locals on the full moon. We'll never know. But it certainly wasn't funny at the time.
What a day. What a night!!!
One final photo which would have been amazing had it managed to focus. It was a stunning sight in reality...
Hints:
Get up early and start this walk early!
Stick to the path... beware of the mooooon!!! No seriously... watch out for the lack of a path to Derry Cairngorm. Once on the plateau before the climb up - the path is easily visible. It's just getting there!!!
Remember to check your equipment!!! We forgot our torch which would have been invaluable... and how useful was the duck tape?!!! Made it all the way home and it is still holding the tyre together!!! (My brother asked me to replace the tyre as I had obviously burst it!!! gtf!)
Timing:
Total time 14 1/2 hrs car to car
Suggested timing 8-12 hrs by Mr McNeish
Total 30.4 km
02/09/06
Started 11:30 - didn't realise we started this late till now!!!
Derry Lodge 13:30
Puncture 14:15
Started ascent 15:00
Summit 19:00
Derry Cairngorm plateau pre-final ascent 21:00
Back on main path 23:00
Back at car after walk to bikes & cycle back 02:00
(Drive and back at home 03:00)
