07-14 September – Raeburn Hut, Laggan
The Raeburn hut is one of the Scottish Mountaineering Club huts situated on General Wade’s military road between Dalwhinnie and Laggan. It has gas heating and good access West and East for mountaineering and climbing.
Mon 8th – the centre of Scotland
Dan, Kent, Andy and Dave headed to the centre of Scotland in Glen Truim and a walk over the nearby hills. Peter was seeing his mum and arrived later that day.
Dinner in the hut – venison burgers, chips and salad cooked by Kent – what a lovely man.
Tue 9th – Cairngorms
Peter, Ken and Dan headed into Coire an’t Sneachda to climb Pigmy Ridge. Another classic climb where the approach is as exciting as the route requiring the rope. Peter doubled down by bombing Kent and Dan with his rucksack from the belay – luckily it didn’t go too far but it did snap the tops of his walking poles off… Clip your bag to the belay! The climb was great, ably led by Kent on P1 and Peter for the rest while the wind howled. Lots of stuck gear – Peter retrieved a Rock 6 and a DMM 3 for his collection (no tough tags).
Dave and Andy walked up Ben Macdui in the wind and took great pictures of the climbers. Everyone walked off via Cairngorm and had a coffee at the Mountain Shop in Aviemore while Peter bought new poles….. Rheindeer in the car park at the ski centre. Peter got stung by a wasp and had a large local reaction on his leg which was unexpected.
Group dinner in the hut venison casserole cooked by Kent – cosy. The Raeburn shower lived up to expectations (mostly) – just as long as you don’t flush the toilet or turn on the taps.
Wed 10th – Ruthven and Glen Tromie
Due to the weather forecast a low day doing a loop from Ruthven barracks over Beinn Bhuidhe down into Glen Tromie. Walked back along the river valley to Tromie Bridge then back to the car. Windy and some rain but a nice walk with a remote feel.
Lots of hut time and then fish and chips at the excellent Joe’s chippy in Kingussie.
Thur 11th – Creag Bheag, Loch Gynack and Carn an Fhreiceadan
Again a poor forecast so we started up this small but well formed hill behind Kingussie. Met some habitat restorers on the way down to Pitmain Lodge and lots of spaniels. At the lake after investigating the small hydro schemes the weather seemed better than expected so Peter and Dan headed up to do a quite windy but dry circuit of Carn an Fhreiceadan and Beinn Bhreac (878m) on the estate roads. Lovely views and surprisingly sunny.
Andy, Kent and Dave walked around Lock Gynack and back to Kingussie.
Coffee in Kingussie and hut time. An excellent pasta dinner cooked by Dave.
Fri 12th – Cairngorms and Monadhlaith (“Monyalay”) mountains
Spots in the wind so Peter and Kent braved No 4 Buttress Coire an Lochain while Andy, Dave and Dan headed up A’Chailleach and Carn Sgulain starting from Glen Banchor.
After a long windy walk in Peter and Kent decided that Fallout Corner was too wet and so climbed Savage Slit. Peter tried it in his big boots but had to change to rock shoes half way up the second pitch! It was quite chilly with cold hands all around and the odd spotty rain but at least sheltered from the wind. Proper Scottish mountain climb! During the climb we observed a group throwing a large boulder off the opposite coire rim and filming it – unbelievable! A good climb and a quick walk back down the MacDui path.
Dan, Dave and Andy endured a bog fest up and down the hills with more rain and an exciting river crossing which saw every member of the group try something different. However they made it to the top of the Munros even though the views were not great.
Everyone back at the hut Peter headed back to Edinburgh to see his mum. The others headed home on Saturday after a varied and windy week 🙂
Great trip and some quality climbs. And some extensive abseil practise!