I
must apologise for the delay in getting this one typed up and live, for things
got a little hectic once I had returned from the fabulous Highlands of bonnie
Scotland, both at home and work.
The
first bit of fun was sorting my car out, after an accident, in Scotland, where both right hand doors and
right hand front wing were damaged, along with a wonderful week on night
shifts!
The hard part was all the phone calls and
swapping my car for the courtesy car, when really I should have been asleep…..
Still, all’s well that ends well, my car is
returned, as good as new and I’ve got another week of shifts to get through.
Anyway, that hasn’t put a damper on my
fabulous week in Scotland, staying in a lovely village called Kingussie (pro Kin-oo-see), where not only did I
manage to get a wander out on the hills, but also a trip to John O’Groats.
I’ve toyed around with the idea of going to
John O’Groats for a while since my last stay in Kingussie. It was only 163
miles, just short of a four hour drive, each way from Kingussie, but the
scenery was fabulous, both there and and back.
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| John O'Groats Signpost, one of two that were there |
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| First and Last House, John O'Groats |
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| John O'Groats Harbour |
So I’ve bagged the two tips of Great Britain,
Lands End and John O’Groats, bagged the three main peaks, Snowdon, Scafell Pike
and Ben Nevis.
I’ve found of recent times, summits are no
longer my main desire, but these days I prefer to get to the wilder and more
remote places, either solo or in a group.
Don’t get me wrong, there are still some
summits I’m more than happy to bag for the first time and others I’ll keep
bagging, whatever….
Oh, and not forgetting the Peak District
Dales, they still have appeal and will always have appeal, no matter what. There
are too many childhood memories in those dales…
Though I am finding as I’m getting older, a
motorcycle accident when I was seventeen, where I damaged my left knee and
subsequently its catching up with me, the wilder and remoter places are having
quite an appeal.
Added to that, with the map navigation
self-survival training I’ve had, these remote and wilder places have quite an
appeal
But, I aim to treat these places with
respect, at all costs.
Anyway, I’ve digressed from the main topic,
Creag Dhubh (pro Craig Doo), one of
the many peaks in the Monadhliath Mountains.
Just for reference, a Corbett is a mountain in Scotland between 2500 and 3000
(763 mtrs – 916 mtrs) feet high, with at least 500 feet of descent on all
sides. Anything over 3000 feet is called a Munro.
Some
facts before I go any further;
·
Corbetts in Scotland = 221
·
Munros in Scotland = 282
Creag
Dhubh is within the height range of a Corbett, but DOESN’T have the 500 feet of
descent on all sides. Therefore it can’t be classed as a Corbett.
I’m
digressing again!
Anyway,
after arriving in Kingussie at the place where a long standing family friend
lives and put us up for the week, I was keenly weather watching. Though it was
generally very dry, the cloud base was low. When I say low, peaks as low as 300
metres were buried in cloud!
So we
took the plunge and on a low cloud day in the Highlands, we drove to John
O’Groats. That really was a fabulous drive, virtually following the coast all
the way there and back.
Then
my son had to have a go at his White Water Tubing provided by Full
On Adventure based in Inverdruie.
My
son used to be my walking partner, until he discovered kayaking. He now paddles
white water when he can, which is quite often
White
Water Tubing, is where they take giant sized inner tube like rubber rings and
basically you paddle down a fast flowing river. In this instance, it was the
the River Feshie just down the road near a lace called Feshiebridge.
The
forecast was starting to look better. Friday would be the sunniest day, but I’m
not too worried about that, Thursday, cloudy and dry and would be cooler, which
suits me better, but more importantly, the cloud base would be higher for there
was to be some sun, the barometer was rising and I could sensibly get out and
enjoy the wild remote countryside on Kingussie’s back door.
The
original plan was to summit (I told you I
still do summits) Creag Dhubh from Kingussie, then head south and bag Creag
Mhor, circumnavigate Loch Gynack and back to base.
The family
friend, a wise old person and retired teacher, has a good knowledge of the area
and its danger points, was keen to know my intended route, for the obvious
reasons and we looked at various options.
Looking
at the map, the ground was to be boggy and could be un-navigable, either
totally or in many places, so a boundary was set, I was not to deviate from
that and if necessary, I would back track to safety.
I had
also clocked that on my planned return route, there would be some very steep
descents and not only boggy, but rocky as well!
However,
as with all good plans, they often get altered for various reasons, but the
boundary was set in stone, whatever.
I had
my compass, a Silva Expedition 4 and maps, both OS and Harveys, but no
Toughprint map, which I normally carry when out in Snowdonia or the Peak
District. That is because the route wasn’t finally decided until the night
before, when we knew what conditions to expect.
For
those wondering, Toughprint is a waterproof paper which I print maps on and
successfully use. It’s easier to handle than a full OS map, but I always have
an OS map as back-up, no matter what.
My route was to leave Kingussie heading north via the Gynack Road, walk
past the golf course, through Pitmain Lodge and ascend Creag Dhubh via the Carn an Fhreiceadain West path, summit Creag Dhubh,
Creag Mhor then descend to Loch Gynack and back through Pitmain Lodge.
Before I go any further.
This walk starts out nice and steady.
BUT!
It soon starts to become a little difficult, with lots of bogs to cross
and some very steep descents down boggy ground and some awkward and small
crags.
There is also a lot of off path work, which
in poor visibility conditions, will required extremely good navigation skills.
So, Thursday morning came, it was hot, 18ºC,
way too hot, but I still had extra layers in my pack. For once I was to get
clear of Kingussie and start gaining height, the temperature would soon start
to drop, as you will read later.
Walking up Gynack Road, I
soon crossed Gynack Burn just after St Vincent's Hospital to walk up Ardbroilach
Road.
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| Gynack Road |
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| St Vincent's Hospital |
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| The bridge one of many, from Gynack Road to Ardbroilach Road |
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| The plaque on the Ardbroilach Road side of the bridge |
Once you cross the bridge, there is a commemorative plaque to those who built the bridge. It reads;
FOOTBRIDGE BUILT
BY
I TROOP
102 (RECYCLED SQUADRON RE (V)
FOR
HIGHLAND REGIONAL COUNCIL
MAY 1998
“UBIQUE”
From here it can be a bit laborious, until you get past Pitmain Lodge.
Then, the Scottish Highlands start to show their true wonderful but dangerous
colours.
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| Approaching Pitmain Lodge |
It wasn’t long (I’m sure it was
longer than this last time!) before I reached Pitmain Lodge, then soon
after, the bridge over Gynack Burn taking me in to the yard where the foresters
work and keep their implements for maintaining the local woodland around Loch
Gynack, then I would turn right soon after entering the yard to take the
signposted track north and out in to the wilds, take the Carn an Fhreiceadain West path up.
This is a fairly steady track of stone, which the estate vehicles will
use to access the higher ground to look after the grouse stock on the open
moors.
Remember, this is managed land, which applies to virtually all of our
open moors.
While walking this path, the views over to the Cairngorms are starting
to become more and more fantastic, with some large patches of snow still
apparent at the upper levels. Yes, even as late May in this instance, it is
still cold enough at the higher levels for snow. The last time I was here it
was early June and there was still snow around on the higher levels!
I reach a small mound with trees on, where I noticed it was starting to
get a bit fresh. So time to stop and put an extra layer on, while I’m still
comfortable, because once you get cold, it can take a good while to regain that
lost body temperature and the risk of hyperthermia setting in starts to
increase!
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The track leading up from Pitmain Lodge to the west side of Carn an Fhreiceadain
|
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| ...."a stack of pipes alongside Gynack Burn! "....
|
So the extra layer was applied and I then continued my way up along the
track. While walking along the track, I spotted what could be either a cairn or
trig point on a summit just north of my intended summit, Creag Dhubh.
A quick check on the map and I identified the summit as Carn Coire na h-Inghinn, but there is no trig point
there, so it must be a summit cairn.
You know what is said about
best laid plans?
You’ve guessed it.
I had my eye on that cairn
and it was within the pre-set boundary…..
So I continued along the track to a point where it starts to drop down
towards Gynack Burn. At this point, I need to go off path, so I started to look
around for the best possible route.
Here I noticed a stack of pipes alongside Gynack Burn!
We had spotted a helicopter earlier in the week taking pipes up from
near Pitmain Farm on the A82 just east of Newtonmore. I wonder?
Remember, in the planning, the map said the ground from here would be
marsh, boggy in other words…..
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| The point where I started to go off path and handrail Allt Coire Garbhlaig |
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| Looking up to the summit of Carn Coire na h-Inghinn |
I could make out what seemed to be faint vehicle tracks, hand railing one
of the many small tributaries that would feed Gynack Burn, Allt Coire Garbhlaig.
So I started to follow that
track. The ground was generally soft, but I would bet that after a good
downpour, that would be almost impossible to walk across!
I was starting to notice an
increase in the chill, even though there was virtually no wind!
However, I didn’t really want
to take my pack off and put it on the wet ground, even though all my kit was in
dry sacks, just to put an extra layer on. Added to that, the route would become
slightly more sheltered from the wind as I progressed and then I would find a
suitable spot out of the wind to put the extra layer on, once I’d reached the
summit of Carn Coire na h-Inghinn.
You can read about why I use
dry sacks and how I organise my pack in Whats in my pack?
By now, the summit cairn had
become more visible to the naked eye and there was no mistake that was a
cairn….
It wasn’t too long before I
reached the summit cairn, which was almost trig point in shape, and I was able to just get out of the
wind, place my pack somewhere close by on dry ground and get that extra layer
out and put it on.
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| The wind was only just over 10 mph, F3, a Gentle Breeze on the Beaufort Scale |
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| ...."the temp had dropped to 2.9ºC".... |
Here the temp had dropped to
2.9ºC and though I had kept myself reasonably warm walking up from the track,
the chill started to take a bite and the time was to change from a baseball cap
to a beanie!
The time was around 13:00
hrs, lunchtime and I was nicely sheltered, with a superb view across the
wilderness of the Monadhliath, not a soul around, no noise other than some of
the birds flying around, it was tranquillity at its best.
So out came my lunch, a ham
salad batch with lots of coleslaw made up earlier that morning in the
Costcutter located on High Street (the main road through) Kingussie.
Boy was that a lovely
batch…..
Lunch over, a quick photo
swoop then I must continue.
Camera away please…..
Yes, I’m terrible; I just
love taking photos…
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| Mountain Hare |
So, all packed away and I
then started to head for the ridge which would lead up towards Creag Dhubh,
that was behind me.
There was another smaller
cairn just on an insignificant peak to the west. From there, I started to make
a southerly trek down, across some more boggy ground (yes, now I was losing height, the ground was getting wet and soft again)
then up.
That scenario actually
happened a few times. Not only that, I encountered quite a few mountain hares
while walking that ridge.
I just love the way the mountain
hares stand on their hind legs…..
I had some steep descents,
which again were evident on the map and in the planning along with dipping on
to boggy ground, but in the process,.
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| The ridge from Carn Coire na h-Inghinn |
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| Plenty of marsh ground to cross..... |
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| There were some steep descents and ascents |
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| Creag Dhubh summit cairn coming in to view |
I started a final ascent in a
south easterly direction to the summit of Creag Dhubh then made a turn to head
southerly and the summit cairn was coming in to view.
Finally I had reached the
summit cairn on Creag Dhubh.
Wow!
What a view I was blessed
with.
Not just to the north across
the Monadhliath, but down over to Newtonmore, Kingussie, then across the River
Spey and Loch Insh, and over to the Cairngorms.
For the first time since
leaving Pitmain Lodge, I had a proper phone signal.
Now here’s something’s to think
about. For most of my route up here, I had NO mobile phone signal of any sort.
Would you know how to call
for help?
Would you know what to do if
something went wrong?
If the cloud came in and your
GPS wasn’t working, would you be able to find your way to safety, or if
necessary, could you survive a very cold night?
I know I would, and if you
read Whats in my pack? That lists the items I was carrying. Yes, I still had another layer to
put on if I needed it and a spare base t shirt….
Something else to think
about.
I have a whistle and
headtorch, and I know how to use them should I need to call for help. But if
you heard someone blasting away on a whistle, would you think they were just
messing around, or would it be a call for help?
I wonder how many would think
of it as a call for help?
Last time I was up this way,
I raised that question on Twitter. The replies were very interesting, to the
point that a call for help was at risk of being innocently ignored by some:
while others said that after a while, they might think hang on….
That was a really good debate
and it made some people think…..
Incidentally the call for help using a whistle is:
- Six good long blasts.
- Stop for one minute.
Time was pressing on. I
looked at my watch, I had stayed there longer than planned and I had quite a
good trek ahead of me, added to the fact there was some possibly dodgy terrain
that might not be navigable…
A look at the map and another
minor route change, but still staying within the pre-set boundary, but missing
one peak out.
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...."I spotted some deer, feeding;
only they had spotted me long before I spotted them".... |
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| The steep descent down to Loch Gynack |
My re-planned route was to
miss out Creag Mhor summit, though I would circumnavigate the summit. But even
in the original planning, that was a questionable peak from a time factor, so
no real surprise for the folks back at base if I missed that out.
So my descent from Creag
Dhubh started and my intention was to make a continued descent aiming for the
north shore of Loch Gynack, on its western side, part of the planned route.
Here it was going to be
tricky, the map told me so. The contours were close together, there were lots
of crags indicated along with marshy ground…
Undeterred, I carried on and
enjoying the scenery before it disappeared from view on my steep descent. Soon
I was past Creag Mhor summit and on a steep, boggy and at times, craggy
descent.
As I was nearing the western
side of Loch Gynack, I spotted some deer, feeding; only they had spotted me
long before I spotted them. The moment I reached for my camera, whoosh, they
were away….
I was well back in to sheep
and deer country, having left the mountain hares behind just before I reached
Creag Dhubh summit.
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| Western shore of Loch Gynack |
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| The track back towards Pitmain Lodge |
The helicopter was making its
last deliveries of pipe for the day, which were blue in colour and I guess they
were the ones I was to see later close to Loch Gynack.
It wasn’t long before I
reached the path that runs along the north shore of Loch Gynack.
It wasn’t long before I was
walking along the north shore of Loch Gynack and heading for the path back
through Pitmain Lodge, back across Gynack Burn and walking down Ardbroilach
Road towards Kingussie. However, this time I crossed Gynack Burn at the bridge
by the golf course to break the walk up and walk past the golf club house,
through the caravan site and on to Gynack Road, then back to base, for a
shower, and a welcome hot meal
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| The gate leading to the yard |
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| Walking back through the yard |
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| The bridge from the yard and back to Ardbroilach Road |
It was a superb day, with
some really stunning views and fantastic tranquility. I can’t wait for the
next time. But I’m already planning my next Peak District wander, and also my
next Snowdonia wander too….
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| The bridge from Ardbroilach Road, across Gynack Burn to the Golf Course |
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| The Golf Course buildings |
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| ...."through the caravan site and on to Gynack Road".... |
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| Map showing the area covered |
Finally, happy rambling and thank you for
reading,
Peak Rambler
PLEASE NOTE: NO FURTHER COMMENTS ARE PERMITTED TO THIS BLOG
Due to ongoing spam issues, I've had to stop allowing comments to be posted.
Links
to some of the items I’ve mentioned and written about here:
Full On Adventure
Toughprint Waterproof Paper from Memory map
A Heartbeat Walk from Aidensfield on
to Howl Moor
Beinn Bhreac and a Trig Point on Carn an Fhreiceadain
Kingussie Community Development Company (KCDC) hydro project
Whats in my pack?
Well, it certainly put my observation skills to the test. I
had to make sure I noted each fine bit of detail so when we stopped, I could
track the route from our last stop point to where we had arrived.
