About the event:
Where are the Cairngorms?
The Cairngorms (or Monadh Ruadh - the Red Mountains) are in the east of Scotland. They sit roughly in between Perth to the south, Inverness to the North, and Aberdeen to the east. The Cairngorms are absolutely magnificent. This huge granite lump is a relic from epochs ago. Among Scotland's highest mountains, most are here. Indeed, five of the 9 mountains over 4,000ft are here (the other 4 being across in Lochaber - Ben Nevis, Carn Mor Dearg, Aonach Mor and Aonach Beag).
Unline the west coast mountains with their spiky summits and ridges, over east the mountains tend to be more rounded but vast. Distances are huge here. There are still some epic ridges and cliffs, but the walking here can be easier.
The Cairngorms are the highest, windiest and coldest part of Britain. Animal relics from the ice age still persist here. This is one of two trips to take in some of Scotland's biggest mountains including all 5 over 4,000ft. The other trip is the weekend following this one where we will tackle some of the remoter Cairngorm mountains by bike from Braemar.
About this Adventure
Heading out into the Cairngorms at any time of year is thrilling. We are stepping back in time and into a huge and wild area. This trip will start from Aviemore which is well served by road with the main Perth - Inverness trunk road passing by (the A9). Aviemore is also on the main rail line from anywhere in the UK (including the London sleeper service), regular Citylink buses, and is 40 miles drive from Inverness airport.
You'll need to head along the spectacular mountain road through the Caledonian pine woodland past Loch Morlich to get to the start points. For day 1 we'll tackle the four central big Munros of the northern Cairngorms:
Cairn Gorm (1,244m / 4,081ft)
Beinn Mheadhoin (1,182m / 3,878ft)
Derry Cairngorm (1,155m / 3,789ft)
Ben Macdui (1,309m / 4,295ft) - This is Britain's second highest mountain, only 36m shorter than Ben Nevis
The total distance is 30km, total ascent is 1,813m
Day 2 sees us head up to Braeriach which is Britain's third highest mountain at 1,296m (4,252ft). The stats for this walk are roughly 21km with only 840m ascent!
You are welcome to join us for either day or both.
Meeting Point:
We'll meet at 0700 for the main Cairngorm plateau Munros on day 1 at the Ski Centre car park here. Please note that at the time of publishing, there is a £3 fee to park for the day so please have some coins handy.
For Braeriach on day 2, we'll park a bit lower down at the Sugarbowl car park (which also has a parking fee).
To see the start points in Google maps, please click the links. These will open in a new tab.
Difficulty:
These are very long days. A very good level of stamina is needed. There is some easy scrambling to get on the tops of Beinn Mheadhoin as dropping down to Loch Avon. There is some light scrambling and a boulder field en route to Braeriach we'll have to do on the way out and back again. Otherwise there are good tracks throughout the area. It is bouldery though in places.
Prerequisites:
A very good level of fitness is required - along with some light scrambling and repeated ascent and descent.
Cost:
The two days cost just £160. There are discounts for booking more than one person.
For just one of the days, it's £90.
Numbers:
We can take a maximum of 8