Blasting round Carn a Mhaim

Statistics

Area: Cairngorms

Munro: Carn a’Mhaim

Date walked: 18/08/2012

Time taken: 2.5 hours

Distance: 22 km

Ascent: 650m

Introduction

Lately I seem to lurch from good outing where everything goes well and I bag a bunch of Munro’s to bad outing where upon I make myself Ill with my efforts and want to pack it all in. I do feel much better lately so I hope the problems are now behind me. I Know I am not good in heat as last week’s effort will testify and with the temperature still high it was not likely that I would venture out this weekend. So a beer at Danny’s on Friday night and back after midnight pretty much sealed the fate of any Munro ambitions for Saturday. However there was a niggling single Munro in the back of my mind and even as I went to bed and drifted off into a good sleep my subconscious was thinking that this might be bagged on Saturday. So four hours later I was wide awake and Bagging Carn a Mhaim in the Cairngorms was looking like a good plan.

The Walk

So an apple for breakfast and a cup of tea, pack a simple walking pack and stick the bike in the van and I am on my way. I arrive at the car park at Linn of Dee at 0735. The weather forecast for all areas of Scotland for Saturday was a mix of Sunshine and rain and thunderstorms with high ambient temperatures so aiming for the One Munro should be well within my capabilities so long as I get around before the sun comes out. It was around 20 degrees at the car park with a light mist in the air and by 0745 I am cycling up the path heading for Glen Lui. I did not intend to work hard but as I progressed I found myself working hard on the bike up the good track to Derry Lodge and in no time I am passing the derelict building. Such a waste.

I then pass the wooden hut and head over to the small bridge. There are lots of campers here and they all have mosquito nets on. As I approach the bridge there is a huge cloud of mosquito’s and I just lift the bike and quickly pass through them. Over the bridge and on the way brings me to a low lying valley with lots of large puddles to cross. I have to carry the bike on more occasions than I care to mention and I am again on the path towards the Lairig Ghru. The path is getting rockier so I decide now is a good time to park the bike.

In all honesty it would be better to leave the bike before crossing the bridge but hey ho. I now run the last 1km to the Luibeg burn and I just run across keeping high on the boulders keeping dry. There is now an uphill path and as I ascend I meet two others changing into running gear, I think, and enveloped in a cloud of midges. There is no chance of me stopping and joining in the fun and I am quickly on my way. A couple of hundred meters later and I take the fork in the path heading North West up the hillside. Its an easy one hundred meters of ascent before the hillside gets a bit steeper for another one hundred and fifty meters then an easy two hundred meters to the summit.

The drizzle has been coming down all the way and the summit is in clag so I quickly run back down the hillside. As I get back to the path the rain comes on a bit harder but the ambient temperature is warm and the cooling rain is so welcome. I meet a couple of guys here and after a quick chat I run back to the bike crossing the burn and then across the flooded valley and back over the bridge. There are a large number of walkers crossing the bridge. I then cycle at a good pace back to the van. There are a huge number of walkers walking in in various stages so the hills are definitely going to be busy today.

I am so pleased with todays effort. I never felt tired at any stage and had a good workout. Another Munro bagged.