Apart from Ben Nevis, the highest British mountains are to be found in the Cairngorms, so it is ironic that the 1,245m/4,085ft Cairn Gorm that has given its name to this range should be the lowest of the big five there and the one with the easiest a
pproach and the minimum of ascent.
The original Gaelic name of this sub-arctic plateau was Am Monadh Ruadh, from the red, or pink, colour of the granite. However, An Carn Gorm (Cairngorm) means the blue (or green) hill. My money goes on the blue because from a distance, under certain conditions, there is a blue fuzzy aspect, common with many ranges in the world.
"What are those blue remembered hills?...", arguably the most famous line written by A E Housman, is to be found in A Shropshire Lad:
Into my heart an air that kills/From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,/What spires, what farms
are those?
That is the land of lost content,/I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went/And cannot come again.
If only a hillwalking lad could write like that.
The tourist route from the car park, at 625m, uses the much improved track/path through the ski area to reach the top station, from where a well-made cairned path leads directly to the summit. Cairn Gorm is one Munro whose very character and appearance have been determined by ski-ing developments and although the funicular railway has improved the appearance of the ski area, the tourist route is too busy for many a hillwalker.
Not surprisingly, considering its mass, Cairn Gorm has four subsidiary tops all above 1,000m (1,053m Creag an Leth-choin, 1,215m Cairn Lochan, 1,176m Stob Coire an t-Sneachda, not named on my map, and 1,151m Cnap Coire na Spreidhe) a reduction from the nine of the 1974 tables. Overlooking Loch Morlich, these tops form a north-west facing horseshoe by the rim of three spectacular corries... Coire an Lochain, Coire an t-Sneachda and Coire Cas. Bearing in mind the tops are on the edge of one of Scotland's most extreme sub-arctic wilderness environments, the inexperienced should only traverse them on a good day. When Jimbo and I were there a few days ago the slopes were busy with far too many ill equipped for any sudden change in the weather.
Aviemore is well serviced by train and bus and from the main bus stop by the railway station there is an hourly service – no 34, operated by Highland County Buses – to the Cairngorm car park. For more details, tel: 01463 710555.
You will need Ordnance Survey map 36, Cairngorm Mountains. A complete circuit of the Northern Corries and tops starts from the car park at map ref 990060. Take the path that heads SSW to a broad ridge, Fiacaill an Leth-choin, and a 1,083m bump at map ref 975025. Neither ridge nor bump is named on my map. The path quickly covers the first two miles, climbing over 400m – an easy start. (Make sure not to take either of two side paths on the left – south – that lead into Coire an t-Sneachda and Coire an Lochain.) Just before the 1,083m bump, curve clockwise to reach Creag an Leth-choin, also known as Lurcher's Crag, an excellent point for views across to the western Cairngorms.
From here, climb to the 1,083m bump then head ESE at first, for the pull up to Cairn Lochan, with a choice of two cairns. Head ENE, keeping by the rim of the corries, to 1,176m Stob Coire an t-Sneachda, only some 50m lower but dwarfed by the closer bulk of Cairn Gorm. Bypassing the 1,141m cairn at the top of the Fiacaill a' Choire Chais, climb east to Cairn Gorm.
Near the large cairn is an automatic weather station run by Heriot-Watt University, hardly a thing of beauty though it does serve a useful purpose. Many a hillwalker has been alarmed, especially on a misty day, when the measuring equipment suddenly appears like a cuckoo clock.
Make sure to include Cnap Coire na Spreidhe in a small NNE then eastwards detour. Return west to the hidden-at-first Ptarmigan restaurant. Using the eroded path over Sron an Aonaich, it is more than a mile of steady descent over granite terrain. The path improves near the car park.
Factfile
Map Ordnance Survey map 36, Cairngorm Mountains
Distance 7 miles
Height 900m
Terrain Mostly excellent paths
Start point Cairngorm car park
Time 5 to 6 hours
Nearest town Aviemore
Nearest refreshment spot A good choice in Aviemore
The full article contains 802 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
