Location: Sgoran Dubh Mor, Cairngorms
Grade: Moderate mountain walk
Distance: 11 miles/18km
Time: 6-8 hours
IT was the weekend a few months back and I knew the Cairngorm Plateau would be busy so I opted for a quieter area, the Sgurans ridge, the long arm that drops down from the heights of the Moine Mor, the Great Moss, to the pinewoods of Rothiemurchus.
Not long ago Munro-baggers could collect up to five Munros in the close vicinity of Sguran Dubh but various reappraisals over the years have chopped that total to just one, Sgor Gaoith at 1118m/3668ft.
Nevertheless, the climb up onto the Great Moss and a traverse of the ridge between Sgor Gaoith and Sgoran Dubh Mor, high above the deep trench of Loch Einich, is always a good outing.
Most people access the Great Moss and the Sgorans ridge by the Foxhunters’ Path from Achlean in Glen Feshie, an old route named after a family of fox-hunters called Clark who once lived here.
Until recently Achlean was a working farm and walkers were encouraged to begin their route at the new car park near Achlean. This route offers a good alternative.
This alternative starting point opens up a marvellous circular route that climbs to Sgoran Dubh Mor via its outliers of Creag Mhigeachaidh and Geal Charn.
The ridge is then followed south to Sgor Gaoith then on to the broad, empty plateau of Carn Ban Mor before returning to the starting point by the delightful, and rarely walked, Carn Ban Beag ridge.
It’s a route that cuts out the long, dreary plod from Achlean and instead offers a fine blend of natural pinewoods, broad high-level ridges and dramatic views into the depths of Gleann Einich.
Spring sunshine was dappling the highest slopes as I climbed up through the old pinewoods above Glen Feshie. Below me, the waters of the Allt Ruadh were bubbling and frothing after the early summer monsoons and I was glad I didn’t have any major river crossings to negotiate.
A keen wind cooled me down as I approached the narrow bealach below Creag Mhigeachaidh, a hill that boasts the highest natural tree-line in Britain, but I soon warmed up again as I climbed the steep, shifting screes on to the former Munro of Geal Charn.
A broad, bumpy ridge carried me closer to the Sgorans and a final steep climb took me to the huge summit cairn on Sgoran Dubh Mor, a big hill that feels dwarfed by the enormous bulk of Braeriach, the third highest mountain in Scotland, across the depths of Gleann Einich.
The ridge to Sgor Gaoith is a fine high-level promenade with fabulous views down towards Braeriach and the Moine Mhor. Sgor Gaoith’s summit cairn sits on the very edge of a precipice and you can gaze down the sheer buttresses and crags into the black waters of Loch Einich, almost 2000 feet below.
In comparison to the airy spaciousness of Sgor Gaoith, Carn Ban Mor is wide and sprawling, its cairn a mere dot in a vast expanse of tundra.
The ground felt wet and spongy after recent rain and I was glad to get back to the firmer underfoot conditions of the hill’s long north-western ridge before the steep descent through the luxuriant undergrowth of the Allt Ruadh pinewoods.
Cameron McNeish
ROUTE PLANNER
Map: OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 36 (Grantown & Aviemore); Harveys 1:40,000 British Mountain Map, Cairn Gorm
Distance: 11miles/18km
Time: 6-8 hours
Start/Finish: Car Parking area in Glen Feshie at GR: NH853013
Public transport: None to the start.
Information: Aviemore TIC (01479 810930), www.walkhighlands.co.uk
Route: Leave the parking space and follow the track E through the forest. After a kilometre the track leaves the forest and begins to climb up pine covered slopes high above the Allt Ruadh. Follow the track to just above the Allt nam Bo where it begins to turn back on itself. A faint path now runs NNE to the bealach just E of Craig Mhigeachaidh. Climb the scree-covered slopes of Geal Charn and follow its broad ridge over the subsidiary tops to a point just SW of Sgoran Dubh Mor. Climb to the summit then follow the ridge S to Sgor Gaoith and Carn Ban Mor. Descend W now to follow the long ridge to Carn Ban Beag. Descend by the Allt an Lochain back to the Allt Ruadh track.
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