Living the high life on Ben MacDui

The summit areas of the Cairngorms form the most arctic-like environment in Britain, winter here can last for nine months of the year and the conditions for any plant or animal are extreme.  Winds scour the plateaux, the ground can be frozen, buried in snow, subject to heavy rain and endure drought conditions during the course of a year.  To live the "high life" on these plateaux you have to be tough.  But there are a surprising amount of  species who choose this environment.  Birds like Ptarmigan don't do well at lower altitudes, while scarce breeders such as Dotterel and Snow bunting find the Cairngorm tops much like their core sub-arctic ranges.

The boulderfields look bare at first glance, just granite boulders, some moss and a few lichens - and even these need to be very resistant to extremes.

But look around a bit and you start to find other species.  On the granite gravel patches are tufts of Deer Grass (Tricophorum cespitosum).  The plant isn't particularly favoured by deer, the name coming from the warm brown and orange colours of the shoots as they die back in late summer and autumn.

Sedge, Rush or Grass?  I see this species a lot on the hills and haven't definitely identified it, so if anyone knows what it is please let me know!

The undoubted superstar of the high plateaux in summer is Moss Campion (Silene acaulis).  Occurring in clumps sheltered behind boulders up to about 1150 metres, the dense cushions of green dotted with jewel-like purple flowers are a startling sight on the bare slopes.

The flowers are just 6-10mm across and sit tight on the cushion of the plant.  Superbly adapted for the high life, Moss Campion has a deeply penetrating tap root and a compact cushion which give it a good degree of wind resistance.  Up here, the wind rules everything, even eroding the rock itself by blowing gravels around.   Plants have adapted though.......


 

This heath has grown prostrate from a crack on a granite boulder.  The plant has grown downwind and as the wind has damaged the part nearest the root it has found  a toehold on the lee side of the boulder and put down roots.  Soon the original root will die and break off as the plant finds a better position in the shelter of the rock.

 My descent to Glen Luibeg took me down off the summit boulderfields and onto the grassy ground a bit lower down.  Lochan Uaine (the green lochan) in its wild corrie was one of the places I'd considered camping.  Maybe next time.....

The big grey view of Ben MacDui

I woke briefly some time in the pre-dawn to hear light rain on the tent but on waking a couple of hours later the rain had stopped, though it was overcast.  That didn't detract much from the pleasure of waking up and taking breakfast in such a great location though!

It was just a short climb to reach the domed summit plateau of Ben MacDui (Macduff's hill - MacDuff is the family name of the Earls of Mar),a sub-arctic landscape of granite flats and rock.  Ben MacDui is haunted by it's very own apparition - Am Fear Liath Mor (the big grey man), "something" seen and heard by normally level-headed folk which has scared them witless.  Whatever you make of the legend, it's pervasive, unexplained and in bad weather adds a certain something to any ascent of the hill!

The route from the Etchachan (east) side has some great views down gullies of red granite scree into Coire Sputan Dearg (corrie of the red spouts).  Remarkably, although it was raining in the corries and glens below it remained dry in the summit; an unusual occurrence in Scotland.

A little below the summit is the ruined "Sapper's Bothy", the story of this building is told on Neil Reid's Cairngorm Wanderer blog.  Easy to find on a clear day, a sight of the bothy in the clag is usually a very welcome confirmation that you're on route.

From the Sapper's Bothy it's just a stroll to the summit of Ben MacDui, crowned by a large cairn, trig point, view indicator and numerous low stone walls.  Despite this evidence of man's hand the summit of MacDui never feels as invaded as the top acre of Ben Nevis.  Although a well-climbed hill it gets a fraction of the ascents of Ben Nevis, due mainly to the length of the walk in and out- it's big and comparatively remote.

At 1309 metres/4294 ft MacDui is the second highest summit in Scotland (and in all Britain).  At this early hour there was nobody else around and so I could (for once) claim to be one of the highest paid men in the land!

Dotted around the summit area are low horseshoe shaped walls forming bivouac shelters.  Many of them are said to have been made by Commandos training in the area during World War 2.  I've often thought of a camp or bivvy up here, but the weather really needs to be good for that to be enjoyable.

the summit of Ben MacDui has a well-deserved reputation for being a very difficult place to escape from in bad weather.  The gently domed summit is surrounded by steep ground with only a few defined routes to get off the highest ground; and then there's the issue of finding the "right" descent in the conditions - which may well leave the walker a very long way indeed from the intended destination, attempting to walk against some of the ferocious weather found in the Cairngorms hardly ever ends well.  I have had an "interesting" few hours battling off the high ground here in strong wind and blowing snow having failed to reach the summit - it's a humbling experience as well as an exhausting one....

From the view indicator there's a fine panorama across the Lairig Ghru to the Breariach/Cairn Toul group of hills.  But on a clear day, there's much more to be seen from here.

In 1897-98, Mr A. Copland, first chairman of the Cairngorm Club, noted which hills could be seen from the summit of Ben MacDui and published the list in the Cairngorm Club Journal.  His findings were checked by Mr J. Parker and in 1925 the club built this indicator on the summit.  It has survived remarkably well given conditions up here, most of the damage is likely to have resulted from people chipping at ice to see what's beneath in winter conditions.

The furthest hills on the indicator are the Lammermuirs at 150 km to the SSE and Ben a-Chielt in Caithness 140 km to the north.  On exceptionally clear days many further distant hills can be glimpsed including those in Knoydart and Torridon.

After spending a little time just enjoying the summit view (though few of the hills on the indicator were on show today!) it was time for me to head down towards Glen Luibeg.  Even in good visibility gaining the top of the Sron Riach (brindled nose) ridge needs careful compass work across the boulderfields surrounding the summit.

No Big Grey Man this time, but there had been a big grey view to enjoy!

An Etchachan evening

A planned meeting with a Duke of Edinburgh's Award team would see me walking a long route into the heart of the Cairngorms; it seemed both logical and pleasurable to combine the meeting with an overnight camp high in the hills.  I set out from Linn of Dee in the late afternoon at a time when most walkers and cyclists were heading back down from the hills.  Past Derry Lodge on the familiar track which never seems to get any shorter, and on up through the pine woods of Glen Derry.  It was a warm evening and I stopped for a short rest near the point at which the path starts the climb to the Lairig an Laoigh (pass of the calves).  The view from here takes in the upper part of Glen Derry and beyond to the Glen Ey hills.

I branched off the main route here to take the smaller path leading towards Coire Etchachan.  The burn is crossed on a small plank bridge (recently repaired) which avoids wet feet - and in spate

conditions is very necessary to cross safely.  The small Rowan at the boulder which supports one end of the bridge has been growing here since I can remember; it's still small but is the highest tree I know of in this part of the Cairngorms.

After meeting with the team near the Hutchison hut, the climb up to Coire Etchachan was tackled.    As height is gained the "Hutchie" settles into the wild corrie, a tiny speck in a big and wild place - which is how it should be.

Coire Etchachan is a grand place.  Often misty and windswept, this evening it was a place of tranquility.  The water on the smaller of the two lochans was mirror calm and it was tempting to camp here.  My plans for the following day included traversing the summit of Ben MacDui for a further meeting with the team on it's far side, so the climb up needed to be tackled either in the evening or the morning.  I continued on, looking for a place for the tent I'd used some years ago.

It was late in the evening when the spot was reached, just a hundred or so metres below the summit of Scotland's second highest hill.  The view to the west is blocked by a craggy ridge leading from the summit plateau of MacDui but the colour of the sunset blazed away above a large remnant snow patch.  The snow remaining from winter has been much greater than in recent years, many of the snow patches will survive to form a base for the coming winter.

I got the tent pitched and a hot drink underway.  The temperature was dropping fast; even on in July  it would be a cold night up here.......

.....but the view from the tent was a bit special!  Beyond Loch Etchachan is the dark trench containing Loch Avon.  the view through to the distant Monadhliath hills framed by the sunlit summits of Cairn Gorm on the left and Beinn Mheadhoin on the right.  Apart from the quiet conversation of a hen Ptarmigan and her chicks it was very quiet.  When I climbed into the sleeping bag at sometime after 11pm the afterglow of the sunset was still smouldering in the sky.