KYQ4: Cairnwell

Carn Aosda summit towards Carn a' Gheoidh

Saturday, 7 November 2020

Ascent: 685 metres

Distance: 13 kilometres

Time: 3 hours 4 minutes

Carn Aosda 915m 31mins

Carn a' Gheoidh 975m 1hr 32mins

Carn nan Sac 920m 1hr 51mins

Cairnwell 933m 2hrs 27mins

I wanted a day in the sun, not an easy fix in Scotland in November. Perusing the Met Office forecasts suggested that the Cairngorms might be the answer. The three Munros to the west of the Glenshee ski centre are the nearest with a quick ascent and a fine walk out to Carn a' Gheoidh compensating for the vandalism perpetrated on the summit of Cairnwell by the ski operators who had scarred the hill with numerous tracks, cables, telephone masts, huts and other debris.

I left at 8:30am and after a drive through foggy roads as far as Perth, the sun appeared and the A93 to Glenshee was spectacular in its autumn colours, I made Glenshee by 10:15am. There were already 70 or so cars parked, no time was wasted before heading across the road, past the cafe and ski resort paraphernalia and up the track towards Carn Aosda. I have usually climbed these hills clockwise so that dropping back to the road from Carn Aosda allows a climb over he four Munros to the east in the afternoon. I made good time to the summit taking the direct steep path alongside the ski tow. A couple of young construction workers from Elgin had caught me and asked for directions to the summit. I followed them on the final stretch to the cairn. Visibility was perfect, the Cairngorms, Lochnagar and dozens of other hills were etched on the skyline below the cobalt blue canopy. The summit of Carn Aosda, like the two other Munros today, is capped by sparkling quartzite and on days like this, it brightens your outlook.

There is a broad track across to the Cairnwell but above Loch Vrotachan you can cut below the track to the Cairnwell to reach Creag a' Choire Dhirich. I had caught up with the Elgin pair and we walked together to Carn a' Gheoidh. They were relatively new to hill walking, having started during the lockdown and seemed happy for me to take the lead and undercut the top, Carn nan Sac, on the way out. It is almost 5 kilometres from Carn Aosda and it had taken less than an hour. It was still before noon so I spent twenty minutes eating some lunch whilst talking to my companions and then taking photos after they left for the Cairnwell. It seemed a good way of enjoying a rare day on the hills. Another dozen walkers had arrived and everyone seemed to have the same idea, a long relaxing lunch break sitting on a Scottish summit, an unusual treat at any time of the year.

"The sun was shining and the weather was sweet so it made me want to move" on. I diverted over the adjacent top, Carn nan Sac, on the return and then followed the fine ridge back to the Cairnwell track. There were lots of walkers about and at the summit of Cairnwell, I sat down amidst all the clutter and chunks of quartzite to finish my food and take a drink in the warm sun. A mother and her 9-year-old son arrived and we fell into conversation. She had used lockdown to get into walking and today was their first venture up a couple of Munros. She had lost 2 stone and said it had been a revelation to feel so much fitter. Her son became animated when I described some of the wildlife that he could see on the hills and even seemed intrigued at the thought of 282 Munros. I hope so, the number of walkers today and on other trips since the end of lockdown suggests that there will be a new cohort of hillwalkers inspired by the freedom and escape that the mountains have given them. I reflected back to when I started more serious hillwalking in the 1980s, it was when I refused a ticket for a Cup Final match at Hampden to go hill walking instead that I realised that I was hooked. I have been to very few football matches since then, spectating at sports events never has the appeal of participating in an activity.

I found a lesser-used path down one of the pistes and was down by 2pm, despite breaks on two of the summits. The roads were quiet on the return apart from the usual traffic delays in Perth and then back into the fog on the A9. I was home an hour and a half ahead of my expected time, again highly unusual. To cap a perfect day on the hills, as I arrived home news broke that Joe Biden had been declared President-elect. It called for a very large G&T to quench the thirst and celebrate the end of Trump, the great malign disrupter. It has been the best news of 2020 and will relieve anxiety around the world about so many issues especially climate change, human rights and observing international agreements.