Ben Avon and Beinn A'Bhuird

Ben Avon summit tor

Gregor and Alex on Ben Avon summit

Beinn A' Bhuird plateau looking from summit of Ben Avon

Ben Avon over Dubh Lochan

Quoich Water with Beinn A' Bhuird in distance

Monday, 15 August 2011
Distance: 36 km
Ascent:1345m   
Time: 9 hrs 13 mins

m  Leabaid an Daimh Bhuidhe   1147m     3hrs 59mins
t    Cnap a' Chleirich                   1174m     4hrs 49mins
m  Beinn a' Bhuird north top      1196m     5hrs 16mins
t    South Top                              1179m  

These hills are part of the immense Cairngorm plateau.  They are fairly inaccessible hills and require a long walk from any direction to reach them.  Gregor and I were staying in Kincardine O'Neil and as it was a reasonable forecast we arranged to pick up John and Alex from Ballater and the four of us ventured out for some hard exercise after the family wedding weekend.

We parked by Kelloch and started the long march past Invercauld house and up Gleann an t-Slugain on a late summer morning.  As we reached the gap overlooking the Quoich Water, the views up to Beinn A' Bhuird opened up and we began to enjoy the walk up the glen on the excellent well-engineered path that meanders up to the Sneck, the bealach between Ben Avon and Beinn A'Bhuird.  John was concerned about a Duke of Edinburgh party of girls who were struggling up the glen, they were equipped with far too much gear and finding the boggy ground below the path far too taxing. He went to speak to them aware that he had rescued a Duke of Edinburgh party on a previous occasion in the hills.

We kept up a good pace until reaching the Sneck and from there made the last 170 metres of ascent to the summit of Ben Avon or Leabaid an Daimh Bhuidhe to give it its correct title. Rain clouds were gathering and the blustery conditions forced us to hunker down at the bottom of the tor and eat some lunch.  We had to put on all our waterproofs as we left for the return to the Sneck but we had glorious views of the Garbh Coire with rainbows arcing over Glen Avon to the north.  We then ascended the steep scree slopes as the rain passed over and reached the top of Cnap a' Chleirich.  And then just the tedious slog over flat and initially waterlogged ground to reach the very unimposing summit of Ben Bhuird, an untidy cairn in the middle of a plateau.

The walk over to the South Top was more impressive as we skirted Coire nan Clach and then the Dubh Lochan.  We then descended steeply in a south-easterly direction eventually picking up a path that led us round Carn Fiaclach and to a crossing over the swollen Quoich Water.  I waded across in my hill running shoes but John removed his footwear for an adventure paddle. By the time we were going again, Alex and Gregor had disappeared.  We followed the path expecting to reach the Gleann an t-Slugain path but we missed a junction and ended up a kilometre along the path to the Sneck again. We had to retrace our steps but then enjoyed the long but easy walk out in lovely evening light to Invercauld House. The Duke of Edinburgh party had made a camp about a mile from where we had passed them in the morning.

The happy outcome from our rare route error was a lift from Invercauld because, on arriving back at Kelloch, Gregor had the wit to drive the car a couple of kilometres up the track to pick us up, this could be a useful ploy in the future.