Beinn a’ Bhùird

Monday 6th June 2016

When I was in the Cairngorms three years ago I climbed Ben Avon, but spurned its neighbour, Beinn a’ Bhùird, dismissing it as being merely a flat plateau with nothing of interest. However when planning this holiday I couldn’t help thinking that since Beinn a’ Bhùird was the highest mountain in Scotland that I’d never been up I really ought to include it in my schedule, but I had no idea how I would do that. It wasn’t until towards the end of my walk the previous afternoon that I suddenly came up with an amazing idea for the walk on this day and the next, but it required great weather for it to work. Fortunately the weather was amazing on this holiday and Monday morning dawned with clear blue skies yet again. The usual bagger’s route up Beinn a’ Bhùird starts from Linn of Quoich heading up Glen Quoich before climbing long, dull slopes to the summit, but the connoisseur’s route up Beinn a’ Bhùird starts from Invercauld Bridge and was the route that I took down from Ben Avon three years ago. Getting to Invercauld from Braemar was difficult, if not dangerous, as it involved several miles of walking beside a busy ‘A’ road until eventually I reached the trade entrance to the Invercauld Estate where there is a car park, which I didn’t need.

Excellent tracks took me through the wooded parkland of the estate, past Invercauld House, with great views up the Dee Valley until I eventually emerged onto heather moorland in Gleann an t-Slugain. The long walk-in continued in warm, bright sunshine until hours later I turned a corner into Glen Quoich and got my first sight of Beinn a’ Bhùird. This is a vast mountain, covering a large area so that even though I was now in eyesight of it I still had a long way to go before I could get to the top. I was disappointed not to have walked up through the wooded valley of Glen Quoich that I could see to my left, but as the excellent footpath swung to the right up the valley I began to get great views of the impressive corries that cut deeply into the eastern slopes of Beinn a’ Bhùird. As I slowly climbed up the valley the corries slowly revealed themselves until eventually the path steepened to climb up to the clergyman’s stone, Clach a’ Chlѐirich, and into the delightful valley of the Glas Allt Mòr.

A pleasant walk up the valley brought me to the Sneck at the top of the valley, but shortly before reaching the top I turned left following the stream round until I found a good spot to stop and pitch my tent. I camped at three thousand feet above sea level between Beinn a’ Bhùird and Ben Avon, and after having my lunch I set off with a considerably lighter rucksack up the slopes of Beinn a’ Bhùird. It wasn’t until I eventually reached the rocks that lie at the top of Cnap a’ Chlѐirich that I could finally see the featureless expanse of the vast Beinn a’ Bhùird plateau and the tedious walk that lay ahead of me. After crossing a depression full of bogs and snow I slowly climbed the long, broad slopes with the company of the occasional ptarmigan to the cairn that marks the Munro of Beinn a’ Bhùird. This is the north top and there is a lot more to the mountain. I had plenty of time to explore so I rounded the edge of Coire nan Clach heading south down to the saddle around Coire an Dubh Lochain and up towards the south top. There was nothing of interest on the south top so I dropped down towards a dramatic up thrust of rock that lies on the edge of the corrie rim.

This is A’Chioch, a tor-like granite rock that gazes across the corries and down into the dizzying depths below. This was a noticeable pimple in my view of the corries during my ascent up the valley and now that I was sitting at the top I had amazing views across the corries and into the valley far away. It had taken me all afternoon to walk across the summit plateau, and I rather enjoyed it partly because of increased cloud cover that had made it cooler. While the sun continued to shine northwards the weather had deteriorated further south with heavy rain far away to the south of the Cairngorm Mountains. With no threat of worse weather than cooler temperatures affecting me I was easily able to return across the vast distances of the plateau to the north top and finally back to the top of the pass. The best features of Beinn a’ Bhùird are the corries and the crags that line those corries and I was blessed with clear views of these all day. Eventually I reached the top of the pass at the Snecht where I had stunning views north into the awesome gouge in the side of the mountain that is Slochd Mòr.

A short walk down brought me back to my tent beside the quietly trickling burn. This was a walk of two halves with a long, tiring climb in hot weather to the top of the pass following by a relaxing stroll across the Beinn a’ Bhùird plateau in cooler weather. The day ended with a fabulous evening spent under blue skies in a stunning location between two of the highest mountains in Scotland. I hadn’t planned on camping near the top of these mountains until I thought of it the previous day, and I had never slept this high up before, but in this good weather it was a fabulous experience that I must do again.