Sunday 12 August 2018

Lochnagar - The high life

Culicoides Impunctatus is a small, biting fly found in summer throughout the wet, boreal regions of the world, including Scotland. The males emerge first in May, followed a week later by the females. It’s the females that bite as they need to have a blood meal before they lay their eggs. Those eggs hatch into larvae which then morph into flying adults. All of this takes only two weeks so there is a constant supply of billions of biting beasts on the summer air. 

You may wonder why I’m delivering a biology lesson at the start of this blog but if I told you that the common name in Scotland for Culicoides Impunctatus is “midge” you would know how it dominates the thoughts of outdoor folk over the summer months. Its black clouds can fair ruin a picnic stop and make camping miserable. There are some things you can do to escape midges:
1) Never go outdoors between May and September.
2) Head to the cooler, drier east coast.
3) Head high into cold air and a breeze.
And so, for a summer assault on the much-anticipated Munro of Lochnagar, my friend Graham and I decided to avoid the midges by staying high!

Lochnagar is one Munro on a mountain massif in the eastern Grampians that also holds another four Munros in close proximity. We set out to climb all five. The most common approach is from the north but we decided to tackle the hills from Glen Clova in the south. This gave us a long walk in from the head of the glen on a stinking hot, late afternoon. The hills soon crowded in above the glen in broken rock walls as the track climbed. Much of the glen was quite dreary but high up near the end, the path entered a surprising little woodland at Bachnagairn - you would never have guessed it was up there. Larch trees dressed a pretty gorge and enticing pools, while the air was filled with evening birdsong. 

A little zig-zagging path ascends from the woods up onto the open hillside and by the time we were plodding up it, the ferocity had gone out of the sun. The hills were now bathed in the soft light of a summer evening. We pitched the tents high on a bealach at 700m. It was a lumpy spot on tussocky grass but there was a view of Mount Keen in the open tent door and a real sense of space up here. There were no midges.

Next morning, our high camp spot gave us an early start on the first two Munros of the day, Broad Cairn and Cairn Bannoch. I liked the top of Cairn Bannoch (broad rocky hill), with its flat, pancake boulders that were pleasant to walk on. It gave views across our walk ahead and our walk already behind us, as well as across the undulating high ground all around. These high moors were a grand place to be on that day with big views, barely a soul around and easy walking that hardly rose or fell. 

The next two Munros, Carn an t-Sagairt Mor (rocky hill of the big priest) and Carn a Choire Bhoidheach (rocky hill of the beautiful coire), were merely pimples on the massif and easy deviations from the good path we were now on. The path crossed a couple of high level streams and we marvelled at the incessant flow of water in our hills in Scotland, even after this summer’s exceptional dry weather. It shows how the hills must be like a giant sponge, holding unimaginable amounts of water. 


With four Munros ticked off and the day creeping into the afternoon, it was time to strike out for the final climb up Lochnagar itself which had been teasing us all day on our distant horizon. As we approached the top, the atmosphere of the day changed as we joined a throng of people picking their way up from the more popular northern approach. We waited in turn to scramble up onto the summit proper. It’s not how I usually like my hills! But that said, nothing could detract from the drama of this place. 

The summit was a rocky tor of big, stacked boulders that rested on the rim of Lochnagar’s jewel, its northern corrie. Sheer rock cliffs plummeted to the coire floor and gashes that you could peer down from the edge made you giddy. There’s a pretty chain of interlinked lochans in the coire, the largest of which, Lochan na Gaire, gives its name to the hill above and means small loch of noise.

Our path followed the top rim of the coire eastwards, an airy walk above the cliffs, and picked its way through boulders where ptarmigan and their large chicks hopped around more expertly than us. The route then dropped late in the day to a high, grassy shelf at 900m, a little way below the top, where we made camp for our second night. A group of walkers on their descent passed our tents as we made supper but they were the last, and thereafter we had the mountain to ourselves. There were no midges.

In camping high for a second night we had hoped not only to avoid midges but also to walk back up to the top early next day and see the rising sun illuminate the coire from the east. But the following morning was clagged in with drizzly mist and low cloud, and there was nothing for it but to begin the walk out. A path descended sharply to the east down the course of the Glas Allt burn, unremarkable at first in the gloom with only the vibrant blues of harebells lighting the day. But it soon becomes steeper and descends into the gorge of the Glas-allt-Shiel waterfall. After the dry spell its waters were the gentlest veil over the rocks. 

The path eventually dropped down to the woods that fringe the shores of Loch Muick. It was a pretty spot with little sandy beaches that enticed us to stop for a picnic. But as soon as we stood still, the gathering midges attacked and chased us from the place, speeding us on our way to the end of the walk. The high life was behind us and we were now low life!

Fact File
Start/finish: Glen Doll car park
Transport: We used Graham’s car as the Angus Glens are poorly served by public transport. 
Our route: Took the right of way to the right just before the bridge which is just before the car park and trekked up the glen passed Moulzie. At the head of the glen the track enters the woods at Bachnagairn. It splits after a short while and we took the right hand split which immediately crosses a wooden bridge. Followed this good path up onto the moors and camped at the bealach here below Broad Cairn. The stream close to the top of the path was running for drinking water even in the dry weather. Path up and over Board Cairn was easily followed and onto Cairn Bannoch. Path then strikes out west across the moor towards Carn an t-Saigairt Mor. It eventually junctions with another very good path on the lower slopes of Carn an t-Sagairt Mor. At the junction a path heads up the Munro, a quick and easy detour. Returned to the very good path and followed it all the way northeast to Lochnagar, with another very easy detour on a good path to Carn a’Choire Bhoidheach. From the top of Lochnagar followed the rim of the coire to Meikle Pap for a good view back to the cliffs. Retraced our steps a little then dropped down to near the start of the Glas Allt burn. Just enough of a space for two small tents. Next day followed the very good path down the Glas Allt to Loch Muick then walked around the west end of Loch Muick to pick up the good path that climbs steeply back to Coire Chash and our first night’s camp spot. Returned to the car park via the outward route.

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