37. Braeriach (3) 14/08/2007

An excellent hill walk. We got up early and walked up the road from the youth hostel before taking the splendid path to the Chalmain gap, where a bit of scrambling ensued. This v-shaped rocky cleft took us through to our first view of Braeriach, still somewhat enshrouded in mist. We crossed the impressive Lairig Ghru, the vast glaciated valley running the length of the Cairngorms, and began the long pull up the broad shoulder to the summit plateau. Just as we got to the edge of the corrie, the mists lifted to give us a magnificent view of Carn Toul and the rest of An Garbh Choire. From there it was only a gentle kilometer to the summit, with precipitous drops to our left and wide slopes to our right. In all, 1200m of ascent and 25km of walking, so a good energetic first munro for Chris and Aileen.

Looking down on the Lairig Ghru from the summit

Braeriach (right) from the ascent of Ben Macdhui

The summit plateau from Macdhui