Monadh Ruadh.

->Section 8->Monadh Ruadh

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Section 8 900 Culardoch 895 Creag Mhor 862 Carn Liath 829 Brown Cow Hill 821 Geal Charn 818 Carn na Drochaide 813 Sgor Mor 810 Meall a'Bhuachaille 792 Carn Ealasaid 872 Morven 840 Ben Rinnes 804 Carn Mor 781 Corryhabbie Hill Section 6 Section 7 Section 9 Return to Corbett index Return Home.

Black Bridge. Glen Lui/Gleann Laoigh Sgor Mor  813m  2666'  Big peak Map  Creag Mhor 895m  2932'  Big crag. Map

 

The watter o A'an, it rins sae clear,
Twad beguile a man o a hundred year.

Sgor Mor 813m

Sgorr Mor, the summit ridge from above Derry Lodge.

 

When crossing the Larig Ghru from Spey to Dee, there comes a point where the route divides, to be reunited at the Linn of Dee. Between the Derry and White Bridge routes is a high moor, crowned by a gravely ridge. The highest point is a Corbett, Sgor Mor, famed viewpoint for Ben MacDui and an old favourite short day from Derry.

Sgor Mor has tors and gravels, just like the bigger hills in the Cairngorms, and despite its modest height, is reminiscent of harder trips on the high plateau. It is especially important, as it gives an opportunity for a real Cairngorm day to those based on Deeside, when neither time nor weather allows a trip to the distant big tops.

It may be relatively close to the road, but it is still a long whack to the summit from the nearest parking or public transport at Linn of Dee. Many choose to use bikes to get down to White Bridge or Derry along good roads. A condition of a bequest leading to the purchase of the Mar Lodge Estate by the National Trust for Scotland was that bikes were to be banned from these roads. The notices are up, but you should expect no problems if you ignore them. Don't do the same as Bob Scott's Irish Guest and take the bike off the road. The story is 'oft told and features in Cairngorms Scene and Unseen by Syd Scroggie.

 

Bob Scott was the taciturn keeper living at Luibeg, across the Derry flats and under the steep side of Sgor Dubh. For a shilling a night a generation of climbers were sheltered in the out buildings. Here Tom Patey was diverted from a life of bagging to climbing, a pecking order kept the fireside seats free for the tigers of the day. Stories of the bothy days here often turn up in the literature, including that of the Irish cyclist on the stormy night.

Mr Scott pleaded with the cyclist to stay at the bothy and not to continue through the Larig Ghru. It was dark and stormy, and the way not suited to wheeled travel. The biker would have none of it and disappeared into the darkness.

In the dead hours of the following morning, a knock on the door heralded the near drowned cyclist, sans velo. He told of an epic struggle, of blizzards, of eventually giving up, leaving the bike in the lee of a great cairn. On return to Luibeg, the story caused some puzzlement, There were no big cairns in the Larig.
Later a bicycle was found propped up against the summit cairn of Ben Macdui.

 

 

Glen Lui, Derry walk in.

There is a fair bit of history attached to both glens that moat Sgor Mor. The Dee leads to three great passes, Tilt, Feshie and The Larig. It has seen much traffic over the years, often unwelcome such as Lochaber caterans. Soldiers were billeted here, during the pacification. Maybe the top and corrie, Stob Coire an-t-Saighdeir, on Carn an-t-Sabhail gained its name in this way. What is known that a sergeant was murdered when billeted at Dubrach, beyond Linn of Dee in the 1820s. The trial , in Edinburgh, of three locals collapsed.

Glen Lui gained notoriety a century earlier. Also a conduit for cattle and goods, both lawfully and unlawfully removed, this glen was perhaps the first to be cleared.

When doing that famed long walk in from the gates to Derry the fertility of the flat bottomed Glen Lui is very noticeable. There were many people living here at the upper reaches of farmable Deeside. In 1726 the estate was in the hands of the Lord Grange, brother of the Jacobite Earl of Mar, of the 1715 uprising.
The estate was forfeit and was to be sold, its value must be enhanced.

" To James Farquharson of Ballmoral
Near the Kirk of Crathie in Mar
Alloa 15 Septer 1726

Sir…… As to Glenluy, Ld Dun and I find your Letter of the 26th August at this place when we came to it last Week. The Directions formerly given as to the ejection are so particular that we need only to refer to them. And we desire you to act according to them, and to eject those people after their harvest is over …
and the more you have along with you there will be the less opposition, these people perceiving it will be vain for them to resist."

At least they were allowed their harvest.

Later the glen was resettled, only to be cleared again in the 1840's, this time for a deer forest. The old settlements are clearly visible as you walk to and from Derry.

Mar Lodge, one of the great sporting estates has a turbulent recent history. Once the lodge was a hotel, providing Bob Scott with a local, and a favourite starting point for many an Aberdonian weekend. A daft idea to build a ski resort on Creag Bhalg dates to this era. The same plans led to the dreadful track up Beinn a' Bhuird. Later, the estate was bought by an American, whose wife wanted to live next door to the Queen. They got bored and the estate lapsed into disrepair, the forests felled in an asset stripping exercise. Eventually it was bought , after much campaigning by the NTS and a then mystery donation of £4.5M. In 2002 it was announced that the benefactor was not The Prince of Wales, as was widely believed but a philanthropic member of the Salvasen shipping family Anne Marie Salvesen. The National Trust kept her confidence until after her death in 2001, and now wish that their gratitude to this remarkable woman be recorded.

The NTS are trying to restore the estate, repairing hillsides scarred by buldozed roads and encouraging regeneration of the forests. Despite this its a condition of the bequest that Mar Lodge remains a sporting estate. Another manifestation of the new management policy is an attempt to stop the use of bikes on the roads, not the places where damage can occur but on roads like the Derry Road. This is being firmly resisted, and a bike is still the best way into Derry.

I finally climbed the Sgor after passing many times in February 1999. It was my first hill day after a long time working in Denmark and I was glad to be back in a 3-D landscape. Based at the Cairngorm Club hut in Inverey, and faced with a dodgy forecast and poor skiing conditions, Sgor Mor was an obvious objective.

 

Sgor Dubh (shadow) below Carn an-t-Sabhail.

 

From Linn of Dee a short bit of the White Bridge road was taken to opposite the site of Dubrach. A long heathery haul up through a pine forest remnant lead onto the sweeping plateau. The miles to Sgor Dubh went easily despite the odd bit of bog and snowdrift. At Sgor Dubh, the top above Derry, I realised, as the wind got up that I had not brought a cag. No joke in the 'Gorms, even the little 'Gorms. Snow was inevitable, so it was a race to the top. Mercifuly it stayed dry as tors and gravels were passed, with fine views of the giants lining the Larig, and Glen Derry. This is the best place to see Ben Macdui, a retiring hill, despite its size and height.

Land of the Giants: Bod an Deamhain, Carn an-t-Sabhail, Carn a' Mhaim, Ben Macdui and Carn Gorm (Derry), from Sgor Dubh.

There were some fine wind sculpted rocks, especially around the summit, but I was in no mood for scrambling. I was warm, if I moved, but as the snow began to fall I knew that the heat was going. Quickly down to Glen Luibeg and the Larig Ghru path. We used the snowdrifts as much as possible to lessen the heather wading. I could not however lessen the river wading. On crossing, as soon as the trees were reached, they disappeared into a silent world of blizzard. Shelter, just in time.

The walk to Derry was , as always magical. Pines looming out of the snow, no welcoming smell of wood smoke from Luibeg now, the bothy had long since burned down. I once did this walk by moonlight after a 12 hour winter day, the woodsmoke being the strongest memory. That time I was dossing in Derry Lodge. A previous trip, 6 of us stayed in the gralloching shed. Getting water was an epic, needing a reverse compass bearing to find the Lodge again when returning from the river. We all know how bad the hills can get here, but do not underestimate the glens.

Deer and the pines of Luibeg. Sgor Mor behind.

 

As always I made a call from the phone box on the mountain rescue hut. Its always strange giving a commentary of the weather from here. I once gave a description of the Northern Lights from Fersit 'phone box, just like in the movies.

Ticking off all the landmarks, good time was made back to the Gates of Derry, past the Clais Fearnaig path, the ruins, the fairy mounds and the Black Bridge, now in bright sunshine. I was wet but happy in the knowledge that 1) a good day was had in the face of a bad forecast and 2) the Muir of Inverey drying room is the best in the land.

 

A view from Sgor Mhor

 

Creag Mhor 895m

The summit tor and gravels of Creag Mhor.

 

Another of those 'equidistant from nowhere' hills, Creag Mhor guarantees a long walk whichever way it is done. There are several choices of approach and the convenient location at the centre of the range makes it an easy acquisition for those passing through on other ploys. This is even easier as there is but 200m climb from glen floor to summit tor.

A good tactic will be to incorporate it with a crossing of the Lairig an Laoigh, it would add little effort but much pleasure to the crossing. When I passed this way, I was after the Munro across the A'an, Beinn a'Chaoruinn, in deepest midwinter. I remember the shock of being startled by a reindeer when packing away my stove at the Fords of A'an. I thought I was alone, then I saw movement between me and my 'sac top. This was a leathery nose. Such encounters are not always so enjoyable. In September 2002 an agressive bull attacked two walkers on Cairngorm. He was dealt with in a very decisive manner. The antlers were removed.

Ben Bynack from the summit of Creag Mhor. Note the 'Barns' , great tors just below the summit.

 

As well as enhancing the long pass walks, Creag Mhor is easily bolted on to a Munro day. I expect few come here just to do Creag Mhor.

The hill is the high point of the north-east quadrant formed by the crossing of the fords of A'an. Long miles of moor and bog stretch away into Banffshire (the hill is the highest within the bounds of Banffshire). This is an old and notorious trap for those led astray in storm and clag, lured by gentle gradients down the water of Caplaich. If you survive such a mistake it is nearly 20 tough miles of bog out. The other three quarters are of course occupied by big 'Gorms.

The Caiplaich trap has a long and unhappy history. Those unfamiliar with the route are well advised to do it from North to south in winter. One such disaster was in 1805 when seven soldiers on leave left Braemar for Strathspey. The Laoigh is an easier crossing than the Larig Ghru, but the trap was waiting. After crossing the A'an in a blizzard, no fords, just snow, the unfortunated could not face the climb over Ben Bynack. They were lured down the gentle slopes of the Glas Ath and Caiplaich. Only two made it out.

There have been other victims.

 

Beinn Mheadhoin, MacDui and Cairngorm surround Loch A'an, as seen from Creag Mhor.

Whilst most of the Caplaich moors are peat covered plateaux, dissected by deep gorges, this high corner is classic Monadh Ruadh terrain. A plateau crowned by granite tors and sparse vegetation clinging to pink gravels. Just like the high tops 300m higher. This hill is every inch a true Cairngorm.

Approaching this hill usualy involves one of the trade routes that cross at the often troublesome Fords of A'an. Bikes ease the approach from the east as there is a long road up Glen Avon from Tomintoul as far as the site of Faindouran Lodge, just east of the hill. Others will follow the Lairg from Dee to Spey, and there is the modern approach from the ski car park on Cairngorm, descending to Loch A'an

Fords of A'an should be treated with respect. This river does not just drown centurions, and it's a long way back to Derry with an empty bag. I was fortunate in once finding the river frozen solid, and when I visited Creag Mhor in late summer, the water was low. Not long ago, it was proposed that a bridge be built here, but happily this was fought off. There are many burns along the route that can get you, shall we bridge every one? shrink the wild lands into distant memory?

Glen Avon, looking upstream. Creag Mhor on the left.

If the fords don't get you and you are not lured to a peaty doom down the Water of Caiplaich, the remaining 200m is an easy stroll. The summit is a small tor with very good views into the heart of Ben MacDui, the Glen A'an Basin, this contrasts with the desolation to the east, as the gravels give way to hags.

I chose to visit Creag Mhor as part of a close season glen bash. The plan was to avoid stalking conflict by walking two great passes. The Bealach Dearg and half of Lairg an Laoigh joining them by a descent of the A'an/Avon. The Bealach Dearg would return me to the Dee and Culardoch was only just off the pass. Another easy stalking dodger?

I made good time through the Derry pines and over the first pass of the Lairg, between Beinn Mheadhoin and Beinn a'Chaoruinn. This is rocky with numerous shallow lochans. I was able to have lunch by a solitary tent at the fords. Heavy rain showers were typical of the August Bank Holiday. Fresh snow on Ben Macdui less so.

 

Beinn Mheadhoin and the Loch A'an crags from Creag Mhor.

I guessed that nipping up the Corbett from the Fords would not upset anyones stalking and quickly found shelter behind the summit tor. Later I met some fishemen in Glen Avon , they gave a lift down the last two miles to the Loch Builg turn. They no doubt let Inchrory know I was about as that night my tent was spotted in a searchlight mounted on a landrover. They were probably after foxes, but often when camping with the knowledge of an estate, I have had a visit from the 'lamp'.

The Glen Avon walkout was as ever, long but interest was maintained by views into the corries of Ben A'an and Beinn a' Bhuird, and their weird tors. Creag Mhor, again an incident on a greater journey.

 

Glen Avon and Ben A'an

 

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last revised March 2005