Sunday 10th May – Coach trip
Beinn Bhrotain’s distant dome has escaped the club’s reach since 2019, but Sunday saw a return despite the hill’s defence of both sheer distance and a strong icey wind stinging with hailstones. It’s a long day out, but a trifle relatively to our long-range roamer we met there who’d wild camped his way down through the Lairig Ghru for the meet, and would head back into a snow flurry afterwards: that’s commitment!
We took in the bouldery not-quite-a-munro Carn a Cloich-mhuillin, before dodging snow patches on to the plateau. Both the main west top and the secondary east top were visited, then a steep descent to the Allt Garbh’s slabs, slides and waterfalls downstream to follow the silvery Dee back to the coach, where we met up with those who’d chosen Carn Bhac as their target for the day, and our lone runner who’d made it a bit further towards Mondah Mhor.
The austere dome of Beinn Bhrotain overlooks the foot of the Lairig Ghru, its broad shoulders sweeping out above Glen Dee with rugged views of Monadh Mor and The Devil’s Point. In spring, the upper slopes are often streaked with ribbons of lingering snow, gathered in ribbons and corries. Streams, waterfalls and slabbed rock faces punctuate it’s wider spaces. Within it’s realm lies Carn Cloich-mhuilinn, one of the munros that got away for the originator of the list.
The club last visited Beinn Bhrotain in 2019, with a snowholing trip on its lower slopes in 2015.
Our next day walk meet is in 1 day: Ben Macdui + new indicator installation