Braeriach on Hogmany

With an amazing forecast for Hogmany but nobody going about to join me I decided to go solo over to Aviemore first thing and get into some big hills!

I was originally going to repeat my Cairngorm Skyline route but I'd be pushed to finish in daylight and I wanted to get back for Hogmany night so I chose Braeriach from the Sugar Bowl carpark.

Braeriach was a great choice though and the route would give me 15m and 6500ft of quality running with next to no snow with the recent mild spells.

The Chalamain Gap

Starting from the Sugar Bowl car park I used the Chalamain Gap to gain the LG and up onto the eastern shoulder of this big bugger of a hill, the 3rd highest mountain in the UK at 1296mtrs!

The path from the Sugar Bowl to the Gap is well made and provides good running and gives a great warm up, mostly flat but undulating and eventually steepening up into the Gap which is the easiest access into the Lairg Ghru.

Some boss eyed gimp I met at the Gap

I love the Chalamain Gap with its impressive boulder fields giving some great fun boulder hopping through it. Once through the Gap it's back onto the good path down into the LG.

There's only 50mtrs or so running south into the LG you peel off right up onto the Sron na Lairige path which is steep and mostly well made. The running is excellent from here right up onto Braeriach.

Lurchers Crag

Ben Mcdui left, Carn a Mhaim centre and at the head of the Lairig Ghru and the shoulder of Cairn Toul to the right

I've been here many times before between hiking many years ago and running and know this area well but no matter how many times I'm here the views from this mound looking South is absolutely stunning!

Cairn Toul and Angels Peak (Sgor an Lochain Uaine)

An impressive area in the heart of the Cairngorms and home to 4 of the top 5 highest mountains in the UK after Ben Nevis! Ben Mcdui (1309m), Braeriach (1296m), Cairn Toul (1291m) and Sgor an Lochain Uaine (Angels Peak 1258m).

Pano of the big 4

Braeriach cornice

I met a few parties a long the way, mostly hikers but I did see 2 other runners coming down off Braeriach but I didn't recognise them.

I got the usual funny looks from the Himalayan Edmund's obviously unimpressed with my lack of full on winter mountaineering get up! One guy I saw was wearing Crampons walking between Sron na Lairaige and Braeriach with absolutely no snow or ice but sand, grass and rocks! Maybe a christmas present!? :)

The cliffs of Braeriach

I'm not knocking them, I know full well how quickly things can get out of control in Scottish winter, in fact any season here is so unpredictable.. However, what a lot of walkers don't realise when they see runners in the mountains is that many of us have come up through years of hiking and mountaineering and we do our homework.. I had taken into account the 3 slightly differing forecasts and I was very confident I'd have a clear, dry yet slightly breezy day running in the mountains.. Yes I packed as light as possible to ease running but my pack still included full waterproof body cover, bivvy bag, spare LS top, spare hat and gloves, running crampons, basic first aid kit, head torch, map, compass, whistle, 500ml water although there are many water courses on the route including the actual source of the river Dee, plenty calories between MF jellies and home made flap jacks, a charged phone, GPS watch, the list goes on and on..
Just because I don't carry a pack that's as big as I am and I'm not wearing 4 season mountaineering boots doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing.. Wow that turned into a bit of a rant! :)

Looking North

The forecast was spot on with clear skies, dry and a bit breezy at times gusting 30-40mph. It was quite warm considering the time of year and it was mad to see next to no snow! Surely global warming?? ;) 

I had a wonder round to Carn na Criche and if I'd had a bit more time I would've nipped over to at least Angles Peak but I was keen to get down in daylight and back home for Hogmany. 

Meal a Buchaille from Creag a Chalamain

On the way back passing all the hikers I'd passed on the way up, I decided to do a quick rep of Creag a Chalamain which was great and caught the sun as it was going down.

Then back down through the Gap and back to the van.

I had a stop off at Loch Morlich to boil the kettle and just as the sun set I managed to snap these blinders -

Loch Morlich

Gorgeous end to the day! 

Hogmany night turned out to be a damp squib and although I had a couple of beers I was fresh for New Year's day and some more running!

The route