The Scottish Backpacking meet saw five members (Andy Lewtas, Lewis Stonehouse, Andy Stratford, Lucie Williams, Gareth William) and one dog (Henry) assemble in Aviemore mid-morning on Friday 9^th August. Poor weather put paid to any plans for mountain trad, it was too wet and windy even for roadside trad. Undeterred, Andy S had already set out for a solo hike up Ben Wyvis, a good effort in the strong wind that warmed him up nicely for the weekend ahead. In the evening, rucksacks were packed, weighed, repacked. After some hours the bags were packed to perfection. It was only at this stage that more than one member realised they needed to unpack their sleeping bag for the night at Karn House before re-packing first thing.

The forecast was for a blustery morning, winds easing through the day and evening. The morning wasn’t as windy as we expected, and full of optimism we drove up the ski road. Leaving one car at the Sugar Bowl car park, the first challenge of the day was persuading the parking machine to accept any coins. A few minutes later we’d driven up the hill and parked at the ski centre and were ready to set off, rucksacks on. Walking up Corrie Cas may not be pretty but it’s a fast way to gain height, and we were soon sheltering in the lee of the Ptarmigan Cafe. We layered up before following the line of cairns up to the summit of Cairngorm. A bit blowy, but not bad at all, and we had a view too. Continuing over the plateau we arrived some time later at Ben Macdui, winds relatively low and spirits remaining high.

The aim of the meet was to take in the five Cairngorm summits over 4000ft, and we’d already summited the first two. A secondary aim, if we were all feeling up to it, was to include two further munros of lesser stature. After a brief chat we all felt enthusiastic despite a heavy but short shower, and the wind even seemed to drop as we descended to the col beneath Carn a Mhaim. We started up the attractive ridge towards the summit, at which point the wind whipped up stronger than it had been all day. Lucie remembers being blown over, the frog-marched to take shelter behind some boulders. Another conference was held and we decided to give it one more go against the heavy wind. Determination paid off and before long we were on the summit, which oddly wasn’t windy at all.

Descending into the Lairig Ghru we had a great view of The Devil’s Point (another optional extra, not being a 4000ft peak) and were soon outside the Corrour Bothy. There was already a handful of tents up and a number of people in the bothy welcomed us inside and away from the midges, which came out in anger as soon as the gusts abated. Various parties arrived as the evening wore on, including a pair of young runners some way into a 60km challenge. They appeared very poorly prepared/equipped and had no food. The kind folks at the bothy shared what they could and the young runners left 20 minutes later. We never found out if they completed their challenge or not, but for us the only challenge was getting a good night’s sleep under canvas. The wind did drop overnight and the morning arrived calm, promising good weather for the day.

An early start brought us to the summit of The Devils Point by 8am in glorious bright morning light. It felt a bit of a walk around to Cairn Toul but the views were amazing and, still being early, it wasn’t so warm as to be uncomfortable. Sgor an Lochain Uaine isn’t much further, but by this point the midges were taking advantage of the calm day and were quite intense whenever we stopped. It’s a long way around the corries of Braeriach and we were all getting quite hot and thirsty by the time we reached the stream that feeds the Falls of Dee, where Henry had a swim and the rest of us quenched our thirsts are refilled our bottles. We’d managed all five of the Cairngorm 4000’s and taken in an extra two peaks (total 7 munros) but there was still a long walk out ahead of us.

Quite a few hips and knees were feeling sore by the time we’d walked along Braeriach’s long shoulder and descended back down to cross the Lairig Ghru, but in spite of this, everyone seemed to be having a good time. It felt a long way up to the Chalamain Gap but with some persistence we were all through the boulder field and all that remained were a few km of gentle walking on a good path.

Thank you very much to everyone who came along and put the effort in to not just the Cairngorm 4000’s but the extra summits of Carn a Mhaim and The Devils Point. Over the two days we walked 41km, made 3043m of ascent and were walking for a total of 15 hours 31 minutes. You can see a GPS track of our route:

• Day 1 www.gpsvisualizer.com/atlas/map?url=https%3A//www.williamsgarethrichard.com/ascents/71/71-a.gpx
• Day 2 www.gpsvisualizer.com/atlas/map?url=https%3A//www.williamsgarethrichard.com/ascents/71/71-b.gpx

UPDATE: this meet is now full. If you would like to be on the reserve list, please click Intend to Attend, but you will only be offered a confirmed place if someone on the Booked list has to drop out. 

A weekend ticking off some big Scottish Munros with the added pleasure of a night out under canvas. The plan (weather permitting) is to attempt the Cairngorm 4000s – that is five out of only nine mountains in Scotland whose summits are over 4000 feet above sea level. However, should the weather dictate, we will change objective.

Whilst these are undoubtedly big mountains (by Scottish standards) this particular objective does have several features that might encourage adventurous members who have never tried backpacking before: there are several options for bailing out at different points; we will drop down from the plateau to a lower elevation for the camp; relative security of a bothy nearby. Equally if we are feeling fit, there is an opportunity to add two extra Munros (The Devil’s Point and Carn a’ Mhaim) without much additional detour.

You don’t need to have been backpacking before to come on this meet, but you do need to be very hill fit and able to manage around 30km walking (split over the two days) carrying your kit. In terms of the latter, in addition to standard hill walking kit, you will need a lightweight tent, sleeping bag and mat, food and stove/utensils. It can be a good idea to pair up with someone and then share carrying tent/stove between you. You also need to think about your impact on the environment and how you plan to deal with your human waste.

As the Cairngorm National Park is a sensitive ecological area, I propose limiting numbers to 8, possibly 10 if interest is very high. Please add yourself via Intend to Attend but your place on this meet is confirmed only once you have been marked as Booked. Please feel free to contact me directly to express interest (or with any questions, or to discuss options if you don’t have full kit of your own but would like to share with someone who does). Places will be allocated to Members/Associate Members only in the first instance. Exceptionally well behaved dogs are welcome provided owners take full responsibility for their dog’s behaviour.

I will try to reserve some spaces at the FRCC hut, Karn House (Aviemore) for the Friday night so that members can sleep under a roof on the Friday, before an early start on the Saturday. We aim to finish mid/late afternoon Sunday so it will be feasible to be back home for work on Monday. Please note dogs are not allowed at Karn House so if you are bringing your dog you will need to make alternative arrangements for the Friday night.

You may like to note that I am planning a longer backpacking trip for 2025 taking in some very remote Scottish Munros, plus the chance for a couple of Classic Rock ticks. That trip will be longer and tougher, and doesn’t have easy bailout options so will only be open to those with some experience of backpacking in the Scottish hills. One way to get that experience is to come along on the 2024 Cairngorm 4000s meet!