\n(in snow) and along to Carn a Mhaim ridge. The wind had been steadily increasing
\nall day and along the ridge was very unpleasant and cold. We had a tentative
\nlook over the edge for the “gully” but as were being buffeted about and could
\nhardly stand up decided to take the long way round (Ian did remind me that I am
\ngetting married at the end of July!). Down at Corrour bothy we knew we weren’t
\ngoing to get round but decided that we would climb up and do Devil’s Point,
\nCairn Toul, Angels Peak then follow the ridge to pick up the Rigby route on
\nBraeriach and descend to the car parked at the bottom of the Chalamain Gap path.
\nThis is what we did at a more leisurely pace and finished after 22 hours back at
\nthe van. Mark Harvey and Bob had spent the day in Glen Nevis area and drove
\nacross to join us for tea and a beer. Pictures here<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nicky Spinks<\/p>\n
Ian’s account<\/p>\n
A Rigby Attempt<\/p>\n
Over that last year I\u2019ve had the idea of doing the Mark Rigby Round
\n(all 18 Munros in the Cairngorm Massive) as it was a true mountain
\nadventure. I managed to persuade Nicky Spinks to join me on this wild
\njourney. To make it even more fun we had no local knowledge as neither
\nof us had been in to the Cairngorms before which meant not only
\ncarrying all our food etc but we had to navigate totally new terrain.
\nFrom the moment you step off the tarmac you don\u2019t touch any more until
\nyou\u2019ve finished.<\/p>\n
We\u2019d already put it off once due to bad weather but last Saturdays
\nforecast had a hint of being ok. The cold wet front was supposed to
\nclear by 8.00pm leaving a clear but breezy night with wind slowly
\nbuilding through the day as the next front approached.<\/p>\n
So at 9.00 pm we set off up in thick clag, rain and strong winds
\nconvincing our selves it would have blown through and be clear by the
\nfirst top![\"\"](\"http:\/\/forum.fellrunner.org.uk\/images\/smilies\/rolleyes.gif\" "\\"Roll")
.<\/p>\n
Once on top of Cairngorm(1) with the rain\/ wind still hitting us hard
\nwe dropped off on compass bearing through the thick clag head torches
\nlighting a small bubble around us. We started up Bynack Mor(2) with
\nlittle improvement by now we had nearly every piece of clothing on and
\nit was desperately cold. We topped out to signs that the cloud was at
\nlast starting to break. We struggled down in a pea souper to the Avon
\nrefuge which was full! Here we had our first proper bite to eat as it
\nhad been too cold to slow down and eat earlier. When we decided to push
\non to Ben Avon we were committed but although rough going we got a good
\nline, the sky cleared but the wind blew and temp dropped. We were about
\nto dump the sack for the out and back to Ben Avon (3) when we realised
\nthe \u2018rock\u2019 was a bivvying walker![\"\"](\"http:\/\/forum.fellrunner.org.uk\/images\/smilies\/redface.gif\" "\\"Embarrassment\\"")
.
\nWe got to the summit 90 minutes down on schedule! Back to the sacks
\nwhich had started to ice up. The ground had also started to freeze.<\/p>\n
The sun hadn\u2019t come up yet but it was clear enough to see so head
\ntorches went away and we headed over Beinn a\u2019Bhuird (4). Picking up
\nsome time and on to the long boggy tramp(not unlike Bleaklow) to Beinn
\nBhreac (5). Sunrise finally came heading to B. a\u2019Chaorainn (6). The
\nvisibility was good but the wind was already building and heading
\nstraight at us. We dropped steeply in to the first of the big passes
\nLairig an Laoigh. Where we had another bite to eat Nicky trying some
\ndehydrated pudding which looked like radioactive angel delight. The
\nclimb up to B. Mheadhoin (7) is a full on up deep heather and rocks
\nwith no paths but we pulled more time back here although we were still
\nwell down. <\/p>\n
By Loch Etchachan we met our first moving walker. It was 8.30am and we
\nhad done 30 miles and 7 munros. He seemed surprised that we had been
\nout all night given the earlier weather!
\nAnother quick out and back to Derry Cairngorm (8) before the climb up
\nthrough big snow fields to Ben Macdui (9). The wind by now was really
\nknocking us about making the scramble over the boulders hard going. The
\nlong (1700ft) drop down the boulder strewn hillside was hard on the
\nfeet, the alternative snowy gully would have been difficult even with
\ncrampons and ice axe as the snow was like marble. Next was the run
\nalong the pleasant if windy ridge of Carn\u2019a Maim(10).
\nFrom here the route\u2019s fast line was down a very steep scrambly gully
\n(Thanks to Rob W for this info) But as we entered it we could hardly
\nstand up the wind was blowing that hard and so we made the correct
\ndecision to take a longer safer route off the southern end of the ridge
\nand then cut back. We were still going strong but we knew we were too
\nfar behind the schedule to get round in 24 hours but decided to push on
\nand enjoy the day.
\nWe now crossed the very impressive Lairig Ghru\/Glen Dee and stopped
\nabove Corrour Bothy for a good feed before climbing up to Devils Point
\n(11) (named apparently after some male sexual appendage). The clag came
\nback and brought the odd spot of rain with it. Cairn Toul (12) was
\nanother boulder strewn scramble by now my toes and knees were getting
\nsore but the hip\/back problem I\u2019d had the week before had given me no
\nproblems. (Thumbs up to the Physio)
\nThe route from here now takes in Angel Peak (13) which wasn\u2019t a Munro
\nin Mark Rigbys day so he didn\u2019t have to take it in. The bad night and
\nthe strong headwind had taken its toll and so we reluctantly![\"\"](\"http:\/\/forum.fellrunner.org.uk\/images\/smilies\/frown.gif\" "\\"Frown\\"")
\ncontinued on to what should have been (18) but was today (14) the
\nMighty Braeriach. The thick clag and wind slowly but not quite getting
\nbehind us as we leisurely started on the long way down over more
\nboulders\/snow and back in to the Lairig Ghru and straight up through
\nthe surprisingly rough Chalamain Gap to the car. <\/p>\n
I can\u2019t recommend this trip highly enough for the wild committing experience. Awesome day, Thanks for the company Nicky![\"\"](\"http:\/\/forum.fellrunner.org.uk\/images\/smilies\/biggrin.gif\" "\\"Big")
\nWe’ll definately be back with our new found knowledge.<\/p>\n