I love it when a friend comes up with a random adventure. David messaged me: “Do you fancy bagging five Munro Tops in the Cairngorms?”
Me: “Yes. Absolutely… er, how far will that be?!”
It turns out the run-hike to the five high summits around Derry Cairngorm and Ben MacDui was 22km with some 1700m of ascent.
There were some amazing paths and also some heathery, tussocky, rocky hellishness, too. But throughout we chatted, plodded, climbed, descended, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed the outing.
What are Munro Tops?
Munro Tops, as defined by the Scottish Mountaineering Club, are a “list of distinct Scottish peaks of 3000ft (914.4m) and over that fail to meet the criteria of ‘sufficient separation’ from their neighbouring peaks. There are currently 226 Munro Tops.
Cairngorm Munro Tops Odyssey
It was a fairly mild but cloudy August day when David and I started from the Cairngorm Ski Centre car park and headed uphill to the south. Normally we would be keen to reach the summit of the Munro, Cairngorm, but on this occasion we bypassed it to the west, going over the first high point Fiacaill a’ Choire Chais at 1141m elevation. (Note: This is not a Munro Top.)
We descended further south via a Coire Raibert towards Loch Avon (A’an). Skirting the western edge of the loch, we then climbed steeply up to bag the first MT, Stacan Dubha at 1014m, then down and back up to reach Stob Coire Etchachan (1082m).
Our route took us west for a while as we descended the glen and then climbed south and easterly again to reach MT three, Sgurr an Lochan Uaine (983m).
The fourth MT wasn’t too far away after a short descent and ascent to Creagan a’ Choire Etchachan (1108m). We had debated earlier in the day if we would include the fifth MT, Carn Etchachan at a height of 1120m, or track back to the north via the edge of Loch Avon. Of course, once we were close, we decided we might as well!
Our return route created a satisfying circuit going west and then north to descend through Stob Coire an t-Sneachda. (Note, there is another Munro top, Stob Coire an t-Sneachda, that could be included on this circuit but we had both bagged this top before during an outing of Cairngomr and Ben Macdui.)
The final descent was quite long but it was great to be on a well-made path that allowed us to stretch out our legs and run at a good pace.
