Munros Tables SMC Cairngorms, Lochnagar, Mounth - SMC

The Scottish Highlands


Cairngorms
The High Mountains of Britain & Ireland The Cairngorms

 

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon

 in the Cairngorms




Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon

 in the Cairngorms




Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an ) in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an )

in the Cairngorms




Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an ) in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an )

 in the Cairngorms





Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an ) in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an )

 in the Cairngorms





Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an ) in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an )

 in the Cairngorms




Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an ) in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an )

 in the Cairngorms





Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an ) in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an )

 in the Cairngorms




Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an ) in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an )

 in the Cairngorms



Beinn Mheadhoin from Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin ( 3878ft, 1182m )

one of the most remote hills

 in the Cairngorms.



Beinn Mheadhoin from Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon ( A'an )

 in the Cairngorms





Beinn Mheadhoin from Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin from Loch Avon





Shelter Stone on Beinn Mheadhoin

Shelter Stone on Beinn Mheadhoin





Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon

in the Cairngorms






Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon

 in the Cairngorms




Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon

 in the Cairngorms




Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin above Loch Avon

 in the Cairngorms





Loch Avon in the Cairngorms

Loch Avon in the Cairngorms





Beinn Mheadhoin from Derry Cairngorm in the Cairngorms

Beinn Mheadhoin

 from Derry Cairngorm



Rock Outcrops ( Tors ) on summit of Beinn Mheadhoin

Rock Outcrops ( Tors )

 on summit of Beinn Mheadhoin

The highest point is the top of the largest tor

and requires an easy rock climb.





Rock Outcrops ( Tors ) on summit of Beinn Mheadhoin

Rock Outcrops ( Tors )

on summit of Beinn Mheadhoin





Loch Etchachan in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland

Loch Etchachan

 with Beinn Mheadhoin on right






Loch Etchachan in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland

Loch Etchachan

 with Beinn Mheadhoin on right






Derry Cairngorm from Beinn Mheadhoin from in the Cairngorms

Derry Cairngorm

 from Beinn Mheadhoin





Bynack More from Beinn a' Chaorainn

Bynack More

 from Beinn a' Chaorainn




Bynack More

Bynack More





Bynack More

Bynack More






Approach to Bynack More

Approach to  Bynack More.




Bynack More

Bynack More.




Bynack More

Bynack More.




Bynack More

Bynack More.





Summit cairn on Bynack More

Summit cairn on Bynack More





Route description and map for Bynack More

Route description and map

 for Bynack More.




Bynack More

Location: Cairngorms
Grade: Serious mountain walk
Distance: 12 miles /20km
Time: 6-8 hours



Bynack More. Lying to the east of the main Cairngorms massif, this 1090m / 3576ft Munro tends to benefit from the bigger hills’ rain shadow and on days when the western Cairngorms are being drenched with rain it’s surprising how often Bynack More remains relatively dry .
On windy days it pays to be a little more circumspect. Theoretically you'd assume that the powerful bulk of Cairn
Gorm itself would protect its smaller neighbour but theory, however sound it may be, doesn't always work in the
mountains, as we were to discover. With the Feshie hills and Braeriach swathed in a dark, ominous layer of cloud,
we drove the length of Glen More and parked the car near Glenmore Lodge.
We began walking, through the lovely Pass of Ryvoan, in dry and bright conditions and it wasn’t until we reached the
River Nethy that we noticed the wind. The track we were on followed the course of one of the Cairngorm ‘mounth roads’ or passes, the Lairig an Laoigh, which runs from Abemethy in the north to Braemar in the south. Both this pass and its parallel neighbour, the Lairig Ghru, were once droving routes resounding to the movement of cattle. Indeed Lairig an Laoigh can be translated as ‘pass of the stirks, or calves’. It must have been a long haul for the cattle as they climbed from the comparatively fertile basin of the River Nethy to the scree-girt high ground which forms the skirt of Bynack More itself.
This grand hill stands apart from its loftier, more popular neighbours, as though keen to emphasise its individuality and gritty character, despite its inferior height and mass. Bynack More’s finest features tend to be more subtle, less glaringly elephantine, than its immediate neighbours, and it exhibits its finest face to the north above the Forest of Abernethy. From here it appears as a fine conical peak, steep slopes rising smoothly to a narrow crest, a direct contrast to the tor-studded whaleback of distant Ben Avon and the leviathan mass of Cairn Gorm itself.
Bynack More is divided by a large, high level grassy depression into two distinct rocky summits. On its western
shoulder lies a subsidiary top known as Bynack Beg. The main summit was at one time known as Ben Bynack but
the late Rev. W Forsyth of Abernethy, a local historian, suggests this is wrong and Bynack derives from Ben-Eag,
the hill of the cleft, a nick between the summit rocks, which you can see from Strath Nethy. Other Gaelic
scholars suggest the word comes from ‘beinneag', little mountain ( compared to its neighbours even Bynack More,
the big Bynack, is a little mountain) or even from Am Beidhneag, a chimneypot or roof-ridge.
Despite a couple of light showers the cloud level remained above the summits but it was the wind that was to prove challenging.
As we approached the main ridge a couple of
violent gusts almost stopped us in our tracks and by the time we climbed up the rocky ridge it was apparent that we would have to take great care simply to remain rooted to the ground. The wind was coming from the south- west, so, just as Cairn Gorm protects Bynack More from the worst of the westerly gales we reckoned we could use the summit ridge of Bynack More to protect us. The summit cairn was, of course, fully exposed to the gales and was no place to linger, so we retreated back into the shelter of our eastern slopes for lunch. We had to return by our outward route rather than continuing over A’Choinneach to The Saddle from where we could have climbed Cairn Gorm itself. The Saddle, above the foot of Loch Avon, confronts one of the wildest views in Scotland, with steep granite slab slopes dropping down to cradle the grey waters of Loch Avon.
At the head of the loch
rises the improbably square-cut face of The Sticil, like a massive tomb stone set amongst the high plateaux that surround it. A traversing path climbs the steep slopes from The Saddle at the head of Strath Nethy to Ciste Mearaid and from there it's an easy descent either by Cairn Gorm’s north ridge to Ryvoan, or by way of the Sron an Aonaich ridge and the Allt Mor footpath back to Glenmore.



ROUTE PLANNER

Map: OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 36 ( Grantown & Aviemore ); Harveys 1:40.000 British Mountain Map, The Cairngorms and Lochnagar.
Distance: 12 miles / 20km.
Time: 6-8 hours.
Start/Finish: Glenmore Lodge ( GR: NH 992097 ).
Public transport: Hourly bus no 31 from Aviemore to Glen More. Details from www.travelinescotland.com
Information: Aviemore TIC, 014119 810930.

Route: Leave the parking area beyond Glenmore Lodge and follow the forestry track into the Pass of Ryvoan.
Continue through the Pass, past An Lochan Uaine.
About 400m beyond the lochan take another path E to Bynack Stable and the River Nethy.
Cross the river and follow the footpath SE over the lower shoulder of Bynack More.
Follow this path to its highest point then leave it to bear S up the N ridge to the summit.
Return the same way or, if conditions allow, continue over A'Choinneach to the Saddle and climb Cairn
Gorm by a good ascending traverse path.
From there follow the Sron Aonaich ridge back to Glenmore.



Map for Bynack More

Map for Bynack More.






Map of the Cairngorms Massif

Map of the Cairngorms Massif

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Books & Maps - Scotland:-


Aviemore, Granton & Cairngorm Mountains OS Landranger Map

Lochnagar & Glenshee - Map Cairngorm - Map The Munros Map Western Scotland & the Western Isles OS Road Map Northern Scotland OS Road Map Southern Scotland OS Road Map

Cairn Gorm & Ben Macdhui - OS Explorer Map Aviemore, Granton & Cairngorm Mountains OS Map Inverness, Loch Ness a Strathglass - OS Landranger Map Braemar, Tomintoul & Glen Avon - OS Explorer Map Kingussie & Monadhliath Mountains Landranger OS Map: Fort Augustus, Glen Albyn, Glen Roy





  

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