An 18 mile circular walk over 2 of Britain’s finest mountains makes for a long day but the views and passage through an extraordinary landscape is worth the exertion.
Leaving from the stunning Linn of Dee, a few miles from Braemar, the beautiful Glen Lui travels by Derry Lodge to the base of the mighty Derry Cairngorm. It is then a long pull over the summit and then onwards onto the mighty Ben Macui.
Within the British Isles it is only Ben Nevis that climbs higher than Ben Macdui. Rising to 1309 metres above sea level Ben Macdhui’s huge summit plateau looms high above the Lairig Ghru and the infant River Dee and it stands proud over a litany of iconic mountains including Braeraich, Cairn Toul and Sgor Gaoith. The origin of the name Ben Macdhui is uncertain with popular theories suggesting it translates from Gaelic as either Mountain of the Black Pig or Hill of the Sons of Duff. It is also said that Ben Macdui is home to a yeti-like creature known as Am Fear Liath Mor (the Big Grey Man), although, as yet, any reports are unsubstantiated and may simply be a grumpy looking hillwalker.
Derry Cairngorm used to be known simply as Cairn Gorm (from the Gaelic An Carn Gorm, the Blue Mountain, due to its blue colour when seen from the Linn of Dee) but the prefix Derry (anglicised from Doire meaning oakwood) was added later to distinguish it from its more famous neighbour of Cairn Gorm, the mountain which gave the full Cairngorm range its name. Derry relates to the woods of Glen Derry that sit at the base of Derry Cairngorm, which is actually a far shapelier peak than Cairn Gorm. At 1155 metres Derry Cairngorm is the 20th highest mountain in Scotland and its position amongst the higher Cairngorms means it offers a superb spot to look onto Ben Macdui, Cairn Toul and further afield to Lochnagar and Beinn a Ghlo.
- Approaching the summit of Derry Cairngorm
Ben Macdui at sunset
Wanderings - the ramblings of Outdoor Fergie. 