The Clach Dhiona (pronounced Clach Yeein) is better known as The Shelter Stone and is, perhaps, the most famous refuge in the Cairngorms. It sits at the base of the spectacular 270-metre high An Sticil – itself more commonly identified as The Shelter Stone Crag – and has provided a sanctuary for walkers, climbers, soldiers and even Prime Ministers (Ramsey MacDonald apparently spent a night here) for over 200 years. The Cairngorm Club, the oldest surviving climbing club in Britain, was also formed here in 1887.
The shelter is fashioned by several boulders, the largest of which is said to weigh over 1500 tonnes, having fallen from An Sticil to fortuitously rest on four other boulders, creating this natural howff. It has room (just) for around six people and its low roof garners a claustrophobic feel. It also has an incredible view across Loch Avon
The stunning freshwater Loch Avon sits at the base of a deep u-shaped valley, with the surface of the loch 730-metres above sea level. It is known as a ribbon loch as it was formed during the last Ice Age when a huge glacier carved a deep linear basin. Glaciation also left behind the steep mountain slopes of Beinn Mheadhoin and the vertiginous cliffs of An Sticil and Carn Etchachan.
The Shelter Stone and Loch Avon are not the easiest places to reach although any walk in is spectacular. Perhaps the best routes are via Ben Macdui and Loch Etchachan or the Central Cairngorm Plateau, with a steep descent through either Coire Raibeirt or Coire Domhain.
Wanderings - the ramblings of Outdoor Fergie. 