Walking the Lairig Ghru in winter

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 Chris Sansum 03 Feb 2016
I have booked some tickets to travel up to Aviemore next week, and am thinking about a wilderness walk around the Cairngorms. One route that looks good is to walk up the Lairig Ghru from Aviemore direction, past the Devil's Point and then along towards Derry Lodge, and then back up along Glen Derry, past Loch Etchachan and Loch Avon, and heading north up the path to Bynack Stable and back past Glenmore Lodge.

It sounds from the MWIS that considerable snowfall is possible:

http://www.mwis.org.uk/scottish-forecast/EH/

Can anyone with good experience of the area comment on whether this would make my route unlikely, due to the passes being blocked with snow? I have 4 days of walking available and am planning to camp and/or bothy on the way around.

It would be really good to do this route as it looks fantastic, but I'm wondering whether I am going to have to leave it until later in the year...

Thanks for any advice!

Chris
 OwenM 03 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

The weather forecast for the start of next week is very unsettled and a lot of the snow from the last few days has drifted quite a bit. This site is very useful http://www.sais.gov.uk/
OP Chris Sansum 03 Feb 2016
In reply to OwenM:

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on it! My walk would be starting on Wed next wk as I'm getting the sleeper bus on Tue night from London. Maybe a mountain walk is most likely if there is a lot of snow in the passes... Hoping not to have to spend the 4 days in Aviemore staring out of the window at the white-out!
 Dauphin 03 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Its a great walk any time of year. Some bits are prone to avalanche, depends on conditions and ability, like any other winter walk. Twenty plus miles, were you planning on bothy night and making it a two dayer? There's plenty on here who will of been up there in the last couple of weeks.

Bump for you.

D

OP Chris Sansum 03 Feb 2016
In reply to Dauphin:
40 miles on the circular route I mentioned according to the Cameron McNeish book 'More Wilderness Walks'. The book suggests a 3 day walk, and I have an extra day available as a contingency. One big concern is getting blocked by deep snow, so will have to see!
Post edited at 00:01
1
 girlymonkey 04 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

If deep snow is your concern, why not hire some snow shoes?
 OMR 04 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Possible accommodation along the way includes Corrour Bothy, Bob Scott's Bothy (near Derry Lodge), the Hutchison Hut in Coire Etchachan, the Fords of Avon Refuge (downstream from your route). Bynack Stable is no longer in existence, but Ryvoan Bothy is only about a mile away. So plenty refuges in case of snow hampering easy travel.
OP Chris Sansum 04 Feb 2016
In reply to girlymonkey:

It did cross my mind to think about whether it was worth buying some. Never tried them before though, so would need to do a bit of research. Do they sell them/rent them out in Aviemore?

 girlymonkey 04 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

I'd be surprised if someone doesn't. You can hire them in Stirling, so should be able to in Aviemore!
They are dead easy, strap them on and walk with feet a little further appart that normal.
OP Chris Sansum 04 Feb 2016
In reply to girlymonkey:

Can you strap them onto normal mountain boots, eg Mantas, or do you need a special boot?
 Welsh Kate 04 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

You can hire them at the ski centre, don't know about in town.
 Wullie 04 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Hi Chris, you can hire snowshoes from a few places in Aviemore. My first choice (best snowshoes, TSL's) would be the Ski hire shop underneath the Woodshed Pub at the Hilton Coylumbridge. This is handy for the start of the Lairig Ghru at the Rothiemurchus caravan park. Failing this you can also get them from the Ski hire shop from underneath the Pine Marten bar up at Glenmore(These are a last resort as cheap brand,and may mark your boots as they did mine). They both should supply poles for you too, approx 15 quid a day all in. Someone mentioned on here before that decathlon do Ok ones for £40 upwards.
They can be fitted to pretty much any boot. I have mantas also and they were fine.
Enjoy
 Snowdave 04 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

I'd be careful on the forecast as the past couple of months there has been loads of rain & the only decent snow is above the valley level, & even that has gone to above mid station in any quantity. So all the lower streams will be full, the valley ground will be sodden, so a squelch fest, I also think some of the foot bridges have been damaged in the floods in the past month or so.
1
 ScraggyGoat 04 Feb 2016
In reply to Snowdave:
The lower burns are not as full as you might expect, last weekend fording would have been possible. Levels have gone up a bit today but with a cold forecast will go down again. The main bridges at Luibeg and Derry Lodge are still intact. Granted your concerns getting stuck by the Avon should be considered, particularly if the forecast changes to a thaw or a lot of rain at lower levels, but overall I think the OP has probably identified the more likely risk factor. As ever you wont know how much snow is going to settle/blow in.

Consequently it will have to be a judgement call on the way up or at the top of the Ghru or at the pools.
Post edited at 17:53
Removed User 04 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

I've done several variations on this route. The only point I'd emphasis is that whilst technically a low level route in winter it can be as demanding as any hill day.

Have a good trip.
 Wainers44 04 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Hi, just spent this week walking around the Cairngorms based in Aviemore. Home tomorrow, boo hiss!

We hired snow shoes from the Pine Marten Bar for £15 for the day. Good kit.

Walked about 18k today above Glen Feshie. Snow is pretty patchy with little on the ridges or scoured W slopes but deeper, soft drifts on many of the E slopes.

I have only walked to Garbh Corrie Bothy and back out in a day in full winter conditions a year ago and the going was pretty tough. Even more so if you are carrying a full pack. It's all pretty lonely as I am sure you know so make sure you have a plan B,C,D etc all ready!!

Have a good time and stay safe
 ModerateMatt 05 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Just go for it. Walk in to Corrour and see how you feel. It has to be pretty serious before the Lairig is impassable

Getting to Corrour isn't technically difficult, although sometimes tiring. Neither would be getting from there to Hutchinson. The only bit I can see that might be avalanche prone would be the decent in to Loch Avon, with care you would be fine. If at any point you can't continue there are loads of bothies dotted around or walk out south.
 steelbru 05 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think the OP is planning on going to Loch Avon, my reading is up Glen Derry, across Fords of Avon, to Bynack Stable, Glenmore Lodge ?? With a possible excursion up to the Hutchy if needing refuge.

If so, then the main concern for me on that route would be snow melt meaning the Fords of Avon being uncrossable without a potentially long detour. I'd recommend doing it clockwise rather than anti-clockwise, so you came across this earlier rather than later.

You should get from Glenmore Lodge to Fords of Avon bothy in a day, and if it's unpassable you can either just come back, or follow the Avon upstream to see if you can find a crossing somewhere. Better to do this early on whilst still fresh. If you get past Fords of Avon going clockwise then no difficult river crossings to worry about, and if carrying snow shoes, should be perfectly do-able.
1
 ModerateMatt 05 Feb 2016
In reply to steelbru:
" Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think the OP is planning on going to Loch Avon"

You are mistaken, if you re-read what the OP said (end of third line) you will find they in fact did say their proposed route may be heading through Loch Avon.
Post edited at 20:31
oggiegb 29 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

How did it go Chris? I'm doing the same walk this week and there was really useful info in this thread, interested re: how you got on.
I've done the walk in winter 4 times before and each time it's different. Always managed to get across the fords of avon so far but usually with wet feet tho once I went via Hutchinson / Shelter Stone / Coire Raibert instead. After being turned back due to deep snow and high winds a couple of years ago, def taking lightweight snow shoes this time round.

Rich.
OP Chris Sansum 29 Feb 2016
In reply to oggiegb:

Hi Rich,

I had a great time. I managed it in 3 days. The weather was good - it seemed like I picked the right time to go as there were horrendous winds on the weekend before, but hardly any wind on the days I went, until the last day, and mostly clear weather.

I didn't use snow shoes - there were a few places where they would have been a little helpful, but I got the impression that they would have been quite awkward to walk in on some of the narrower paths - where crampons were still helpful. The Lairig Ghru didn't have any impassible snow. I crossed the Fords of Avon without getting my feet wet.

The hardest section for me was walking along the north side of Loch Avon. The map marks a path along the lochside but the snow was deep enough that there was no trace of a path, and instead just deep, soft snow ranging from knee to thigh deep, with boulders underneath, so you would sink down, sometimes landing on a boulder, and sometimes not! Really soul-destroying... If I hadn't been so stubborn about completing my route I might have been tempted to head up and over the plateau above. I guess once the snow has consolidated that section would have been easy in crampons.

On the way back I spoke nicely to Glenmore Lodge and they let me have a shower there (I was buying a meal too)!

The only place I was in close proximity to other people was in the bothies. The route is really wild, and you see no trace of the ski infrastructure. The Landrover track at the end was quite welcome as it enabled me to get to Glenmore Lodge in time for dinner and beers!

I took a small tent but made it to the Corrour bothy and the Hutchison Memorial Hut in the end, so didn't need it. I guess packing a small tent is sensible in case you have trouble reaching the bothy, but some people were doing similar routes without one. I was doing the route with a torn meniscus, so I decided it was particularly important to bring a shelter in case my knee decided to go ping.

All in all a great trip with some incredible views, and it felt like a real achievement. I would not recommend southerners catching a day Megabus from Aviemore to London though - that was horrendous. The sleeper bus on the other hand (which I caught on the way up) is excellent, and very good value if you book early.

There are a few pics here if you are interested - although it might be better to wait and see the views for yourself!:

https://www.facebook.com/chris.sansum/media_set?set=a.10153819080735042.107...

Cheers!

Chris

 OMR 29 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Nice photos Chris. The Corrour toilet is changed over no more than once a month. There are a few folk who help out with this and, though not the most pleasant of jobs, it's not nearly as bad as you think it's going to be. The waste doesn't actually get carried out each time but is stored on-site for annual removal.
The job description for Neil Findlay and myself is simply Maintenance Organiser, MBA volunteer for the others who help. If anyone would like to help out, get in touch through me.
OP Chris Sansum 29 Feb 2016
In reply to OMR:


Great work - thanks for all the efforts you put into maintaining these places. A real privilege to have access to a roof over your head in such wild locations.
oggiegb 29 Feb 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Hey, thanks Chris, just on the sleeper train to Aviemore. Great writeup / photos, really useful and good tip re: Glen More lodge and showers. I was close to booking the megabus but had bad experiences with National Express in the past so coughed up the extra for the sleeper train and will fly back from Inverness. I'll give the sleeper bus a try next time tho. I've a small tent packed in case.

Rich
OP Chris Sansum 01 Mar 2016
In reply to oggiegb:

Sleeper train is great (except for the seated coach)! You must be very rich...
OP Chris Sansum 01 Mar 2016
In reply to oggiegb:

The trouble I had with the day Megabus was that there are absolutely no refreshments on board, and no opportunity to get out and buy anything. I made the mistake of getting on it with only half a small bottle of water... Guess in hindsight you need to get on board equipped with everything you need for a 12 hour journey! Also it took considerably longer than a flight to San Francisco...
OP Chris Sansum 05 Mar 2016
In reply to oggiegb:

How did you get on Rich?
oggiegb 06 Mar 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Had a great time, thanks Chris,

The sleeper train is great (comfy bed, woken with a bowl of porridge), I've long legs and after being crammed in a National Express bus for over 12 hours years ago, vowed to never go by bus again. Good point with the sleeper is it gets into Aviemore at 07:40 so you've a full day's walking.

Walk thru the Lairig was fairly knackering, light wind / some soft snow but nothing major tho I did go on the east (left) side of the pass and got bogged down by a boulder field, looking back there was a good path on the western side which I eventually joined. Made Corrour Bothy at 4:30 pm so it took 8.5 hours to cover the 13 miles. Was carrying a 50lb pack as I took snowshoes, shovel, crampons, ice axe, tent etc along with some whisky & chocolate bought last minute.
Rained heavily as I camped nr Corrour, had a few inches of snow and strong winds overnight.

Was slow going next day due to the soft snow so decided to try the snow shoes out and they were excellent, really helped. Wore them until the steps down to the Luibeg (which was easy to ford). I didn't use the snowshoes over the Lairig as I had in mind they were only useful for big deep snow fields like I experienced in 2013 but found them great for mixed heather / snow.

Met a couple of groups nr Derry Lodge doing day walks. Was planning to head for Hutchinsons Hut or Fords of Avon bothy depending upon weather / tiredness.
As I headed out of the treeline up Lairig an Laoigh, the wind became stronger and snow deeper so put the snow shoes back on and extra layers. It became a whiteout and had really painful sleet in the face so put a ski mask on. Ended up falling down a few times cause I couldn't gauge the slope and found it very hard going against the wind. Gave up on the Hutchinson hut and decided to continue north to the Avon bothy. Was thinking if the avon outflow was uncrossable then I'll camp nearby and build up a wind break with my snow shovel.

Eventually crossed a medium sized river easily (smaller than Luibeg) and found a hill in front to the north. It was getting dark, I was tired so decided to pull out my emergency gps and saw I was only 600m west from the Fords of Avon bothy and the river I'd crossed was the Avon outflow. Just made the bothy before dark, I see garden sheds in a whole new light now, it's an excellent place and the MBA have done brilliant as it was a horrible mud pit before.
The walk from Corrour to the Bothy took about 8 hours.
Only issue was the door wouldn't shut and after reading Ken from Manchester's comment that it took him 3 hours to get out cause he'd jammed it shut, I left it ajar all night. It looks like it's swollen and needs some wood shaving from the top and lock sides.

Next day, there was deep soft snow all the way up around the side of Bynack so used the snow shoes, found the NE side of Bynack More particularly deep even with the snowshoes and slow going. Weather was excellent though, had sun all day.
Once on the shoulder, ground was firm and took the snow shoes off for the descent. Camped a few hundred metres from the footbridge over the Nethy. Was really hot when I pitched the tent. The walk from Fords of Avon bothy -> Nethy footbridge took 5 hours.

Next day walked to Coylumbridge through the woods, had a pint in Glenmore on the way and camped at Coylumbridge campsite (Rothiemurchus Camping and Caravanning site). Great place, the attendant (Paul) was very backpacking orientated and mentioned a lot of the peoples doing the TGO Challenge stay there in May. Cost £10 which is fair enough and had a few pints in the Woodshed bar around the side of the Hilton Hotel beside the fire. Flew home via Inverness to Gatwick (via train from Aviemore to Inverness, then no. 11 bus to airport).

So the parts of the route I thought would be tough were fine (Lairig Ghru / Fords of Avon crossing) and the Lairig an Laoigh which I hadn't considered as being difficult was the hardest. Had most types of weather from gales, heavy rain, sunshine and snow. That's what I like about the route, it's different every-time. Didn't end up using my ice axe and crampons but would always take them as I may have ended up going higher from Hutchinson to head of Loch Avon, also possibly via Coire Raibeirt.

Hope this helps anyone else considering a similar route.

Rich

oggiegb 06 Mar 2016
In reply to Chris Sansum:

Here's the few photos I took:- https://flic.kr/s/aHskskbyPU
 Welsh Kate 06 Mar 2016
In reply to oggiegb:

Nice report, sounds like you had a great time out there!

Agree with your comments about the campsite at Coylumbridge, I've stayed there after emerging sodden and windswept from the Lairig Ghru and it's a great place - as well as being conveniently close to the Woodshed at the Hilton.
OP Chris Sansum 22 Mar 2016
In reply to oggiegb:

Nice account and some great pics. It is a really nice route. Definitely going to make the effort to do some more wilderness walks at some point in the not so distant future!

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...