Lochnagar II: A Return to the White Mounth Round
- robsthomson
- Mar 6, 2020
- 7 min read
The plan was hatched for an epic final Winter weekend. Given our relative inexperience in Winter outings we decided to do 2 big routes over 2 or 3 days. I had traversed the 5 summits of Lochnagar last winter but Liam and Mike had not so we decided on that first. This was to be followed by the Carn Gorm Circuit which those guys had done but I had not.
As we set off in crystal blue winter sunshine, little did we know what lay ahead...
The last time I had ventured out on this route was the previous April which, despite the retreating snow, was bitterly cold. Camping at the Lochan midway up Lochnagar was a wild camp highlight for me despite my water freezing solid. This time around the snow was in abundance, pillow soft and framed with stunning crystal blue skies with a tinge of warmth in the rising sun. The chastening experience on my previous outing of An Caisteal was fresh in my mind so I was satisfied with the agreed approach of 'slow and steady' on this one. Despite having 5 summits, the total ascent on this round was just over 1200M and I knew that the initial descent was the toughest part of the day aside from the long walk out. There was however a niggling thought in my mind that the route was 18 miles long and took us 12 miles from the cars at its farthest point. If the weather turned we would be in a very inhospitable region and I made a silent decision to continually assess routes off at every point in the walk.
Round Lochnagar while the stormy mist gathers,
Winter presides in his cold icy car.
Clouds there encircle the forms of my fathers;
They dwell in the tempests of dark Lochnagar
The initial ascent of Lochnagar was as I remembered with a twisting ribbon of path giving way to a short but challenging boulder field before a rocky and steep incline towards the Lochan. After a brief pause and level ground the steep ascent continues revealing a broad plateau completely covered in thick sheet ice. Casting my eyes across this area took me back to the previous outing when Richard and I came this far and, in the dark and blustery wind, tried to find an area of shelter to camp before retreating back to the shelter and safety of the steep sided Lochan. It was a vast, open swathe of land wholly devoid of shelter so little wonder our attempt was futile that dark, frozen night.
This time around it was a marvel. The wind had engineered the ice in such a way that it resembled a soft incoming tide, frozen mid wave with thousands of silvery ripples absorbing and reflecting back the sun. For a fleeting second I was transported back to a beach in Bali where the moon gave the water a similar monochrome effect. A near slip brought this momentary departure from reality back with a jolt as we faced the most hazardous flat terrain I had encountered. Liam taking a heavy fall a sobering reminder of just how bad a slip here could be.
Lochnagar
Bypassing what has to be the biggest non-Summit Cairn anywhere we dropped down into the Beleach and enthusiastically made our way to summit number one. The entire route now lay stretched before us into the far distance and my concerns on our pace lurked below the surface but it was overruled by clear skies for miles and the knowledge the majority of the ascending was behind us.
Having refuelled and made the 1st summit it was now a long traverse of the remaining 4 peaks. I tried to go over in my mind my previous outing here but it was proving a challenge as the terrain, wholly covered in snow, was not as familiar as I hoped.
Heading towards summit number two, Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach, we traversed the spectacular viewpoint of The Stuic and the going here was aided by snowmobile tracks compacting the snow.
The difficulty in writing about this route is the paradox of the experience. The initial ascent is the most interesting and gives way to the finest of the summits which happens to be the first. Thereafter the route becomes a series of descent and re-ascent much the same in character therefore the first 3 to 4 hours of a long day are the most rewarding on most levels. However, the very thought of conquering the White Mounth Round gains momentum with each step and gives it's own sense of achievement only gained by that accomplishment.
Herein lies the paradox.
The next few hours of those drops and climbs were pinpricked with some particularly tough conditions involving very deep snow in the lower Beleachs. None of this proved to be insurmountable but had the cumulative affect of sapping our legs of energy quite considerably and eating away at precious time.
Whilst descending Cairn Bannoch (Summit 4) and heading to Broad Cairn we experienced an unexpected mini white out too. The compass was duly produced at speed and a quick bearing taken on a distant rock - we followed the heading for only a few minutes and were given a very brief glimpse of how disorientating a white out could be, especially without a compass.
The pull from the penultimate and last summit was incredibly tough with the the South-West facing slopes of Cairn of Gowal banked with deep snow. The usual route took us over a small summit at 991M but the lack of energy instinctively made us veer away from the climb and instead traverse around, rather than over, the top. Aware of the recent white out and knowing that the treacherously steep flanks of Creag an Dubh Loch were North of us further enhanced the instinct to keep just South. On balance it was a reasonable decision but meant covering a short distance through thigh deep snow. It was exhausting.
We reached Broad Cairn at dusk and the entire landscape was bathed in a blue hue as Sunset gave way to moonrise. Grateful for a clear sky but mindful this would bring plummeting temperatures we were afforded just enough light to see the vast walk out before us along the length of Loch Muick. Previously I had walked out by dropping into the Corrie Chash and along the narrow path skirting the Loch. A prospect I did not relish at all in these conditions so close to freezing water on a barely single track footpath. Instead we elected for the more usual route along the steep cliff tops of the Corrie towards the Spittal of Glen Muick.
'Ain't it just like the night to play tricks'
Bob Dylan couldn't not have been more right for the final few hours of this day. The descent matched our resolve, both slowly declining with each step. The initial 30 or so minutes did bring with it a renewed impetus for me as we embarked on a thrilling first - a winter and nightime descent bolstered by my recollection that we would soon be at the outhouse marking the junction with the Corrie Path and Clifftop Path. In my mind we had about 2 to 2 and a half hours of pretty easy descent.
The junction didn't appear when I thought it would, nor was there any sign of the outhouse. In the dark I began to question the direction of travel, fearing we had descended on to southerly a line. 2 or 3 checks of the compass showed us we were on the right line but the distance covered felt far, far longer. The lack of energy and the dark prospects were ganging up on common sense and knocking the living daylights out of it. The mind as well as the body was freezing up.
The junction was eventually reached and the dark chasm of the Corrie was devoid of any discernible route. An area of utter black until the eye met the silvery shoreline of the moonlit Loch. On that basis we didn't even give that way a second thought. To lift the spirits I recalled to Liam and Mike my memory of a broad gravel track crowning the top of the cliffs which promised an easy walk out. I was wrong. Very wrong. Instead the deep tyre tracks had filled with water and partially frozen over, cracking underfoot to reveal too late, deep icy cold pools of water. These were avoided only by walking to the right or left of the track in very deep snow banks. We walked on in silence for an hour or more.
Despite the freezing temperatures water was now an issue as we had run out and hadn't brought stoves. It was a new and very uncomfortable feeling having a thirst associated with warm weather but in conditions that now dropped to -5. We eventually reached the steep zig-zag descent path and were able to find a fresh melt water outlet having undergone the toughest descent I had undertaken to that point. A sobering reminder to double down on An Caisteal that Winter is a beautiful but cruel mistress on the mountains of Scotland.
The plan for the weekend was to finish Lochnagar and either camp and drive or drive and camp before heading to Carn Gorm. Whilst we walked silently the collective conscious was deafening. We could tell what one another was beginning to think but as my 1st round of Carn Gorm was to be my reward for repeating Lochnagar I arguably had the most to lose so called it first. Our adventure was to end here.
One of the standout reasons for walking with Liam and Michael is reaching an agreement. We have collectively decided routes and plans, decided when to press on, speed up, slow down, stop for lunch or not and importantly when to call it. Today was epic but had taken too much out of us and the expected 12 hour day was pushing 16. Again, the collective mentality was agreement and common sense.
It was a day of epic proportions and a truly Winter Round in majestic surroundings. It enthralled us, mesmerised us, rewarded us before ultimately chewing us up and spitting us out. Dishing out some 'Tough Love' as if to remind us to never take these conditions and excursions lightly.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Two weeks later the country was in Lockdown
Once below the full snow line the route opened up to a short but impressive ridge with a wonderful view over Cruach Adrain and surrounding hills to the West and for a brief moment I was lifted out of my own little battle and gently carried to a place of stark beauty. I think I even chatted for the 1st time in about half an hour and forgot about the disappointment of the previous few hours, grateful to be coming off in one piece.
Reaching the banks of the River Falloch heralded the beginning of the final stretch and the beginning of a short but heavy snow storm. If it was bad down here imagine what it's like up there was mentioned to one of the lads, and I was grateful to them for it.
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