A Hike to a beautiful Cairngorm Lochan

Distance: 5 miles total (2.5 miles each way.) Ascent:300m /1,000 ft

Start: Cairngorm Ski Centre car park

Time Taken: 3.5 hrs

Difficulty : excellent path, bouldery ground higher up can be avoided.

Rating: 5 star

This is a beautiful walk to Coire an Lochain – the Corrie of the Lochan – where lies a gorgeous , remote-feeling stretch of water below the cliffs of Cairngorm’s Northern Corries.

With high winds of 40mph minimum forecast for the mountains, the Cairngorm cliffs and circular plateau walk which I’ve wanted to do for ages was not appealing.I’ve had enough days of being buffeted by strong winds, so decided to avoid that kind of unpleasant experience like the plague!

But I love remote lochans and knew that one lay below Cairn Lochain, one of the 4,000 foot plus Cairngorm biggies.

I’d hardly seen any photos of it because most people head up onto the mountains rather than into the heart of the cliff girt corrie. It’s a popular place for winter climbing when all is under snow and ice.

We set off from the ski centre (now paid parking  -3 per day) and headed off along one of the area’s excellent built paths, a joy to walk on. We had both downloaded the OS map for the Aviemore area – this is essential as there are so many paths and it would be really annoying to follow the wrong one! 

The paths give great access to the slopes which lead onto the plateau itself and the superb circuit called The Northern Corries which winds its way round the top of the mountains and over Cairngorm summit itself, about 11km or 7 miles all in.But that walk was being left for another day.

Right away, we could see Loch Morlich far below and a favourite hill, Meall a Bhuachaille, which gives fantastic views of the Cairngorm Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet) across the ever green Caledonian pine forest.

Ahead, lay the outline of the big hills themselves, just the top of the plateau showing above the steep corries and cliffs which are so impressive.

Quite quickly, another track headed off left but a check of the map showed that this was not our route but the path into Coire n Sneachda – the Snowy Corrie – and a steep access route onto the mountains.It has a very high avalanche risk in winter but is also used a lot by winter climbers.

A pretty wee burn to ford at one point, aided by big stepping stones.

The path split again and several people ahead of us made their way to the right – I know that path, as it leads fairly gently onto the plateau  giving wonderful views all the way.

But we were staying low though alarmingly, we were already being buffeted by the wind – heaven knows what it must have been like at 4,000 feet!

A great thing about Cairngorm is that the ski centre itself sits at over 2,000 feet (600m) so any ascent onto the tops is much easier. 

The path climbed gently up various little rises in the moorland which in early September was already starting to show gorgeous autumn colours – the deer grass was turning a deep gold with tawny tips, the pink of heather was fading but still visible (lower down it was still in stronger colours but not at this height).The pink/orange  granite that is such a feature of Cairngorm just completed the picture of an incredibly beautiful, ancient landscape. Later in autumn, the moorland colours will turn to burnt amber/orange, almost unreal against the soft blues and greys of the cliffs and the blues of the myriad little lochans hereabouts.

There is a reindeer herd in the area which grazes all year round and I had hopes of catching a glimpse of them though they tend to stay off the more frequented routes.

‘Think we’ve only got a half km to go,’ Chris said after an hour or so’s walking  and it certainly looked that way on the map.Famous last words!

The path was a bit rockier now, so our pace had slowed but what really became an issue was the enormous boulderfield that lay ahead.At the same time on the right, albeit with some detouring, I could see a lovely grassy area which looked much nicer to walk on even without a path. But Chris kept straight ahead and before I knew it he was boulder hopping over jumbled granite blocks – NOT my favourite terrain.

I followed him but really didn’t like it at all – my hips are so stiff these days, plus there were large holes between the boulders, the blocks lying at all angles and after 5 mins I thought -to heck with this, I’m making for the grass! I had to retrace my various manouevres a bit but finally escaped Boulder Hell and felt a huge relief at being on soft easy ground again. There were bits of path here and there too, probably made by deer.

We eventually joined up again after a few minutes and arrived at the first smaller lochan, a lovely spot.

But the larger one lay ahead and again, we found easy ground a little higher up on which to approach it.

What a spot! It was absolutely gorgeous.

The corrie’s cliffs rose about 1,000 feet or so from the blue and turquoise water.The wind was whipping across it, the water so clear, we could see some of the pink granite rocks below the surface.Definitely a place for a wild swim!

 

We’ve had a poor summer this year with lots of rain so the little pale sand beaches which lined the loch were covered by water, the loch’s level really high.

Found a perch on a rock and just took in the scene, a fantastic place altogether. Demolished my tuna sandwiches and a Kit Kat, so glad we’d made the effort to discover this almost secret spot.It had taken us 90 mins to get here, a lovely walk the whole way (apart from the error in trying to cross the boulder field.)

Spent some time walking round the other side of the lochan where small tracks led up to the slabs but there was no sign of climbers today.

A hard spot to leave! On the walk back we kept to the grass, giving very easy walking before we picked up the main path again back to the car park.

Just one last thrill as we passed some rocks – Ptarmigan!

A pair , male and female, were dotting about, keeping a wary eye on us as we stopped to admire them.

They rarely fly off, always trying to conserve energy as they are birds of the high wild places, living all year round at the 2,500 feet mark and above, in the Arctic landscape of the Scottish Highlands. In winter they turn completely white. They have thick white feathers on their legs as insulation. In Iceland, I’ve seen them at sea level.

No reindeer this time though I knew if they were about they would be a long way off. The Reindeer Centre in Glenmore offers guided group tours to see them in their habitat and to help feed them.We came across the herd a couple of times on winter walks and also once when crossing a pathless area below Creag a Chalamain, a small hill nearby. Gorgeous animals.

It took us about 90 mins to get back to the ski centre what with stopping and starting for photos plus the stonier upper path needing a bit more attention.

But a perfectly easy straightforward hike all in and one I’d love to do again, maybe in winter conditions.

Time for a cup of tea at the Ski Centre café sitting out on the terrace with a last look out over the high moorland. There is a lot of ski paraphernalia of course but somehow, I still love being up here. Then the 20 min or so drive down to Aviemore, a really beautiful drive past the ancient Scots Pine forest with glimpses of lovely Loch Morlich and a final look back at the Northern Corries.

So different from the pointier more dramatic peaks of the west but there is a great beauty in these big, rolling mountains with their sub Arctic tundra, their remote high lochans and distinctive pinkish stone. Their Gaelic name is the Monadh Ruadh – the Red Rounded Hills because of their distinctive granite and the soft outline of the summits.  Deadly in winter with freezing temperatures and an incredible 173mph wind speed was once recorded on Cairngorm summit.Even in July, a maximum wind speed of 99 mph has been registered! Wind chill is the killer on Scottish hills.

Those thoughts were far from my mind however as I looked back up towards the cliffs and – tucked secretly under them- the lovely place that is Coire an Lochain. Wild and lonely and beautiful. Perhaps not quite a match for more remote again Loch Avon, another incredible spot hidden away in the heart of Cairngorm but harder to reach. Loch Avon below…

There are so many amazingly beautiful areas to explore in Cairngorm NP, not all of which involve having to go up onto the big summits though many are certainly remote and need some effort to reach(Loch Avon).But today’s lovely place, hardly mentioned at all in guide books, really is a short half day and easily do-able by most who enjoy a good walk.