Outdoors with Karolina

This year, just like the one before, I’ve added extra day to my route. Not to rest, not to recover, not to walk shorter distances each day. That extra day was for climbing more mountains! Last year I camped by the river, left everything in my tent and went up to tackle Ben Avon. This time I couldn’t resist bagging another 5 Munros (to remind you- Munros are Scottish mountains above 3000 feet). And whilst staying at Glas Allt Shiel I’ve had a perfect base for Lochnagar 5. Lochnagar 5 is a common name for five mountains on the White Mounth plateau, Lochnagar being the highest one of them.

The thing was, I didn’t have to rush anywhere. Had a very lazy morning waving all the other challengers goodbye. ‘I’m just going for Lochnagar. It’s my rest day!’. People were laughing that I call it a rest day, but in all the fairness , it did feel way easier than any other day. With all my stuff left in the tent, my bag was gloriously light. Forgot how wonderful it is to walk without any extra weight.

Soon I was the only one at Glas Allt Shiel (hats off to King Charles again for letting me stay in his back garden!) Sun was shining over Loch Muick. Without any signal I couldn’t check the weather but remembered last time I looked at it in Braemar- it was supposed to be cloudy without any visibility. But the sun and gently rolling clouds gave me hope- after all weather changes all the time, mostly in the mountains. I set off.

Path starts just behind the buildings, when entering a little woodland. It quickly takes you to a stunning waterfall- Falls of the Glasallt. It may not be the highest one but definetely worth a visit. Crystal clear pool only seems to be waiting for you to take a dip in it!

Sadly, thats when the view ended, I walked straight into the clouds. Maybe it was walking without the extra weight but reaching the plateau felt like an easy work- it wasn’t steep but also wasn’t long, just a perfect balance. I wanted to say the path is straightforward but… once you reach the plateau, that’s when the things get complicated. While approaching from Loch Muick- the first and the highest summit will be to your right (North on the map). Actually, there are two summits and that’s what is confusing. First is Cac Carn Mor, which is quite often mistaken for Lochnagar. What you have to do is go behind the cairn and keep following the path for another 500m to Cac Carn Bearg. You will see the trig point. That’s Lochnagar.

Imagine not being aware of that and taking selfies at the cairn! Almost happened to two girls I bumped into. I quickly explained and we walked together to the actual trig point. After returning to Cac Carn Mor I turned East to carry on alongside the loop. That’s when I started bumping into other Challengers. As I mentioned in my previous posts, The Great Outdoors Challenge is a yearly non competitive event, where you walk from West to the East Coast across Scotland. Exactly- West to East. So after explaining to few challengers that I’m actually taking a day off to tackle some Munros I have made the most cruel joke. ‘You are going the wrong direction’ ‘Am I?’, I answered in a voice that supposed to sound shaky. ‘Where were you supposed to go?’, the man asked. ‘I don’t know’, I think I did sound like I was about to burst into tears. He looked at me really worried and then I couldn’t keep it in any longer. Started laughing and apologised for the joke.

Once on the plateau, all other mountains are really easy to reach. Second Munro of the day was Carn a’Choire Bhoidheach (1110m), and was probably one of the easiest mountain tops to reach- all I;ve had to do was to leave the main path and walk another 350m! While taking a selfie at the cairn I bumped into Ian. We have met the year before but not expected to actually see each other. We were both starting at Plockton but I was leaving day before him. What a nice surprise it is to see a familiar face in the middle of nowhere!

Next two Munros- Carn an t-Sagairt Mor (1047m) and Cairn Bannoch (1012m) were both very easy to reach but the mist was getting even thicker and even after short breaks at the summits I was getting really disoriented. To avoid that at the final Munro- Broad Cairn (998m) my brain came up with an idea. I dropped my backpack facing the way I should follow the path so I can come back from the summit and be sure which way to carry on. Brilliant idea, isn’t it?

I jumped the rocks to a summit, took few photos, started climbing down towards the path… and I wasn’t sure anymore where have I left my bag. To make it even worse, I slipped on a wet rock and went flying bruising myself a little bit. I got up but panic started kicking in. With a thick mist and no visibility I wasn’t able to spot the bright green raincover. I started walking in circles getting more and more nervous. I couldn’t leave without my backpack but it was nowhere to be seen!

You know what actually saved me? My Suunto watch- only few clicks took me to the watch face showing my route. I retraced my steps and grabbed my bag. From there I was only going down the hill. From around 700m views came back and I could see clearly towards the Glen Muick. It was still a long way but knowing that my tent is already pitched and my sleeping bag ready, felt like winning the lottery. I took my earphones out and turned on the audiobook. I was listening to The Witcher books. Fantasy world and wilderness do go together, trust me!

‘We know little about love. Love is like a pear. Pear is sweet and has a distinct shape. Try to define the shape of a pear’ A. Sapkowski