116-117. Beinn Mheadhoin (13), Derry Cairngorm (20). 17/08/2010

We awoke to the drumming of rain (or was it midge?) on the tin roof of the bothy. We prepared ourselves for a miserable walk out, but thought we might as well make the most of our position in the hills to climb a couple as we went. The midges seemed to only live just outside the bothy, so we were relatively free from them for most of the day. The drizzle (and later rain) was more persistent, however.

Looking down from the summit torr of Bein Mheadhoin.

Playing on the torrs.

There wasn't too much ascent up to Beinn Mheadhoin and the torr marking the summit gave a fun scramble. A period of dryness accompanied our trip across to Derry Cairngorm which kept our spirits up, but the summit was strewn with loose rocks making progress a bit slow.

Comparative clarity on the way to Derry Cairngorm.

The quickest way back to the road was then to go north along the main Cairngorm plateau, but no sooner had we decided to do this than a more persistent spell of wind and rain greeted us. Therefore our ascent to Ben Macdui was a bit tedious and we weren't relishing the trip across the plateau into the wind, where the effects of the weather can be magnified. We did get a short respite however for at least half of the plateau, but then it really began to rain as we went over Cairngorm, soaking us right through. We arrived at the Ptarmigan Lodge bedraggled, tired and grumpy at about 1.30 in time for a well earned lunch.