Small wonder that's worth the wade; Carn Eilrig might be obstructed

It's neither a Munro nor a Corbett and its lowly height of 2,443ft is dwarfed by the big Cairngorm giants that rise behind it, but Carn Eilrig, guardian of the Lairig Ghru, is something special.

You'll see it easily enough from Aviemore. In a wide-ranging view that is dominated by roundly curving hills, Carn Eilrig is set apart by its shape, a pyramidal, conical form that rises from the broad sweep of Rothiemurchus Forest. Beyond it the wind-scoured corries of Braeriach, Britain's third highest mountains, range wide, and to its left the V-shaped entrance to the Lairig Ghru, Scotland's finest mountain pass, beckons those who would take the 30-mile hike through the hills to Braemar.

Curiously, very few hill-walkers consider Carn Eilrig to be worth bothering about and in several ascents of the hill I've yet to meet another person on its slopes.

Perhaps, to paraphrase a catch-phrase from a television comedy show, it's because Carn Eilrig is seen as a local hill for local people, or at least for those who are well familiar with the bigger list-ticks of the Cairngorm's Munros. Or perhaps people are deterred by the thought of having to cross the two rivers that protect it.

After heavy rainfall both rivers, the Am Beanaidh, which trundles down from Gleann Einich, and the livelier Allt Druidh, fed from a myriad of burns that flow down from the Lairig Ghru, can be impossible to cross, and even on a soft and balmy summer's day last week my wife and I had to wade the chronically-cold waters of the Am Beanaidh to reach the footpath in Gleann Einich that was to take us back to Coylumbridge.

River crossings apart, the endearing feature of Carn Eilrig is that it sits on the upper edges of the wonderful Rothiemurchus Forest, and the approaches to the hill are through natural streets of Scots pines, the patriarchs of this ancient remnant of the Caledonian Pine Forest. Birch trees grow in extravagant excess, juniper bushes cover the floor and a rich, luxuriant undergrowth of heather, blaeberry and mosses give a perception of timelessness, a wonderful approach to any mountain, no matter its height.

The Lairig Ghru path from Coylumbridge blasts a brazen, contemporary route up through the lower forest, but higher up, beyond the path junction known locally as Picadilly, the footpath builders have used a softer, gentler touch in their repairs to the twisting footpath that winds its way up through gnarled granny pines to the slopes above.

By this time we were aware of the exuberant skirl of the waters of the Allt Druidh down to our right but, thanks to some well-placed boulders and the comforting stability of trekking poles, we managed to cross with dry feet. A boulder-and-scree-strewn gully led us up on to the moors between our summit ridge and the lower slopes of Braeriach and in no time at all we were lying against the summit cairn, flask in hand, with a grandstand view of Braeriach's snow- streaked corries. The entrance to the Lairig Ghru, dark in glowering cloud, opened up like the entrance to a giant's lair, but the views to the north were more extensive, over the green mattress of Rothiemurchus to the Monadh Liath, Ben Wyvis and beyond.

Aware we still had another burn to cross we didn't linger, and I'm glad we didn't, for the crossing of the Am Beanaidh was a little trickier than the Allt Druidh. This river is wider, and deeper, and after wandering down its bank for a while in search of an easy crossing point we simply threw caution to the wind, removed our socks, put our boots back on and waded across the knee-deep current. Putting dry socks back on frozen feet was a simple luxury not to be missed.

FACTFILE Map: Harvey's Cairn Gorm 1:40000; OS Sheet 36 Distance: 11 miles Approx time: 6-8 hours Start/finish: Coylumbridge, near Aviemore Route: From the Coylumbridge camp-site follow the Lairig Ghru track south, past a dilapidated building on the left to a fork in the track. Go left and follow the path to the Iron Bridge over the Allt Druidh. Continue on the path for half a mile to the junction known as Picadilly. Turn right by the cairn and follow the path up through the pines to the junction that comes in from the left from Rothiemurchus Lodge. Leave the path, descend the steep bank on the right down to the river. Cross the river, then climb up through an area of rock and scree to reach the moorland just south-east of Carn Eilrig. Climb steep slopes to the summit. From the cairn, descend south to a bealach then descend steep slopes in a west direction down to the Am Beanaidh. Take care crossing the river. From the footpath on the west bank descend north, past Lochan Deo and Whitewell, to meet the outward path from Coylumbridge.

Copyright 2004 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.