Tuesday 24 May 2022 - Derry Cairngorm

On a fine morning Sue and I drove to the Linn of Dee, jumped on our bikes, and pedalled about 5km up the track to Derry Lodge.

Abandoning our bikes, we crossed a new footbridge and headed up the excellent path that leads after another 6km or so to the summit of Derry Cairngorm. 

We passed a couple who were maintaining the path together with their two lovely dogs, then paused for elevenses in view of our objective.

The minor (890 metres) summit of Carn Crom was soon reached, yielding fine views across the length and breadth of the Cairngorm plateau and beyond.

There wasn't much flora and fauna to admire, but as we continued to our objective skylarks and wheatears made their presence known, and increasing amounts of alpine azalea were encountered underfoot. Lower down, bearberry and bog asphodel had established homes in the thin soil.

Here's a view towards Ben Macdui from the summit - the last picture I took as afternoon showers made their presence felt. A couple of Dutch backpackers arrived as we were enjoying our lunch on the summit, and we met another backpacker later as we descended back to base.