The Cairngorm Plateau

Ben Macdui feels completely different to a lot of the mountains further west. Starting from the Cairn Gorm ski centre, the route climbs steadily up towards Cairn Gorm before the landscape begins opening out into the wider Cairngorms.

After summiting Cairn Gorm, the route towards Ben Macdui becomes much more exposed. The path itself is fairly clear for most of the crossing and there were plenty of people out walking and mountain biking while I was there. It’s not particularly steep or technical in good conditions, but the scale of the place makes it feel remote surprisingly quickly.

The weather changed massively the closer I got to Ben Macdui itself. Visibility started dropping quite heavily and by the final stretch towards the summit I could barely make out sections of the trail ahead. Even with a defined path, everything suddenly felt far bigger and emptier once the mist rolled in.

The summit of Ben Macdui is fairly understated compared to a lot of other mountains in Scotland. After a long crossing over rocky ground, you eventually reach the summit cairn with views stretching right out across the Cairngorms whenever the cloud cleared.

The walk back felt longer than expected, mostly because of how open everything is. Once you’re heading back towards Cairn Gorm again, the terrain starts blending together into long stretches of rock and trail.

Ben Macdui isn’t particularly technical in good weather, but it definitely deserves respect. It’s the kind of mountain where the conditions shape the route far more than the difficulty itself.

I took a couple of shots on my 35mm camera for a bit of a change and had them developed recently. Nice to have something different from the usual phone photos for once.

- Cameron Phoenix

Photos © Glen Valley