Walk of the Week: Carn na Caim

On the way to the hills the topic of football invariably crops up. Having lived close to Edinburgh’s Easter Road as a schoolboy, Hibs receive my support.

Jimbo is a season ticket holder for the Jambos. Most remarkably, Hibs and Hearts meet in the Scottish Cup final … hey … that’s today! Seeking to end their 110-year quest to land the famous trophy, Hibs are not the bookies’ favourite. Driving up the A9 in early May, such talk made for a short journey.

Jimbo and John were dropped off to climb A’Bhuidheanach Bheag. Scott continued with me to Carn na Caim. I had a particular reason for selecting this hill. Munro Society members have been asked to write short reports on the Munros of their choosing to be climbed during the period between 1 January and 30 September this year. The reports, to provide a lasting legacy of the enjoyment derived from the Munros, are to be published as an anthology next April.

I had chosen/been allocated a trio of hills… Ben More, Mull – tackled earlier this year – plus Carn na Caim and A’Bhuidheanach Bheag. The latter is my chosen hill on which to complete a 10th round, planned for late summer, so Carn na Caim it was. The aptly named cairn of the curve lies above a series of distinctive rounded corries with scalloped edges, well seen from Dalwhinnie. At a modest 941m/3087ft, it is one of the easiest Munros; popular in winter yet ideal in less than favourable weather. We enjoyed wall-to-wall blue sky and a gentle breeze … what a sunny day to be out.

The route

The popular and easiest route (our choice) starts south of Dalwhinnie, taking advantage of a roadside starting height of 400m and a track that climbs to a disused quartz quarry at almost 900m. The track may be a scar on the hillside and not a pretty way up, but it gives quick access to the uplands. At the time of writing the area round the start of the track, near layby 88, is being used as one of the many construction sites by the A9 for the new electricity power line.

From the quarry, in reality little more than a shallow depression, head north-east on the boundary between Highland and Perth & Kinross, following a line of fence-posts, and traversing an unnamed 914m bump on an obvious path, unless snow-covered. Leave the fence-posts when they turn east and climb north. The small cairn on the rounded summit lies close to the headwall of Coire Cam.

To the east, undulating moorland, not to be taken lightly in bad visibility, leads to 827m/2713ft An Dun, the Corbett overlooking the Gaick Pass. On a good day why not extend the walk? The route traverses Vinegar Hill, possibly a whimsical corruption of A’Mhinchoiseachd, meaning the easy-walking one, though this is not my 1985 recollection. Geraldine and I had to navigate all the way to the beautifully shaped plateau, in the mist seemingly narrower than the map suggested. A large herd of deer suddenly came out of the mist. We were downwind, and to our consternation they broke into a frightened stampede. On the narrow plateau there was not much room.

At the last moment they split into two groups going to our left and right and, for what seemed an age, we were in the middle of the herd.

Convinced we had only just escaped being trampled to death, we went quickly to the summit then retreated.

Map Ordnance Survey map 42, Glen Garry & Loch Rannoch

Distance 7 miles

Height 600m

Terrain Track to plateau and line of fence posts

Start point Track off the A9, map ref 640822

Time 4 hours

Nearest village Dalwhinnie

Recommended refreshment spot The House of Bruar, by Blair Atholl