Estimated net time	2½-3 hours
Difficulty	No difficulties.
Drinking water	No access to drinking water.
GSM coverage	Coverage throughout the route (May 2009).
Parking	Room for a many cars at car park at trail head (fee).
Start height	332 metres
Vertical metres	620 for the roundtrip
Trip distance	7.2 km
GPS-file	X (the file is not complete for the ascent to Meall a' Bhuachaille)
Map
Route photo	Parking and start of route to Meall a' Bhuachaille.   Start of the path to Meall a' Bhuachaille.

From Aviemore drive south towards the round-about. Turn left onto road B970, and continue 6.0 km. On your left hand side, slightly elevated from the road, you will see a car park. Park here, and pay the fee (there's a machine, £1 per day, per 2009).

Start walking by following the road uphill from the car park. You soon get to a concrete bridge crossing the river. Immediately after the bridge you will see a path that goes uphill to your left. Follow this path through the forest, and continue on this path all the way up to the saddle. After a while you will see orange/amber markings. Around the saddle turn right and follow the path to the summit of Meall a' Bhuachaille, which is marked by a stone shelter.

From Meall a' Bhuachaille walk back down to the saddle and continue uphill to Creagan Gorm. Here you will find a cairn.

For your descent walk back down to the saddle, and then follow the path back to the car park.

04. May 2009

This Monday was the last day of our 2009 Scotland-trip. Pål, Håvard and me were staying in Aviemore and were going to drive to Aberdeen to catch the afternoon flight back home. I was pretty keen on bagging another mountain before going home, and after having studied the maps the night before I made a decision to visit Meall a' Bhuachaille and Creagan Gorm.

I left the hotel a little before 6am, and after having wasted a few minutes locating the trail head I was ready to start my hike at 06:10. It was another grey and cloudy day, but there was no rain, and not likely to be any by the look of the clouds. The hike up the good path to the saddle between the two mountains was a stroll, but when I started on the final climb the wind was becoming a factor. And at the summit the wind was so strong that it was difficult to stand still, not to mention keeping the camera still enough for photographing.

After having spent only a few minutes at the summit I headed back down into the saddle before heading up to Creagan Gorm. The wind was just as strong here, and again I only spent a few minutes at the summit before heading back down. The easy run down to the car only took me 25 minutes. Then back to the hotel, a quick shower, and breakfast together with the other guys. And as usual the breakfast was excellent, but the service is pretty slow. But the Cairngorm Hotel is definitely my choice of accommodation in Aviemore anyway.

The rest of the day was spent travelling, as well as getting some shopping done in Aviemore (the usual stuff; cheddar and Inov-8 shoes).

Photos 04.05.2009