While checking the route of the two Munros Ben Macdui and Cairn Gorm before a walk with my friend Susanna one Saturday, I noticed a Munro Top I had not bagged. Located to the south-east of Macdui, Sròn Riach looked to be fairly straightforward to reach but I didn’t feel the need to extend my walk with Susanna to accommodate my growing obsession with Munro Tops and instead earmarked it for another day out. That day came sooner than expected – just four days later when a good mid-week weather forecast sent me back to Macdui and the Top.
Note, there is another Ben Macdui Top, Càrn Etchachan, to the east, which I had previously bagged as part of a Five Munro Tops outing with another friend David.
Ben Macdui and Sròn Riach
I ascended Ben Macdui as before, from Cairngorm Mountain car park via Coire an t-Sneachda, which is one of the dramatic Northern Corries of the Cairngorms. The route to the second highest summit in the UK was very familiar, since I had been there only days before, although the weather was sunnier and warmer.
My pace was a mix of brisk walking and jogging and I found the mountain was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday.
I passed lots of people and exchanged a few words with many of them before trotting onwards and across the high plateau.
At the summit of Ben Macdui at 1309m elevation, I stopped to eat some lunch and to chat to a few other walkers and runners. It was a very sociable place to be.
While most people were heading north from Macdui to walk to Cairn Gorm, or to descend back to the car park, I walked over the rocky top in the other direction. I didn’t find a trod but simply headed south-east.
From the high point on Macdui, I wasn’t able to see the Munro Top and it wasn’t until I was approaching a rocky ridge above Lochan Uaine that I then spotted the Top further south.
I didn’t actually need to reach the ridge edge, but it did offer some great views.
From a highpoint of around 1249m on the ridge, I headed south, along the ridge and then descended quite steeply towards a bealach. I started to pick up a trod and then, from the bealach, I could see a more obvious trod winding its way up to Sròn Riach.
Sròn Riach looked like a minor rise on the ridge but it does in fact qualify as a Munro Top at 1113m.
It was great to have a different view and perspective of the area south of Ben Macdui.
Return route
I returned to the summit of Macdui on a more direct route, following more bits and pieces of path and trod. I also met a couple of walkers who were heading towards another neighbouring Munro, Derry Cairngorm.
It would be possible to combine Ben Macdui, Sròn Riach and Derry Cairngorm into a route from Linn of Dee.
Once back on Ben Macdui summit, I returned back along the path across the plateau and back to the car park via Coire an t-Sneachda. It’s a short but steep descent and I wished I’d taken my hiking poles with me to provide more stability.
The total route was surprisingly long at 21km, with 1075m of ascent. I was pleased I had not tried to cajole Susanna into the Munro Top on the Saturday because it would have added a chunk to our total distance and elevation and the route to the Munro Top was mostly pathless.
I really enjoy the challenge of the Muro Tops but I think they are often best left to people who have discovered this obsession!
My route: Strava and OS Maps
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