Carn a' mhaim - Gorms

Carn a Mhaim ridge is very worthwhile IMO. I made a point of picking out a route up Macdui from the half way down the ridge; one that would involve as little boulderfield activity as possible.
I thought the Derry Cairngorm descent better than the ordinary route. Not much more climbing up but a very long and varied descent that goes all the way to Derry Lodge; the 2nd bump in the ridge has a short cut round it...leave well alone! IMO the ordinary Glen Derry descent deteriorates after Loch Etchachan as you get funnelled into a loose rut and as it flattens out, the path has been rebuilt with nasty sharp edged culverts.

I was in Glen Derry a couple of weeks ago, the descent off Derry Cairngorm certainly looks well worth an explore.

Hi Fergal (waves)

You are in luck I wrote a piece on this called Ridge Riders a number of issues back.

We went up Carn a Mhaim - the ridge is lovely. After that, it is a harsh hike a bike up onto MacDui. From there we headed down to Etchecan then up onto Derry Cairngorm. The summit is a rocky mess and at first we thought wtf. However, after a bit of carrying down, the path opens up to you and gives a glorious descent back into Glen Derry.

It is well worth doing!

Cheers

Sanny

Top beta, good news about Derry Cairngorm, i get to add two new munro's to the tally.

Cheers guys, happy trails

So, has any consensus emerged then....

Is the full Etchachan descent from Macdui best or is the Dery Cairngorm ridge the bestest?

( PS has anyone ordered good weather for 13 May?)

Second the planning pause on the way down the Mhaim ridge towards Big Mac. It's good advice to take that moment to decide how you're going to tackle the ascent as the boulder field is tricky to negotiate and the grass area out to the right further up while it's still steep might work better for you.

They're both good descents in my opinion, just different.
If I was riding solo, I'd probably stick to the classic path down past the Hutchison hut and into Glen Derry, not go up the extra climb, purely from a safety perspective. On Derry Cairngorm, you've a far less chance of being found by random walkers if you take a nasty fall.
I still very much enjoy the classic descent, all the way down to cross the 'closed' little iron bridge and onward to Derry Lodge.

As for weather on the 13th, that's the weekend of the Cateran ultra marathon so it may well be minging again..

So, just been told by Finn that Carn a Mhaim has some downhill pushing, nasty boulderfield and we'd be better going up Sron Riach. Boulder field nastiness is s given but dint like the ides of pushing downhill.

Anyone know if there is any pushing downhill on Mhaim?

Is there a good reason, part from relative ease, to do Riach over Mhaim?

PS, and how......

PS has anyone ordered good weather for 13 May?

💥

I don't remember any pushing down Carn a Mhaim. Mostly straightforward with some techy challenges. I was riding alone and tend to ride at seven tenths in that situation.

The boulder field out gote a bit sweary. It's not fun. While I'd agree that the Derry Cairngorm descent is better than the Glen Derry descent, it also has a frustrating boulder field at the top. I think combining it with Carn a Mhaim would end up being a ride with a lot of time spent swearing.

don’t remember any pushing down Carn a Mhaim. Mostly straightforward

😳😳
Whilst I've tried to push Carn a Mhaim and the Macdui boylderfield in stifling weather from my memory, I definitely remember carting my bike downhill at times on that ridge. Not far, but enough to make sure there wad no flow to it at all.
I was knackered by that point which probably didn't help, having got there via Beinn a Bhuird.
The Derry Cairngorm descent is on the list for this summer.
The Cairngorms were glorious this weekend 🙂
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Nice to see my bridge work is still in good order 😄