At One with the Mountains - An interview with Nick Gardner
Issue 6: Nick Gardner and his wife Janet were living an idyllic life on a croft…
The Cairngorms
Beinn a' Chaorainn
A Munro of 1,083 metres, number 60 of the 282.
The hill
Beinn a' Chaorainn stands in the Cairngorms, on the boundary of Aberdeenshire and Moray, above the Derry Burn.
The burn's Gaelic name, Uisge an Doire, means the water of the copse.
Beinn Mheadhoin is its nearest Munro, about two kilometres to the west, and Beinn a' Bhuird is nearly five to the east. This is not the Beinn a' Chaorainn near Laggan, which is another Munro altogether.
The closest shelter is the Hutchison Memorial Hut, under three kilometres away in a straight line. The Mountain Bothies Association says it was built in 1954 as a mountain refuge in Coire Etchachan, at a height of about 2,500 feet.
- Starts from
- The path from the Linn of Dee to Derry Lodge is one of the National Park's core paths.
- Stalking
- Mountaineering Scotland counts the first three weeks of October the busiest of the stag season. Hind stalking currently runs from 21 October to 15 February.
- Bridges
- Mountaineering Scotland warns that a bridge marked on the map does not always exist on the ground.
- Summit
- Grid reference NJ 045 013
- Car park
- The Linn of Dee, near Braemar, is one of the ways into the Lairig Ghru. When it and the Quoich car park are full, drivers are sent to an overflow car park just before the Linn of Dee, and when that fills too, asked to go elsewhere.
- No telephone
- The emergency telephone at Derry Lodge has been removed, Braemar Mountain Rescue Team says. Do not count on a phone signal in the glens.
- Food
- We know of no café or shop at the Linn of Dee or in the glens beyond it. The nearest places of ours to eat are in Braemar.
On the hill today
−1° to 3°Drizzle on the summit, 1,083 m. Feels like −6° in the wind.
North-west wind to 12 mph, gusting 28
Dry, or nearly
Light from 7.51am to 6.08pm, ten hours
Sun 18Clear−1° to 3° on top · 9 mph, gusts 17
Mon 19Drizzle−4° to 5° on top · 9 mph, gusts 17
Tue 20Drizzle1° to 6° on top · 15 mph, gusts 27
A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: Cairngorms National Park and Monadhliath forecast, Beinn a' Chaorainn, North Grampian mountain forecast, South Grampian and Southeast Highlands mountain forecast, Southern Cairngorms avalanche forecast, Northern Cairngorms avalanche forecast.
October2026
MTWTFSS
Going another day?
Choose the day you mean to climb.Near or far: the light you will have, and what the summit is likely to be doing.
Photographs by John Irvine and DL, via Google
The emergency telephone at Derry Lodge has now been removed.Braemar Mountain Rescue Team, the volunteer team for the Southern Cairngorms
Before you go
Carry
- A paper map and a compass, and the skill to use them
- Waterproofs, warm layers, hat and gloves
- Food and drink
- A head torch, a whistle and a first aid kit
- A survival bag
- Boots with a good grip
Under snow and ice this is a different day, with short light and the risk of avalanche. It needs an ice axe, crampons, winter boots and the skill to use them.
If something goes wrong
- Dial 999, ask for the police, then mountain rescue
- Give a six-figure grid reference: the summit is NJ 045 013
- Say how many are hurt, how many are with you, and your number
- Register to text 999 before the day: text the word register to 999
The summit is optional. Turning back is the right decision whenever the cloud, the wind or the light say so.
How to call for help in the hills · Safety and skills for the hills · ThinkWINTER
From our readers
Nobody has written from Beinn a' Chaorainn yet. If you were up, yours would be the first.
Tell the next person
Were you up? Three words is enough.A free account, a word for the weather and a line if you like.
Read more elsewhere
For the route itself, take the map and read these.
- Beinn a' Chaorainn on WalkhighlandsRoute descriptions with maps. Check the page is for the Cairngorms hill, not its namesake near Lagganwalkhighlands.co.ukThe route↗
- Hutchison Memorial HutThe Mountain Bothies Association on the small refuge in Coire Etchachanmountainbothies.org.ukThe refuge↗
- River crossingsMountaineering Scotland on burns in spate, and on bridges that are on the map but not on the groundmountaineering.scotRivers↗
- Deer stalkingMountaineering Scotland on the stalking seasons, and how to find out what an estate is doingmountaineering.scotStalking↗
- Cairngorms National Park and Monadhliath forecastThree days of mountain weather for the Cairngorms and the Monadhliath, written by forecastersmwis.org.ukMountain weather↗
- Beinn a' ChaorainnThe Met Office's forecast for the summit: a computer model for one point, not a report from the hillweather.metoffice.gov.ukSummit forecast↗
- North Grampian mountain forecastThe Met Office's mountain forecast for North Grampian, the area its summit page links toweather.metoffice.gov.ukMountain weather↗
- South Grampian and Southeast Highlands mountain forecastThe Met Office's other Cairngorms area, taking in the south and east of the National Park and the Aberdeenshire hills: read bothweather.metoffice.gov.ukMountain weather↗
- Southern Cairngorms avalanche forecastThe avalanche forecast for the Southern Cairngorms, which counts Cairn Toul and Ben Macdui among its outlying mountains, observed in turn as the winter goes on. Full forecasts begin on 17 December 2026sais.gov.ukAvalanche↗
- Northern Cairngorms avalanche forecastThe Northern Cairngorms forecast, which counts Braeriach among its outlying ground, so read both. No forecast before 17 December does not mean no risk under snowsais.gov.ukAvalanche↗
- Path closures in the Cairngorms National ParkPaths and car parks closed in the National Park. The Authority suggests checking with the ranger service or the estate as wellcairngorms.co.ukNotices↗
Next along: Beinn Mheadhoin, Derry Cairngorm, Beinn Bhreac, Beinn a' Bhuird. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on this page are the Cairngorms National Park Authority's, Visit Cairngorms', Mountaineering Scotland's, Braemar Mountain Rescue Team's and the Mountain Bothies Association's; the forecasts are the Mountain Weather Information Service's, the Met Office's and the Scottish Avalanche Information Service's. Height and position from The Database of British and Irish Hills, v18.3, adapted, CC BY 4.0. This page is not a route description and does not replace a map.