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
Carn a' Mhaim
A Munro of 1,037 metres, number 95 of the 282.
The hill
Carn a' Mhaim stands in the Cairngorms National Park between Ben Macdui and Cairn Toul, with much higher hills on either hand.
Each of those two is a little under four kilometres away, and The Devil's Point is closer still, about two kilometres to the west.
Visit Cairngorms calls it a firm favourite with mountain guides, one of whom praises its views of the hills west of the Lairig Ghru.
Corrour Bothy is about a kilometre and a half from the summit in a straight line. The Mountain Bothies Association calls it one of the most famous of all bothies, and it sits in the Lairig Ghru, the old right of way between Deeside and Speyside.
- Starts from
- Visit Cairngorms gives the Linn of Dee as a start for this walk.
- 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.
- Summit
- Grid reference NN 994 951
- 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
0° to 3°Drizzle on the summit, 1,037 m. Feels like −5° in the wind.
North-west wind to 17 mph, gusting 33
Rain, about 4 mm
Light from 7.49am to 6.11pm, ten hours
Sat 17Cloudy−1° to 3° on top · 11 mph, gusts 25
Sun 18Clear−3° to 4° on top · 7 mph, gusts 13
Mon 19Drizzle−4° to 5° on top · 11 mph, gusts 19
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, Carn a' Mhaim, 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 steve whitmarsh and John Irvine, 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 NN 994 951
- 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 Carn a' Mhaim 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.
- Carn a' Mhaim on WalkhighlandsRoute descriptions with mapswalkhighlands.co.ukThe route↗
- More of the best Munros in the CairngormsVisit Cairngorms, with a paragraph on this hillvisitcairngorms.comThe hill↗
- Braemar Mountain Rescue TeamThe volunteer rescue team for the Southern Cairngormsscottishmountainrescue.orgRescue↗
- 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↗
- Carn a' MhaimThe Met Office's forecast for the summit: a computer model for one point, not a report from the hillweather.metoffice.gov.ukSummit forecast↗
- Southern Cairngorms avalanche forecastThe Southern Cairngorms avalanche forecast, which counts Cairn Toul and Ben Macdui, this hill's neighbours, 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: The Devil's Point, Derry Cairngorm, Cairn Toul, Ben Macdui. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on this page are Visit Cairngorms', Mountaineering Scotland's, Braemar Mountain Rescue Team's and the Cairngorms National Park Authority'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.