ACTIVE OUTDOORS: Run through the Lairig Ghru is a shortcut to savour
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The high summits are an obvious attraction for any of us who enjoy a wander in the hills, but many of the glens hold even more significance.
The Lairig Ghru is among the most well known of the through routes that dissect the Cairngorms, its prominent V-shape seen from the north, splitting the plateaux that contain five mountains stretching more than 4000ft above sea level.
Once used as a drove road, not to mention a haunt for cattle thieves, this historic pass connects Strathspey with Deeside – a route of around 65 miles by road, or just 20 through the mountains. I know which option I prefer!
Nan Shepherd, who penned The Living Mountain on the wonders of these hills and glens, somewhat dismissed the Lairig Ghru as “oppressive”. “The Lairig Ghru is so sheer and narrow that when mists roll among the precipices, lifting and settling again, it is sometimes hard to tell whether a glimpse of rock wall belongs to the mountain on which one is standing or to another across the cleft,” she wrote.
There was nothing gloomy or claustrophobic about it today. The pass is wide at its southern extreme and with the sun beating down it was bright and airy. The only problem was the temperature – with a heatwave further south, we were struggling to run even in the peripheral warmth we were left with this far north.
Water was our only saviour and thankfully there is plenty of it to be found on the route, even with many of the smaller burns dried up.
The Pools of Dee at the high point of the pass – and Nan Shepherd’s saving grace of this great gash through the mountains – offered a blissful relief from the heat, though I didn’t quite manage to duck under for a full-on swim like some of our party did – I wish I was brave enough for that! Even just getting in up to my waist was enough, but the chill was just too much.
“These are the Pools of Dee,” Nan Shepherd wrote. “I can conceive of no good reason for trudging through the oppressive Lairig Ghru, except to see them.”
Despite her protestations, running or walking the Lairig Ghru is a popular outing these days, but that long road journey makes it a bit of a logistical nightmare.
I solved the conundrum by letting somebody else take care of the logistics. Trail Running Scotland offers a guided run through the pass during the summer and early autumn, so all I had to do was turn up at Aviemore with my running bag. Job done!
We started the run at the other end, at Linn of Dee, initially in the shade of the trees as we headed into Glen Lui then along the more exposed track that leads easily to Derry Lodge. On any other day this would be perfect for a warm-up, but we were already roasting hot just a couple of miles into the day.
Taking a footbridge over the Derry Burn, we followed a right of way sign left along a nice bit of singletrack trail into Gleann Laoigh Bheag.
Joe, our guide for the day, was well acquainted with the mountains here. He lives in Glenmore and works with the reindeer in the winter, so was able to share plenty of insights about the area and its wildlife.
A ford of the Luibeg Burn after a lovely section through woodland was a great opportunity to fill the water bottles as well as soak hats for some respite from the heat – something that would be repeated at every opportunity hence forth.
Climbing beyond the burn, the clear path continues above the Allt Preas nam Meirleach – the burn of the robbers’ copse, a nod to the cattle thieves of yesteryear. Rounding under the southern slopes of Carn a’ Mhaim, we were about to enter the Lairig Ghru proper.
The climb to its summit is minimal and in fact there is a bit of a descent to begin with as the view to the Devil’s Point opens up in front of you. You pass the Corrour bothy, tucked at the base of Coire Odhar below the point itself, and then in between some of the biggies of many a Munro mission.
Ben Macdui, the second highest after Ben Nevis, rises relentlessly to the right with Cairn Toul opposite. Further along, the impressive looking north-west ridge of Sgor an Lochain Uaine – the Angel’s Peak – juts into the skyline, with mighty Braeriach lying straight ahead. Along with Cairn Gorm itself, these five Munros are all over 4000ft and a classic route connects them all.
Just being among such giants brought back memories of various Cairngorms trips, including a lengthy two-day backpack a few years ago taking in those five peaks along with Derry Cairngorm, Carn a’ Mhaim and the Devil’s Point.
Looking into Braeriach’s Garbh Coire, we saw the last remaining snow in Scotland, a patch known as the Sphinx. Last year the patch melted for only the eighth time in 300 years – and during the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, too.
If this sort of heat continues much longer, 2022 will add to that tally, and to the growing evidence of a rapidly changing climate.
We soon reached the Pools of Dee, where we enjoyed a brief dip as well as a bit of refuelling. A boulder field at the highest section of the pass makes the going a little tricky – though apparently in the droving days, which ended around 1873, local people were paid to move the boulders to the side to clear better ground for the cattle.
After a descent through the narrowest section of the pass, below Lurcher’s Crag, the route continues on the north-east side of the Allt Druidh into Rothiemurchus Forest. As you enter the trees, this section on soft pine needles – avoiding the roots and rocks as much as possible – is one of the best running trails in the area.
Despite the tired legs, we let ourselves fly down here as we dropped to the crossroads of tracks known as Piccadilly. A left turn here, signed to Aviemore, leads to the Cairngorm Club Footbridge and then down to the road at Coylumbridge where, hidden among the trees, is one of the oldest rights of way signs, pointing back to Braemar via the Lairig Ghru.
- Trail Running Scotland has one scheduled Lairig Ghru trip left this year, on September 10 (subject to availability), with a full calendar to be launched for 2023. Bespoke trips are also available. Visit www.trailrunningscotland.com for details.
Route details
The Lairig Ghru
Distance 21 miles / 34 km
Terrain Estate track, woodland paths, mountain path, boulder field
Start/finish Linn of Dee/Inverdruie
Map OS Landranger 36 & 43; Harvey British Mountain Map, Cairngorms
A journey through the Cairngorms’ most famous pass brings back memories
