We pulled up at the Linn of Dee Carpark at about 9.30am after a wee tour about and a bit of a late start. It was way too hot and within about 5 minutes I was peeling off clothes faster than Demi Moore in Striptease. Layers fully adjusted we stomped off towards Derry Lodge along one of those annoyingly man made track things. There were a few folk there judging by the amount of tents, but we didnt see anyone. Stomach was rumbling 'cos breakfast had been a good few hours ago, so we stopped the other side of the burn for a cup of coffee and to start on the 50lb bar of chocolate that my mate Sandy thought I hadnt noticed him stuffing in his rucksack. The 'stop' lasted about 3 minutes because the midgies were just warming up and getting a wee bit annoying.

So refuelled, we set off again, following the burn right up Glen Derry till the path turned into Coire Etchachan. Quite a picturesque walkie really, but still TOO hot. At this point, we were again hungry so a quick stop for lunch (more chocolate and bananas and coffee and chocolate and fish paste sandwiches and chocolate......and before you say anything about fat gits, we resemble anorexic beanpoles!). Rounding the bend we spotted the crags/cliffs/whatever you want to call them of Creag an Choire Etchachan and immediately went into 'spot the climbers' mode, quite successfully really - spotted two working their way up the left hand side of the corrie face, then spotted what appeared to be 90 million people,(but after investigation there were only 6 - we hadnt seen a soul since the carpark remember) doing SOMETHING to the path up to the Loch itself. Ah but, hunger struck again (ok so we wanted an excuse to watch the climbers) so we dumped rucksacks and propping ourselves against the bothy (Hutchison Memorial Hut) wall, settled down for 15 minutes of nailbiting tension as Mr Red Fleece belayed Mr Blue Fleece as he picked his way up the route. But all too soon, guilt and a numb backside got us moving again and we set off up the path to Loch Etchachan, stopping briefly to natter to some path fixers who had been there all summer repairing the path and living in portacabins and tents. Its a god awful affair that path, really badly eroded and a slippy nightmare to walk on, but onwards and upwards we went till I squealed with delight at the sight of the loch. Absolutely fantastic doesnt even start to describe it, snow feilds, great crags/cliffs, water as smooth as a mill pond and even the temperature was coming down to more my liking! A quick posey photo session and a play about on the snow and we were off again towards the summit.

It was an easy wander to the summit from the loch, after we decided to take a wee scramble up some rock onto the summit plateau, wind was getting up and we could see some dodgy looking cloud rolling in from the NW so we didnt hang around too long - but long enough to see what appeared to be a high altitude Guinea Pig darting under a rock. Had I been over 17 000 feet, I would have given myself up to the obvious onset of Acute Altitude Sickness, but I swear to this day - IT WAS A LEMMING!

It really was becoming bleak by now, and we had to be back home by 8.30 pm (hour and a halfs drive home included) so donning the 'inclement weather' gear in readiness for the storm looming, we toodled off towards Sron Riach and down into Glen Luibeg. I hated the descent with every molecule of my body, especially my knees! It went on and on and on and on and on and on until finally there was no more 'on' and we touched level land. Celebrating the fact that our knees were infact still able to flex with a cup of tea/coffee and more chocolate, oh and a fig roll, we plonked ourselves next to the 'ford' over Luibeg Burn (hysterical laughter here - for 'ford' see raging torrent) and consulted the map. Ten minutes later we were on our way again. Glen Luibeg is worth a look just for itself - incredibly desolate and lonely for a start, it changes to green and pine dotted as you near the end and is incredibly beautiful at any point. More and more people came into view and before we knew it we were back at Derry Lodge. We waded straight through the burn and onto the final stretch towards the carpark. At this point I will refrain from telling you about an encounter with a very large gathering of Red Deer Stags...............