Getting there
Get to Ballater, which is on the A93, 60km west of Aberdeen and 75km north of Perth. From there, follow the road down Glen Muick for 13km to it's end, where there are a couple of large car-parks. You'll need to pay (£3 at time of last visit), but the money collected goes towards pathwork via the Cairngorms Outdoor Access Trust. In summer the car-parks can be full.
Lochnagar
From the car-park, head over the bridge, past the ranger's hut to a junction in the tracks - turn right. Continue to the houses, then on a marked path, head around them and into a forest. Meet up with the track again and follow it uphill, around the base of the corbett Conachcraig to the highest point on the bealach between Glen Muick and Glen Gelder. A cairn marks the start of the path heading west towards Lochnagar. This path has seen lots of work over recent years and is easy to follow up to the bealach between Lochnagar and Meikle Pap. If you're top-bagging, then a brief detour will take in this little top with its fine views of Lochnagar's northern coire. The path has been recently continued from the bealach to Lochnagar's eastern crest. Once on the crest, the ground eases and the route ahead on the path is obvious. Further on, the path veers off left - stick to the fainter path on the edge of the coire - it heads up more directly. Up steep bouldery ground for a bit, then continue over fairly flat artic ground to a large cairn on Cac Carn Mor. In mist, this might be mistaken for the summit, however Lochnagar's summit is Cac Carn Beag, which is 500m to the north. A well-worn path connects the two cairns and a short scramble is needed to attain the viewfinder with its excellent expansive views.
Carn a'Choire Bhoidheach
Return towards the large cairn on Cac Carn Mor, but before reaching it, look for a path heading off right. Don't aim down the path marked with cairns, as this will take you directly down to Loch Muick (see Alternatives). The path drops to a wide wet bealach and starts to climb up beside steep ground off right (north). As the path starts to pull away from the edge, come off the path and start to bear slightly more left (south-west) onto more level wet ground and pick up a faint path to follow to the small cairn on Carn a'Choire Bhoidheach. This is a fairly dull munros summit and the views are not that great either, due to the hill's bulk.
Carn an t-Sagairt Mor
West next. After initially dropping down a brief patch of fairly steep ground, the gradient easies and the path following a burn is met. Follow this path south-west and cross the burn a bit further on. Now on the other side, follow the path until a line of old iron fence-posts can be seen coming down from the bealach between Carn an t-Sagairt Beag and Carn an t-Sagairt Mor. In mist, these can be used as a guide to get up Carn an t-Sagairt Mor, otherwise just head uphill over wet and heathery ground towards Carn an t-Sagairt Mor's crest. On the way, you should encounter some scattered plane wreckage, including a large section of wing. These pieces are the remains of a Canberra jet that crashed into the hill in 1956 (more info on Tommy, Flash n' Dogbreath's
website). The summit has two cairns and excellent views.
Cairn Bannoch
There's very little ascent left ! From Carn an t-Sagairt Mor's southern cairn and on a faint path, head south-east downhill. The path becomes more obvious further down as the boulders are left behind and more gentle, grass covered ground is reached. Cross the wide bealach, meeting up with folk coming in on the path from Auchallater. The last few metres of climb up to Cairn Bannoch's summit require a bit of clambering over some large boulders.
Broad Cairn
From Cairn Bannoch, head south-east and up the bump marked 991m on the OS map. Downhill, south-east on a faint path over grassy ground to reach the unusual bealach with three summits radiating out from it. A quick jog over more flat ground and one more last clamber up bouldery ground to Broad Cairn's summit. Good views, particularly down Loch Muick to Mount Keen.
Down to Loch Muick and return
Aim east next, down some more bouldery ground, which can be a pain. You'll see a track coming in from the right, join this and follow it down to the pony shed. Choice next - if the weather's poor, take the fine path heading directly down to Loch Muick and get out of the wind. If the weather is fine, keep on the high track for 3km, take in the views for longer, and drop sharpley to join up with the Loch Muick path. 4km of a quick jog will get you back to the car-park.
