Chalamain Gap
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The Lairig Ghru () is one of the
mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...
es through the
Cairngorms The Cairngorms () are a mountain range in the eastern Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national parks of Scotland, national park (the Cairn ...
of
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. The route and mountain pass partially lies on the
Mar Lodge Estate Mar Lodge Estate is a highland estate in western Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which has been owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) since 1995. Its principal building, Mar Lodge, is about west of the village of Braemar. The esta ...
. Like many traditional routes, the ends of the route through the Lairig Ghru are like the ends of a frayed rope. From the south the Lairig Ghru can be approached from
Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee, sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...
through Glen Lui, or Glen Dee, and from
Blair Atholl Blair Atholl (from the Scottish Gaelic: ''Blàr Athall'', originally ''Blàr Ath Fhodla'') is a village in Perthshire, Scotland, built about the confluence of the Rivers Tilt and Garry in one of the few areas of flat land in the midst of the G ...
through
Glen Tilt Glen Tilt (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Teilt) is a glen in the extreme north of Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Beginning at the confines of Aberdeenshire, it follows a South-westerly direction excepting for the last 4 miles, when it runs due south t ...
. From the north the Lairig Ghru can be approached from Glenmore through the Chalamain Gap, and from
Aviemore Aviemore (; ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popular for skiing and ...
through the
Rothiemurchus Forest Rothiemurchus Forest is a remnant of the Caledonian Forest at near Aviemore, Inverness-shire, Scotland. It is in the Highland region. The forest is popular for recreation and contains important independent wildlife, including the osprey, Scott ...
by way of the ''Crossroads'' above Allt Drùidh.


Name

Watson gives the place name "Làirig Dhrù", meaning ''pass of Dhru or Druie'', with the local pronunciation "Laarig Groo". He suggests the "probable" derivation as from ''Drùdhadh'' meaning oozing. Any visitor to the summit of the Lairig Ghru would accept that as a possible derivation because two watercourses, one on each side of the summit, appear to "ooze" from the valley floor. However, Gordon is much less certain about the derivation of the name, writing: The weight of suggestion is - therefore - that ''Lairig Ghru'' is certainly ''the hill pass'' (of something) and that ''something'' is probably related to the water flowing from the floor of the valley close to the summit. Many Gaelic place names have lost their original spelling and meaning through translation into English. The prolific and late Dundonian mountaineer, Syd Scroggie felt that the name Lairig Ghru was such a case and suggested that the Lairig Ghru was the Lairig Ruadh (Red Pass). This fits with the original name of the mountain range, "Am Monadh Ruadh" (The Red Mountains).


History

Historically the Lairig Ghru has been used simply as a route between Deeside and Strathspey. It is often referred to as a
drove road A drovers' road, drove road, droveway, or simply a drove, is a route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, such as to market or between summer and winter pasture (see transhumance). Many drovers' roads were ancient routes of ...
, and while it's not wrong to do so, arguably that over-emphasises one specific use. The Lairig Ghru has been a route used by many different people, for many different purposes as made clear in ''Haldane (1952)'', and was in regular use long before the height of the droving trade in the more peaceful times after the middle of the 18th century: The Lairig Ghru was used as a droving-route as late as 1873 - ''Haldane (1952)'' - to
Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee, sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...
and farther south. Until approximately the 1870s, men from Rothiemurchus annually, in the spring, cleared the track of rocks that had fallen on to it during the winter. Modern road traffic now travels over the
Pass of Drumochter The Pass of Drumochter () meaning simply 'high ridge' is the main mountain pass between the northern and southern central Scottish Highlands. The A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road passes through here, as does the Highland Main Line, the railw ...
via the A9 or The Lecht on the
A939 The A939 is a road in Scotland, connecting the A96 at Nairn on the Moray coast with the A95 Grantown-on-Spey. It then continues to the A93 at Ballater by way of the Grampian Mountains, passing Tomintoul and the Lecht Ski Centre. This road p ...
, and the Lairig Ghru is left to walkers. The full route from
Aviemore Aviemore (; ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popular for skiing and ...
to
Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee, sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...
is about , though many walkers cut the walk short by starting or finishing at
Linn of Dee The River Dee () is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in the region betw ...
. The from there to Braemar is along a tarmac road.


Recreational use

Although the Lairig Ghru has long been used by travellers to get between Strathspey and Deeside, it has also been used recreationally since at least the early twentieth century. ''Anderson (1911)'' writes: An even earlier recreational mention is a report on the snow conditions in the Lairig Ghru by C. G. Cash in April 1901: This snow report by C. G. Cash implies both his own and his readers' familiarity with the Lairig Ghru.


Waypoints (from the south)

There are many waypoints and features in the Lairig Ghru which, because of map scale, do not appear on the old 1-inch, nor 1:50,000 scale maps. Others only exist in older books ''Gordon (1925)'', ''Watson (1975)'' - for example - because the authors, acquainted with local people and traditions, have described these features and recorded their names. There is no objective measure of where the ends of the Lairig Ghru are. ''Gordon'' defines "Lairig" as a "Hill Pass". In that case, the landscape is arguably too open for the "ends" of the Lairig's track to extend much beyond the imaginary lines drawn between the summits of Carn a' Mhaim and
The Devil's Point The Devil's Point (Scottish Gaelic: Bod an Deamhain) is a mountain in the Cairngorms of Scotland, lying to the west of the Lairig Ghru pass. The Gaelic name means "Penis of the Demon". The English name is a result of a visit to the area by Qu ...
at the southern end, and Carn Eilrig and Castle Hill at the northern end. From the south, the two main approaches to the Lairig Ghru follow the Glen Lui Route or the Glen Dee Route. These two routes come together soon after crossing the imaginary line between Carn a' Mhaim and
The Devil's Point The Devil's Point (Scottish Gaelic: Bod an Deamhain) is a mountain in the Cairngorms of Scotland, lying to the west of the Lairig Ghru pass. The Gaelic name means "Penis of the Demon". The English name is a result of a visit to the area by Qu ...
, creating the first waypoint. Soon after this coming together, the track splits again with the left-hand (roughly NW) branch leading to the Cairngorm Club footbridge across the River Dee towards Corrour Bothy and the mountains to the west of the Lairig Ghru.


Corrour Bothy

Corrour Bothy is a simple stone building below Coire Odhar, which lies between
The Devil's Point The Devil's Point (Scottish Gaelic: Bod an Deamhain) is a mountain in the Cairngorms of Scotland, lying to the west of the Lairig Ghru pass. The Gaelic name means "Penis of the Demon". The English name is a result of a visit to the area by Qu ...
and
Cairn Toul Cairn Toul (, 'hill of the barn') is the 4th-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis, Ben Macdui and Braeriach. The summit is 1,291 metres (4,236 feet) above sea level. It is in the western massif of the Cair ...
on the western side of the river. It is now used as a mountain refuge and maintained by the
Mountain Bothies Association The Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) is a Scottish registered charity. It looks after 104 bothies and two emergency mountain shelters (not to be mistaken for or confused with a mountain hut, as the Fords of Avon and Garbh Choire refuges are ...
. The single room has a fireplace and chimney in its northern gable, there is also an outer composting toilet facility in its own room.


Clach nan Taillear

Literally "stone of the tailors" (''Watson (1975)'') is a large ribbed stone by the side of the Lairig Ghru track close to where the Allt Coire an t-Saighdeir joins the river. Gordon describes how this stone got its name, writing:


River Dee

All the rain that falls on the slopes at either side of the southern half of the Lairig Ghru eventually drains into the River Dee, and the "official"
source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...
of the River Dee, the
Wells of Dee The River Dee () is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in the region betw ...
, is high on
Braeriach Braeriach or Brae Riach (, 'the brindled upland') is the third-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui, rising above sea level. It is in the Scottish Highlands and is the highest point in t ...
. However the River Dee (as a named watercourse on maps) starts at the confluence of Allt a' Gharbh choirie and Allt na Lairig Ghru. At this point, near the head of Glen Dee, the main valley turns roughly west towards An Garbh Choire, and the Lairig Ghru track continues northward into the
hanging valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...
as shown in the photograph.


The Duke's Path

Only shown on the 1:25,000 scale maps, The Duke's Path is a made-path on the western side of the Lairig Ghru, following the course of the burn draining Coire Ruadh and leading to the bealach between Braeriach and Sron na Lairige. During the nineteenth century, what was then the Mar Estate (see
Mar Lodge Estate Mar Lodge Estate is a highland estate in western Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which has been owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) since 1995. Its principal building, Mar Lodge, is about west of the village of Braemar. The esta ...
) was a private hunting estate owned by the
Duke of Fife Duke of Fife is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that has been created twice, in both cases for the Earl of Fife. In 1889, Lord Fife married Princess Louise, the eldest daughter of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edwa ...
(created ''Duke'' in 1889, and dying in 1912). In ''Gordon (1925)'' the author describes using this path on an ascent of Braeriach, continuing:


Pools of Dee

The Lairig Ghru track winds around a series of pools on the Mar side of the summit. These are thought by many (incorrectly) to be the source of the River Dee. ''Watson (1975)'' explains that the Pools of Dee are an invention rather than a pure Anglicisation of the old name ''Lochan Dubh na Lairige'' (black tarn of the Lairig). At least one of these pools is reputed to contain trout in spite of these pools having no obvious outflow, nor inflow. Slightly to the south of the largest pool, the burn named Allt na Lairig Ghru flows from the floor of the valley flowing south to join with the burn named Allt a' Gharbh choirie to create the River Dee proper.


March Burn

The March Burn is a burn on the Mar side of the summit, draining the eastern-slope above it and disappearing below the rocks before it reaches the floor of the valley. ''Gordon (1925)'' describes it as falling in a ''white spray to the Lairig from the northern spur of Ben Mac Dhui.'' "March has nothing to do with the month of the year, but refers to the old use of the word meaning boundary. The summit of the Lairig Ghru marks the boundary between Deeside (Aberdeenshire) and Strathspey (Inverness-shire). ''Watson (1975)'' gives the old name of ''Allt na Criche'' (the burn of the boundary), giving the local pronunciation as ''Creech''."


Summit

Watson gives the summit height as about ,Watson (1975) and the ''Cairngorm Tourist Map (1975)'' gives a spot-height of 2,733 feet.


Angus Sinclair Memorial Hut

A
bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...
was built in 1957 by members of the Edinburgh University OTC as a memorial to Dr
William Angus Sinclair William Angus Sinclair OBE Territorial Decoration, TD FRSE DLitt (27 September 1905 – 21 December 1954) was a 20th-century Scottish philosopher. Life He was born in Edinburgh on 27 September 1905 the son of Elizabeth Campbell and her husband, ...
FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...
, who died on
Cairn Gorm Cairn Gorm () is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. It is part of the Cairngorms range and wider Grampian Mountains. With a summit elevation of Height above sea level, above sea level, Cairn Gorm is classed as a Munro and is the sixt ...
on 21 December 1954. The refuge was located near the cross-roads where the tracks from Sron na Lairige and the Chalamain Gap cross the Lairig Ghru. Like many other man-made shelters in the mountains of Scotland that were very accessible from public roads, it was demolished and removed in about 1991.


Chalamain Gap

This boulder-strewn
ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. Ravines may also be called a cleuch, dell, ...
is used as a route between the Lairig Ghru and Glen More. The name "Chalamain Gap" has been applied relatively recently to this ravine, since in ''Alexander (1928)'' the author does not name the gap, but describes it - writing: Watson does not name the ravine "Chalamain Gap" either, but refers to it as the location of the Sinclair Hut: More recently, ''Diack (2006)'' gives the name as ''Eag Coire na Comhdhalack'' .


Sources

* * * Cash, C. G. (July 1901), '' Cairngorm Club Journal'', Number 17, Cairngorm Club, Aberdeen * * * * *


See also

*
Places, place names, and structures on Mar Lodge Estate Mar Lodge Estate is the largest remnant of the ancient ''Earldom of Mar'' in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. Allanaquoich A locality on the east bank of the Quoich Water close to its confluence with ...


External links

{{coord, 57, 5, 27, N, 3, 41, 38, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Mountain passes of Scotland Transport in Aberdeenshire Transport in Highland (council area) Badenoch and Strathspey Places and place names on Mar Lodge Estate Marr, Scotland Cairngorms Droving roads