I’ve used the Ember electric bus a few times to get to Deeside, but had not yet taken advantage of its facility to carry bikes. The main regional bus company on the route, Stagecoach, well.. they hate bikes, despite routes like this crying out for it (other countries manage this no bother using front/back racks). I’d sidestepped that on occasion by using a folding mountain bike hidden in a large bag, but it is a faff – more constructing than folding. Ember are a new company, so everything they do is fresh and modern and not weighed down by the obstinacy of decades of being an uncontested and entrenched service. A blazing blue sky Saturday saw me take my main mountain bike on board for a wheech along the long track up from Crathie to near Lochnagar. I vaguely had a plan to explore around the lochans near The Stuic and perhaps take in some smaller hills there, but the bike would allow some flexibility in time and allow ranging a bit further. I’d had a similar trip from Ballochbuie in May 2021, that time with an unseasonal return to winter conditions, but today was most definitely pure spring.

Coming out of the forest, a crisp vista appeared, and I wondered if I should be a “real” hillwalker and summit the munro. We’d see later.

I turned towards the Gelder Shiel, then followed the Feith an Laoigh. At a small shed, a rough path diverges almost unseen from the wide track and heads towards the foot of Cnapan Nathraichean. Sometimes gravelly, but often rock-lumped, steppy and drainy, any bike without some suspension and thick tyres is best left behind the shed. Even with my full-suspension bike I thought twice about dumping it early, almost making it to the prince’s stone path before giving in and hiding it behind a knoll. Gravity would help bludgeon through on the way down thankfully.

Now on foot, the path up to the stone wound along a stream tumbling down through slabs and falls, with the fractured rock face of Sleac Gorm looming above, and more distant snow’d peaks gleaming in the morning sun.

I’d pondered wearing trail runners for a long and warm day out, but some teetering down a bouldery gully-side and then wedging a foot between mossy rocks in the water beside some falls for a shot – glad of the leather boots. Once beyond the stone, the gully above had a big snow patch which might mean kicking steps, and when not snow it’s dank and mossy. Beyond lay miles of offtrack heather and rock, with a lot of snow-melt flushed ground. Nope, boots were the proper tool today.

A glimpse of Lochnagar revealed a few folk already on the summit, and also some snow fields. Closer to hand the gully ahead also had one, and if thin I’d need to take care as there’s a some deep holes and small pools burbling underneath the boulders and moss within the notch.

Making my way up the snow patch I managed to kick steps in the soft surface, but a step into some shade at the side reminded me how fickle snow can be – hard and icey from a clear and probably frosty night.

Reaching the gully top the view around is a cracker with a side of Lochnagar not often seen with some slab faces brightly catching the sun. The sweep of The Stuic corrie was topped by the huge cornice casting a stripe of shadow.

I rummaged through boulderfields down to the upper Blackshiel burn, then distracted by some large boulder outcrops ranged away from the climb up the munro. I’d be up there soon for the installation of the new indicator I thought, no need today. The lochans of the coire were the real prize today.

Arriving at Sandy Loch, in particular the small sandy beach, aye.. this was a very fine place to be. A gentle breeze, a shimmer of heat rising on the midground, the stark rocks of a speckled Stuic ridge sharp against flawless blue.

I imagined in Aviemore’s Loch Morlich sands today would be a hubbub of human clamour, a mishmash of tin cans, rugs and plastic; bluetooth speakers, torn wrappers and dayglow buoyancy aids.

Here the only music was a trickle of the spring bubbling up past the striated sand, marked gently by bird and beast, into the glittering breeze-dappled loch. Sand, water, rock, snow and sky in harmony.

East of the loch there’s a maze of channels fed by a stream and I meandered with them before heading up towards threading through snow patches to Loch nan Eun. Getting closer to the mammoth cornices above I could see that the spring heat was destabilised them, bringing down a scattering of fridge-sized chunks. There’s a possibility of a major collapse so didn’t think it wise to go up for a closer look.

I stopped for a break on a lochside rockperch, then fed and watered moved onwards to thread around the other smaller pools down and to the west. The descent across a large snowfield tempted a glissade but the snow was too soft to get up speed, more of a shuffle-slide, I wonder if it entertained the hare which would have watched my clumsiness after skipping elegantly across no bother.

Reaching the west edge of the corrie, a pool was still partially covered in snow and ice, framing the ridge nicely. I strolled over the snowfield beside it noting the odd speckle – some dirt and tiny insects, and then a small movement- a wriggling caterpillar; duly scooped up and carried over to the heather as it was surrounded by an epic trek in small beastie terms.

I made my way over to the outflow stream down some rough and steep ground, spotting the stream flowing out of a patch made my way there to see if any tunnel was present.

There was a low entrance that I didn’t think was approachable without a wade, but fortunately I’d not removed a pair of water shoes from the pack after the previous weekend (where I thought I might need to wade across a small river). No neoprene socks though, so in and out quickly before the feet froze.

I left the stream and contoured around Meall an Tionaille, I’d seen a large steep snow patch on the other side earlier. One day I will go over this rounded lump which I’ve never done – it’s always “in the way” navigationally or in photos, and it’s boulder-strewn sides say “nah go around”. I thought I’d have a look at the Backshiel burn lower section where it is more constrained by a gully.

It has some nicely stepped waterfalls, and a very large snowbank, bu not tunnel. I followed upstream a bit and a bit higher up there was on albeit thinly roofed. Time to make tracks back to the bike – I headed up Cnapan Nathraichean so I’d at least summitted something today.

I got a short soggy slide on the snow in the gully, leaving the bottom I must have followed a faint deer path and ended up on the wrong side of the stream but I arrived back at the waterfall from earlier with better light.

I was glad I’d stashed a tin of juice in a small bog pool beside the bike; the day was proving thirsty work. After a glug-break it was back on wheels to thump, clunk and swish down through rocks n gravel back to the hut – a lot more fun downhill. I decided to take a different way back, thundering along the good track down into Ballochbuie Forest, and now glad of both the shade and a breeze from speed. It would have been a “sare fecht” booting it out on hot feet back to Crathie; wheels made the riverside road through Balmoral estate a pleasant end to the day. I’ll need to see if I can concoct more similar bike/hike route heading into the hot months.