Bynack More

Bynack More, meaning Big Cup¹, is a munro sitting on the opposite side of the Cairn Gorm range coming from the city of Aviemore. Unlike many munros, it is achievable in a roundtrip day hike, but its remote location makes any kind of loop hike all but unfeasible except to the most hardcore hiker. Thus, it is one of my own rare personal experiences doing a purely up-and-back hike. This is by no means a detraction as the vast scenery on this hike benefits from capturing it from both directions.

The first half of this hike follows a well-traveled route popular with casual hikers. The Lochan Uaine lake (about one-quarter of the way to Bynack More) and the bridge over the River Nethy (about one-half the way to Bynack More) are both great spots to soak up the scenery without needing to climb any hills. Except for the very steep final push to the peak, this hike is a relatively easy going walk through the Ryvoan Pass and over the great plateau of the Abernathy National Nature Reserve. No special gear is required except to prepare for the piercing, unforgiving wind at the peak. As I experienced on every munro hike this week in June, the wind chill at the top was always below freezing. Bynack More was no exception.

Hike Details

Starting Point	Glenmore Forest Park Parking
Total Distance	22.4km
Hiking Time	5h 56m

It’s Not Just a Beer, It’s a Journey

The hike starts out following the Ryvoan Pass.

Emerging from the pass, the hike heads east towards the high plateau of the Abernathy National Nature Reserve visible in the distance.

Here you get the first glimpse of the side shoulder of Bynack More called Bynack Beg.

Up on the plateau, the chin of Bynack More appears with Bynack Beg on the right. As you approach, it becomes evident that the actual peak of Bynack More is not visible from the plateau. It will take a steep climb before you get far back enough to see the peak.

One of the impressive characteristics of this hike is how clear the sightlines are of the route from a distance. This really messes with your judgment of geometry. As I approached Bynack More, I found myself initially unimpressed by the level of difficulty it seemed to present. It’s smooth face with a five o’clock shadow of rocks made it look like a quick jaunt up the side of a hill. I could not have been more wrong.

The ascent is a series of steep segments accompanied by some minor scrambling with a couple of false peaks until the top finally comes into view. The effort was much more than I had anticipated coming across the plateau.

The views from the top are breathtaking. To the southwest, Cairn Gorm and Ben MacDui should be visible; however, I don’t have the trained eye to state positively that you are looking at them in the next picture.

To the south of Bynack More are the Barns of Bynack More, a series of rock formations.

The wind and cold made it frustrating to get these photos at the peak, so I did not linger long before starting my descent.

During the descent, I passed the only hiker I encountered east of the River Nethy. Back on the plateau, it was a return to sheer solitude.

At the River Nethy, a few hikers were relaxing along the stony shores near the bridge. I was saving my break for the lake.

With the sun out, Lochan Uaine was a great place for a rest and a bit of welcome and rare sun worship before the final stretch back to the starting point.

Cairngorm Brewing Company

The celebratory beer would be back in Aviemore at the local brewery. Cairngorm Brewing has several varieties of traditional ales in the 3-5% alcohol range. Often a craft brewery will at least dabble with one type of beer on the alcohol level of a DIPA or Belgian Triple. However, there was nothing of the sort. The proprieter scoffed when I asked. “When we go out to a pub in the UK”, he explained, “we like to spend the entire evening drinking. You cannot do that when you are drinking those high alcohol beers.” He had an argument. In the meantime, the Highland Gold was a refreshing post-hike pale ale.

Final Remarks

Bynack More was a stunning hike and quite possibly my favorite hike of the week which included Ben Macdui and Sgor Gaoith. There was something about the immense openness of it. I always seemed to be in the presence of a vista, either looking down or over a valley, across a wide plateau, or in all directions from the peak. It was the antithesis of so many other hiking experiences that I have had, particularly in Wales and Scotland, where visibility was an issue. As such, it was a satisfying final hike of the trip. However, I still had two more days planned in Scotland starting with a pub crawl visit to Inverness. After five hikes, I was happy to ditch the hiking gear for something a bit more casual. With the Big Cup fresh in my mind, I was getting thirsty.

1. The Munros: A Walkhighlands Guide by Paul & Helen Webster (2012, Pocket Mountains Ltd.) ↩︎