Ben Macdui 3.99

Ben Macdui is the second highest mountain in the United Kingdom after Ben Nevis, and the highest in the Cairngorms. After the defeat of Domnall mac Uilliam in 1187, Donnchad II, Earl of Fife, acquired Strathavon, a territory stretching from Ballindalloch to Ben Macdui; because the mountain marked the western boundary of Donnchad's territory, historian and place-name scholar Professor G.W.S. Barrow has suggested that the mountain took its name from Donnchad's family, the Mac Duibh.Ben Macdui lies on the southern edge of the Cairn Gorm plateau, on the boundary between Aberdeenshire and Moray.Probably the easiest route of ascent is from the Coire Cas car park at the foot of Cairngorm Ski Centre by a path that leads up over slowly rising moorland. This route is about 7 km long; a somewhat longer route allows one also to climb Cairn Gorm. One possible alternative route follows the path coming up from Loch Etchachan. This loch may be reached from Loch Avon to the north or by coming up from Glen Derry to the south. Other routes include coming over Derry Cairngorm, or via the Lairig Ghru pass, which lies to the west of Ben Macdui.Nearly all these routes are long days by Scottish standards. When coming from the south it is common to use a bicycle to cover the 4 km from the road end at Linn of Dee to Derry Lodge at the southern end of the massif.