Meet to The Raeburn Hut, Laggan, 13th–15th February, 2026
Present: Hugh Devlin, Tony Kinghorn, Audrey Litterick, Morag McDonald and Graeme Morrison.
In the days before this meet there had been concern that wintry conditions might make driving difficult, but come the weekend there was little snow on the hills below about 800m, and travel was free of trouble. On the Friday afternoon Hugh and Graeme reached the hut in time for a pre-sunset walk to Loch Caoldair, and the others arrived a little later. With members of the Castle MC from Sheffield also in residence for several days, it was a fairly crowded hut, but space was somehow found at the table for a communal meal featuring Audrey’s delicious minced-beef pie.
On Saturday Morag went skiing at Coire Cas with a couple of the Castle chaps, while the other four FMC members set off in two cars to make a traverse of Creag Meagaidh. The temperature at 9 a.m. was −6°C and the morning sparklingly clear, with fine views towards the Moy Corrie and Coire Ardair. Owing to favourable winter-climbing conditions the large car park at Aberarder was overflowing, and Audrey’s car had to be parked at the roadside. The party then motored to Moy and began the traverse by climbing Creag Mhòr and Creag na Cailliche. From there an easy-angled ascent was made of Creag Meagaidh, following an old wall for much of the way. Latterly crampons were worn as the snow was hard underfoot, with high cloud and a rising wind heralding a change in the weather. By the time the summit was reached a stiff breeze was chasing spindrift across the ridge, and compasses had to be deployed for the descent to The Window.
A useful (if unlovely) feature hereabouts is the large cairn about 0.5km ENE of the summit. This is often known as Mad Meg’s Cairn – the name doubtless being a nod to “Meagaidh” – although some recent research suggests it may have been built, in the 19th century, by an intellectually challenged resident of Moy called Joseph McLaren. If so, perhaps “Daft Joe’s Cairn” would be a better name for it.
On the descent from The Window to the lochan, by a rather pisted slope, there was ample opportunity to admire the icefalls that had formed in the Inner Corrie and latterly on the great Post Face of Coire Ardair. A few climbers were still active on the cliffs. The road at Aberarder was reached well before dark, and the second car retrieved from Moy.
In the evening, Morag’s Scotch broth and Hugh’s beef casserole were the home-made highlights of another excellent dinner.
In the early hours of Sunday, light snowfall created a wintry scene outside the hut, so Audrey, Graeme and Hugh decided to return directly home. Morag and Tony broke the journey south by climbing Ben Vrackie above Pitlochry, which gave an enjoyable hill-day in spite of limited visibility.