Càrn na Caim and A’ Bhuidheanach Bheag

This is a 19 km (11.8 mi) out-and-back from Layby 87 on the A9 over Càrn na Caim (941 m) and A’ Bhuidheanach Bheag (936 m), with about 824 m of climbing. Allow five to six hours. You get two Munro tops in one long high-level walk: an easy vehicle track for the first climb, then a broad, wet and often faintly tracked plateau. I’d save it for a day with enough visibility to enjoy the views and follow the subtle turns.

Cross the A9 from the layby and walk north along the verge to the gate and vehicle track. The track climbs between gullies, passes under the pylons and reaches a shallow old quarry with a few quartz blocks. At the plateau, take the left fork onto the northeast ridge. Fence posts help keep the line toward Càrn na Caim’s small cairn. After that summit, retrace to the plateau junction and continue south across the dips to A’ Bhuidheanach Bheag’s trig point. The way back retraces the southward leg and returns by the track near the quarry.

The early track is the easiest part. Beyond the quarry, the route crosses shallow bealachs and boggy depressions; they’re especially wet when the ground isn’t frozen. Paths fade across the open plateau, and the fence line is a useful reference rather than a marked walkway. In mist, it’s easy to drift off the intended line. The final short approach to A’ Bhuidheanach Bheag leaves the mapped path for open ground to the trig point.

Càrn na Caim sits on the edge of the plateau. In clear weather its little cairn looks out toward Meall Chuaich, across Badenoch and the Monadhliath, east to the Cairngorms and west to other ranges. The high plateau is broad and understated rather than a series of dramatic crags; when cloud comes down, there are fewer landmarks to break it up. Dotterel and ptarmigan are among the birds associated with these tops, though a sighting is a bonus. At the first cairn, include some of the ridge in the foreground to give the wide view a sense of scale.