Drama in the Cairngorms

Today we climbed Derry Cairngorm from Linn of Dee .... a fifteen mile hike on a lovely, warm summer day.

Mid morning we became aware of smoke rising from the Lairig Ghru. At first it looked as if it was coming from a small campfire but as the day wore on the volume of smoke increased. Eventually we tried unsuccessfully to alert the emergency services and so had to trust that someone else had managed to get through. Later in the day as we made our way down we were able to see that the fire service was indeed in attendance and we watched this helicopter plying back and forwards collecting water from a tiny lochan/boggy pool and dumping it over the area of the fire. By the time we got back to Derry Lodge the fire thankfully seemed to be pretty much under control. We still had a few miles to walk back to the car park at Linn of Dee but with about half a mile to go a car stopped and we were offered a very welcome lift by none other than the fire officer who had been in charge of the day's operations!

A great day in the hills, but a salutary reminder about how much damage can be caused in a very short time as a result of a carelessly abandoned campfire.