East Mounth Traverse
Distance: 89km. Ascent: 3,800m.
Initially run by Ian Stewart as the first day of his multi-day 'Cairngorm Parkrun', this 14-Munro linear route is the matching companion to Giles Trussell's 2014 West Mounth Round, also finishing at Glen Shee but coming in slightly shorter at 86km with 4,058m of ascent. Ian ran it solo, supported with a van stop for food etc. in Glen Clova, in 17 hours, 30 minutes on 10 July 2020. See also Ian's account within his Cairngorm Parkrun report.
On 31 May 2021, Amy Gilligan set a benchmark woman's time of 21 hours, 24 minutes. She completed the traverse from west to east with Dominic Williams and additional support from friends on the hill, running through the night over the White Mounth. See Amy’s report of the traverse.
On 29 June 2025, Craig Gallacher took Ian's time down to 13 hours, 45 minutes. In order to establish a clear start and finish for future attempts, Craig started on the Branny bridge at Invermark car park and finished at the Glenshee Ski Centre main building, although the route can be ran in either direction.
"Ideal hill conditions; clear skies with a light breeze for the duration, and dry feet until about 60km in! Solo and unsupported with my dad on lift duties at each end. Horribly runnable throughout, and certainly more time to be taken off it. I might’ve gone a bit quicker if I wasn’t fannying around peering into corries and bothering ptarmigan. A magic hill day."
Craig's splits:
| Location | Time | Split |
|---|---|---|
| Invermark car park | 04:56 | — |
| Mount Keen | 06:08 | 01:12 |
| Lochnagar | 09:33 | 03:25 |
| Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach | 09:56 | 00:23 |
| Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr | 10:20 | 00:24 |
| Cairn Bannoch | 10:41 | 00:21 |
| Broad Cairn | 11:06 | 00:25 |
| Glen Doll Visitor Centre | 12:19 | 01:13 |
| Driesh | 13:34 | 01:15 |
| Mayar | 14:03 | 00:29 |
| Tom Buidhe | 15:11 | 01:08 |
| Tolmount | 15:28 | 00:17 |
| Carn an Tuirc | 16:20 | 00:52 |
| Cairn of Claise | 16:43 | 00:23 |
| Glas Maol | 17:17 | 00:34 |
| Creag Leacach | 17:42 | 00:25 |
| Glenshee Ski Centre | 18:41 | 00:59 |
Have a GPX for this route? .