The past week has seen yet a further delay in
the arrival of Spring in the Scottish mountains. Based in Braemar, together with Jennifer,
Jonathan and Matt, we still managed to tramp a few miles and climb a few hills,
albeit to the general accompaniment of cold northerly winds and the odd wintery
shower. That said, all but 3 of the
summits were clear on top and we were rarely soaked for any length of
time. The main feature was the lack of
colour and natural life in the countryside – both flora and fauna. The insects haven’t really got going yet and
this has delayed the arrival of the summer migrants which are normally such a
part of the hills in May.
The Glenshee Hills – East
There are plenty of hills in this part of the
world and not many ‘easy’ days to choose from.
Accordingly, we offset a 6-Munro, 28km day with a high start from the
Glenshee ski centre intent on traversing those Munros between the A93 and the
Lochnagar massif. These hills form the
southern part of the White Mounth, from the Gaelic name for these uplands – Am Monadh Geal.
First up, we walked up the ski access track
that leads over Meall Odhar (922m) and around the SW flanks of Glas Maol to the
quartzite-bouldered ridge crowned by our first Munro of the week: Creag Leacach
(987m; slabby rock). Fence posts and a dry stane dyke lead the way
so navigation is not really a problem.
Alternatively today, you could just have followed the group from the
Blairgowrie & District Walking Club who were celebrating 35yrs in the
business by putting 35 members above 3,500’! As you might expect, this southern outpost of
the Grampians affords great views southwards on a good day and we could clearly
identify the Sidlaw Hills, the Lomonds and the Ochills. This was Munro No 50 for Jennifer. Again….
Glas Maol From Creag Leacach
Returning the same way, we passed all 35 of
the Blairgowrie walkers before climbing the easy grass slopes that lead to the
flat summit of Glas Maol (1068m;
grey-green hill). From here, most of
the remainder of our day came into view, a sobering sight and one that
suggested not hanging around! A pause
for some lunch out of the wind, and then it was onwards, along one of the
vehicle tracks that criss-cross the Mounth hereabouts before climbing easily on
to summit No 3 for today: Cairn of Claise (1064m;
hill of the hollow). This was Matt’s
30th Munro although he conspicuously failed to produce the expected
whisky flask for a celebratory dram! By
this time we had seen about a dozen mountain hares and a handful of ptarmigan
and were about to hear our first golden plover.
Unbeknown to us, we were about to see precious little else for the
remainder of the day!
Cairn of Claise From Meall Odhar
The cloud rolled in part-way across our boggy
traverse eastwards over to Tom Buidhe (957m;
yellow hill) and it was to stay with us, together with occasional snow
showers, until we were almost in sight of the car. We also encountered our first snowfields
approaching Tom Buidhe - not generally a problem now, but they could be tricky
where they covered deep ditches and fast-flowing burns.
We wasted no time acknowledging our 4th
Munro of the day and descended around the generally boggy wasteland that
separates Tom Buidhe from its near neighbour, Tolmount (958m; hill of the valley). Again, we saw little and lingered even less
before retracing our steps in increasingly dreich conditions around the head of
Glen Callater. We continued across open
country over numerous soft snowfields before locating the wide bealach that led
to our 6th and final Munro of the day: Carn an Tuirc (1019m; hill of the wide boar). There were no pigs around today (not that we
would have seen them), just a false summit that prompted premature celebrations
amongst some of the party before the real thing finally loomed out of the murk
and we could all celebrate!
Carn an Tuirc
From previous trips, I knew it was fairly
easy to find a way through and around the quartzite boulder fields that cover
the upper part of the mountain (the trick is to head SE initially from the
summit before turning and descending to the W).
Eventually, the cloud started clearing revealing the glen below and a
distant A93 that would lead us to where we all wanted to be – indoors!
The Glenshee Hills – West
In view of the previous day’s efforts and a
less than favourable weather forecast, we opted for as easy a day as we could
manage. We returned again to the
Glenshee ski centre but today headed west through the ski paraphernalia and up to
one of the lowest and easiest Munros in the book: Carn Aosda (917m; ancient hill). This took precisely 38mins from car to
cairn! It would make an ideal last Munro
were it not for the poor aesthetics and the overpowering temptation to
knock-off such an easy peak early in your round!
Carn a’ Gheoidh
Whilst a brisk cold wind and streaming
cloudscapes greatly enhanced the atmospherics, they did little for our personal
comfort and we were soon on our way. The
access track from the summit became the path westwards which we followed across
the plateau, past the intermediate top
of Carn nan Sac (920m) and up easy
snow and grass slopes to the conspicuous cairn atop Carn a’ Gheoidh (975m; hill of the goose). This was Jon’s 100th Munro illustrating
that everybody had something to celebrate on this trip! As if to mark the occasion, the clouds
promptly departed and Jon was able to capture the prestigious event with the
odd photo or 17! No whisky flask here
either though…..
In increasing wind, we returned eastwards
traversing high above steep-sided Coire Direach
to return to the fences, gantries and buildings of the ski centre which
lead the way to the telecommunications aerial farm that covers the summit of
The Cairnwell (933m; hill of bags). Unusually for this group of hardened Munro
grabbers, nobody had any magic numbers to celebrate this time other than the
end of a short day and the sight of the car immediately below us. We were soon home!
Lochnagar
This fine mountain massif never fails to
impress and is rightly considered to be the crowning glory of the Mounth
plateau. It has the sort of summit every
mountain should have – a cairn atop a rocky tor atop a summit cone that sits,
well, on top of the mountain! The
mountain’s pre-eminent feature is the majestic ring of cliffs that girdle the
Corrie of Lochnagar with its eponymous loch far below.
The best start point is always the Spittal of
Glen Muick as this affords the sudden and exhilarating view of the mountain’s
cliff-girt corrie as you crest the skyline just south of the Meikle Pap at
about 920m. A pause for photographs –
you must pause for photographs; this is the scenic highlight of the whole day –
preceded an easy climb up the granite staircase of the Ladder which led to the flat
top of Cuidhe Crom.
The Majestic Cliffs of Dark Lochnagar
The going is easy
now over granite slabs and tundra vegetation and one final 70m climb leads on
to the roof of the mountain past the Red Spout and the Black Spout (impressive
views straight down) before the previously described summit of the mountain
appears. Lochnagar (1155m; lochan of the noisy sound).
The actual summit is called Cac Carn Beag, but as this translates as
little shit cairn, it is easy to see why Lochnagar caught on…
Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach (left) & the Much More Photogenic The Stuic!
Needless to say, you can see forever from
this fabulous vantage point – from Caithness to Ben Nevis, Ben Lomond to the
Cheviots and Aberdeen to Edinburgh! It
is the finest mountain in eastern Scotland.
The rest of our day could only be an
anti-climax. That said, it is always
enjoyable to join the dots across the Mounth and traverse the other 4 Munros,
none of them requiring any great effort to climb. The distances, however, are prodigious and
it’s just under 30kms for the round trip over all 5 Munros.
Remains of the Canberra on Carn an t-Sagairt Mor
For the next couple of hours we traversed
around the wide horseshoe of plateau and peaks that encircle the Dubh Loch and
lower down, Loch Muick. One-by-one the
Munros fell: Carn a’ Choire Bhoidheach (1110m; hill of the beautiful corrie) –
an undistinguished grassy dome; Carn an t-Sagairt Mor (1047m; big hill of the priest) – 2 cairns for the price of one and
littered with wreckage from a 1956 RAF Canberra air crash; Cairn Bannoch (1012m; peaked hill) – a shattered
granite tor; and finally Broad Cairn (998m).
From the latter viewpoint, the long road home
snakes across the plateau below you around the SE flanks of Loch Muick. It’s a straightforward – if long – trek back
to the car at the Spittal of Glen Muick.
Broad Cairn & Loch Muick
An interesting – if belated – intervention by Mother Nature did provide
some interest to entertain us on our homeward journey. A single young red deer allowed us to get
close and better still, just a mile from the car, we happened upon a black cock
lek. This courtship ritual amongst male
black grouse in order to, yes you’ve guessed it, win the affections of a
female, usually requires an overnight camp and a 5AM get-up to witness it. They were never going to let us get that
close so the photo’s not great, but you get the idea. What an amazing end to a memorable day. Fourteen Munros in 3 days – and no passes!
Black Cock Lek
Carn a’ Mhaim
And now we really did need an easier
day! In place of another multi-Munro
marathon we opted for a short bike ride from the Linn of Dee up to Derry Lodge
followed by the relatively short walk up Glen Luibeg to Carn a’Mhaim.
Beinn Bhrotain & the Devil's Point From Carn a'Mhaim
The Luibeg Burn had just a little too much
water in it so we crossed at the bridge a little upstream. Then it was off across open country to
intercept the excellent new path that follows the ridge – steeply at first –
past the false top to the summit rocks of Carn a’ Mhaim (1037m; cairn of the large rounded hill). As you would expect from a hill that guards
the S end of the Lairig Ghru, the views are impressive, particularly across the
pass to the Devil’s Point and Cairn Toul.
Ben Macdui looked almost alpine with large snowfields still very much in
evidence – and more snow just about to arrive!
This cut short our visit and we headed down,
our return punctuated by periods of pleasant sunshine and blustery
showers. The last of these really
outstayed its welcome and we were damper than damp things by the time we returned
to the Linn of Dee car park!
Mount Keen
We ended our week with a long – but always
enjoyable – bike ride up the length of beautiful Glen Tanar with its Caledonian
pines, noisy Water of Tanar and desolate upper glen. Perched at the end of this 11Km picturesque
glen sits lonely Mount Keen, Scotland’s most easterly Munro.
Above Glen Tanar
Its conspicuous cone only comes into view
once well up Glen Tanar. We left the
bikes by the new bridge close to the ruined Shiel of Glentanar where the
climbing really starts. However, it’s an
easy 90 mins up the old Mounth Road and subsequent path to the bouldery summit
of this enjoyable, if remote, Munro: Mount Keen (939m; gentle hill –from the Gaelic monadh caoin).
The New Bridge
We shared the summit – briefly – with one
other walker and a passing glider a few hundred feet above us before returning
to the bikes at the bridge. There then
followed the best part of the whole day (and, arguably, the week): the
effortless gravity-assisted hurtle back down the glen and through the beautiful
pines to the car!
Two Cheeky Monkees (or Maybe Rabbits) on the Summit!
Our week in Braemar was clearly not for the
faint-hearted and normal people need not apply!
Driven on by the Siren call of the Munros amongst some of the party (you
know who you are), we accomplished a total of 16 Munros, 78 miles/123Km on foot
and 20 miles/ 32Km on bike.
Worryingly, we would have done even more if
the weather had been kinder……….
And Along The Way........
Hare
Storm!
Them
Me
Check out my plans for the coming season at: http://www.hillways.co.uk/summer/summer.htm
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