For this year’s New Year trip to the Highlands I had booked myself a private, ensuite room at Glen Nevis Youth Hostel for six nights, hoping to revisit a few of the impressive nearby Munros and tick off a few new Grahams. I set off around 9am from my parents’ house and had a good clear drive up, with a lunch stop in Tyndrum and a supermarket stop in Fort William, arriving around 3pm when check-in opened. After unloading, I took a very short stroll by the river as a prolonged temperature inversion had left the valley trees spectacularly frosted while the hillsides above were warmer and ice-free. I was surprised to be greeted ‘Hi David’ by a passing runner, which turned out to be Alex Stearn, an occasional CUHWC trip attendee now living in Kendal and married to my sister’s friend Alice. They and son Albert were also staying at the hostel for the next three nights and provided me with some welcome company in the evenings!

The forecast looked excellent for the first two days of the trip. On Monday, my walk took in the three westernmost Munros of the Mamores, which I had only visited once before. I drove a few miles up the valley and parked at Achriabhach, starting walking at around 8:40: a little before sunrise but there was plenty of light to walk by. The walk started with a steep and relentless 1000m climb up the northwest ridge of Sgurr a’ Mhaim, which certainly warmed me up despite being in the shade most of the way! I had been gradually gaining on two others ahead and they were still by the summit when I arrived. Mist was swirling around, occasionally dropping a little to give a view over an inversion to Ben Nevis.

There was a chilly breeze so I didn’t hang around for long before setting off along the so-called “Devil’s Ridge”, a name that greatly exaggerates the level of challenge, which has only a couple of easy rocky steps and barely constitutes more than an exposed walk. There were grand views of the twin pyramidal peaks of Am Bodach and Sgurr an Iubhair with inversion behind them. Soon, I was at the summit of the latter, taking in the views south over the inversion, with only the highest Munros protruding above, most obviously Bidean nam Bian and Beinn a’ Bheithir.

I followed the well-defined ridge west to the day’s next Munro, Stob Ban, which gave more inversion views and also a fine panorama of the Nevis Range and Sgurr a’ Mhaim. Another 3km via a subsidiary top brought me to my final peak of the day, Mullach nan Coirean. I passed a few other walkers on this section of ridge, including one other solo walker who was staying at the hostel, and caught up with two more pairs at the summit. We descended more-or-less together down the rather icy northeast ridge, although it did not merit spikes or crampons as the worst patches could be avoided with care.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3190803
I popped back into Fort William for more provisions before returning to the hostel for the night.

Tuesday was an even better day, with lighter winds and clearer skies expected, so I opted for the celebrated hillwalkers’ route up Ben Nevis via Carn Mor Dearg. I arrived at the North Face car park soon after 8:30 and was surprised to find it virtually full already – it seems most people start in the dark rather than going fast as I prefer to! I was able to find room to park on the verge near the entrance and was soon underway.

I followed the main path up beside the Allt a’ Mhuilinn for a couple of kilometres, overtaking a few folk heading for winter gully climbs, then took the smaller left fork up the north ridge of Carn Mor Dearg. There was a thin layer of mist hanging over the surface of Loch Linnhe and Loch Eil to the west.

The hillside was very icy up to about 600m – frozen water rather than compacted snow – but it was always possible to pick a route around rather than having to don crampons. There were lots of groups ahead and I had overtaken more than 20 people by the time I reached the top of Carn Mor Dearg. There was a lot of old snow on the eastern slopes, well seen from the subsidiary peak of Carn Dearg Mheadhonach on the way up. It was also spectacular to see the sun appear from behind the peak of Carn Mor Dearg as I emerged from its shadow!

Several others were putting crampons on at the summit but the first section of the arete could be negotiated entirely on dry rock, so I delayed putting mine on until a couple of hundred metres further on, where the snow did become unavoidable. The ice axe wasn’t required as there were lots of rocks to hold onto, and the old snow was very solid and reassuring to walk on. As the ridge began to swing around more to the west, it became snow-free again, so I took the crampons back off. The final steep climb up to Ben Nevis was straightforward but did involve crossing some fairly steep snow patches – there were excellent footsteps left by those who had climbed when the snow was softer, but I did get the ice axe out this time for security.

Soon I emerged on the flat snow of the summit plateau where there were, of course, plenty of others who’d come up by the tourist path, as well as a few climbers emerging from the north face gullies. I spent a bit of time looking at the views in different directions: over the cliffs, back to CMD and Aonach Mor, and south over many mountain ridges. The very distant peaks of Ben More (Crianlarich) and Ben Cruachan were readily identifiable, as well as lots of nearer hills in the Mamores and around Glen Coe. Ardgour and Glenfinnan were also beautifully sunny to the west.

I decided to put the crampons back on for the descent of the first few zigzags, on continuous firm snow. Although it was mostly fairly grippy in just boots, I was able to walk with more confidence and speed with guaranteed traction! I had a late lunch break by the halfway lochan, which was really warm in the sunshine, then took a direct, off-path route over the moor back to the riverside to rejoin my upward route at a bridge just above the forest. I was back at the car soon after 2pm, so it had only taken about 5 and a half hours to complete the route – definitely no walking in the dark required! It had been a perfect winter day out on Britain’s highest mountain.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3191610

The weather deteriorated markedly by Wednesday morning, with milder temperatures, but lower cloud and drizzly showers. I decided Graham bagging would give the best chance of views, and drove south to Ballachulish to visit the two near there. I parked at the visitor centre and set off initially up the path towards Beinn a’ Bheithir’s ‘Schoolhouse Ridge’, which I had done with Ruth and Josh a couple of years prior. This time, though, I continued up Gleann an Fhiodh and crossed the River Laroch below the mapped cairn, as I had previously done on approach to the Corbett, Fraochaidh. The river crossing was straightforward, the stepping stones not icy, but the steep 150m climb through rough heather to the ridge was just as tough as I remembered!

On the crest of the ridge, I was surprised to find a fairly well-trodden path all the way up to the summit of Sgorr a’ Choise. The peak was in and out of the mist, but did give intermittent views back down to Loch Leven and across the corrie to the second Graham, Meall Mor. Continuing, the ridge was broader and more grassy all the way, with any boggy parts still well frozen despite the rise in air temperatures. The summit gave a bit of a view into Glen Coe but all the higher peaks were in the cloud, as expected.

I followed a rough path down the northwest ridge to the transmitter on a subsidiary peak, then a better path down the edge of the forest and around the rim of the quarry back into Ballachulish.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3192481
Due to the frequent, drizzly showers, I’d only stopped briefly for snacks and photos, so I had my lunch in the car before driving back to Fort William, with another pause at Morrison’s on the way.

Thursday and Friday were forecast to be much more wintry, with stronger summit winds and frequent snow showers blowing in from the north. I struggled to decide what to do, and went to bed with the intention of starting New Year’s Day at Fort William parkrun. But looking again at the forecast when I woke, I felt a little more optimistic and targeted a remote Graham by Loch Arkaig instead. It seemed that the freezing level would remain high enough that the road to the Chia-aig Waterfalls car park would remain clear even if snow showers came at higher level, and so it proved.

I parked at first light and set off along the track towards Invermallie in the dry. Soon the first of many light showers (of rain at low level, but snow above about 300m) blew in, and I switched from soft shell to waterproof jacket for the rest of the day. It felt a long way to the ruined house at Glenmallie, despite the good track, and it was still another 3km on a rougher path to shielings at the bottom of Coire nam Fuaran. The views were initially dominated by Beinn Bhan, then by Meall a’ Phubuill, and finally by the back (relative to the normal ascent route) of Gulvain.

I had been surprised that the guidebook route made the ascent so far up the valley, but it made sense on seeing that the slopes there offered shorter, less tussocky grass than further east. Nevertheless, it was a steep and tiring slog of 500 vertical metres in just 1.3km, which I completed in 50 minutes. A group of deer were sheltering in the back of the corrie, out of the northwesterly wind.

The summit was marked by a small cairn. I was fortunate to arrive just after the end of a sharp snow shower, and at the start of a brighter spell that lasted long enough for me to complete the exposed 4km walk east along the ridge. The wind was quite strong and gusty so it was good to have it mostly on my back. Straying north of the crest from time to time gave the best views over Loch Arkaig to Sgurr Mhurlagain (Corbett) and Meall Blair and Sgurr Choinnich (Grahams). The Munro Gairich, by Loch Quoich, also came into view for a while.

I was looking out for an ATV track that the guidebook said would lead me back down into the valley, and it turned out to be pretty obvious and improved with boards across the boggiest bits, although that was not necessary this time with the terrain being well frozen. The longest and heaviest snow-storm of the day came in as I started the descent, and was just about ending as I arrived back on the valley track, where a shepherd’s shed offered some shelter for my late lunch break.

That just left a 10km march back to Gleann Cia-aig. Sunshine returned and I had some good views of Beinn Bhan and Glas Bheinn with notably more snow on them than there had been in the morning.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3192917

I was back at the car by 3pm and so was able to drive back to the hostel in daylight. Snow began to fall at valley level in the evening, with more overnight, amounting to about 3 inches in total. I didn’t really fancy a long drive or a long solo slog through deep snow so picked a local, lower-level walk for Friday that would still take in a couple of hilltops.

Snow continued falling until about 9am, so I had a leisurely start. The Glen Nevis road is pretty flat so it was not a difficult drive out to the main road to park at the Fort William Leisure Centre. From there, I followed the popular footpaths up onto Cow Hill, already well walked since the snowfall. I visited first the north summit (by the transmitter) and second, after some bushwhacking, the slightly higher south summit (with no footprints and a small cairn). Both were fine viewpoints over Loch Linnhe.

I continued down the main track to the lane above Achintore, followed that south for a few hundred metres, then took the path up to the summit of Druim na h-Earba, a 288m Marilyn. The lower slopes were popular for sledging, it turned out, but the summit was quieter. The cloud base had been gradually rising, with longer sunny spells, and there was a superb view across the loch towards Sgurr Dhomhnuill in Ardgour. Beinn na Gucaig also looked very fine on my side of the water.

I had lunch near the top, then followed the lane back into town, picked up a few last provisions at Morrison’s, and then returned to the hostel.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3193594
A little before sunset, the top of Ben Nevis even cleared for a while. Part of me wished I’d been higher to enjoy the afternoon brightness, but I still didn’t really feel like a long slog through deep powder. After dinner, I re-packed all my kit and got an early night ready for an early start.

I was on the road at 6:30am, heading south in hope of visiting a parkrun in the Glasgow area. Another 3 inches of snow had fallen overnight, so it was a slow trundle to the A82 then more cautious miles beside Loch Linnhe in falling snow with a light dusting on the road. It seemed unlikely I’d make it to Glasgow by parkrun-time, but at Ballachulish the snow stopped and the road became black, and was then fully clear all the rest of the way. The skies cleared too, with the full moon illuminating the peaks of Glen Coe and the Black Mount.

I paused for fuel at Dumbarton and checked the facebook pages of my candidate parkruns: Erskine Waterfront had cancelled due to ice but Victoria was going ahead, so that became my destination. Jo and Dave had run there on Christmas Day, by chance! I found roadside parking right outside the park gates at 9am which gave enough time to take a few dawn photos of the frozen duckpond and do a warm-up before the 9:30 start. It was a flattish and fast course and, despite the very cold air, I managed to run a pleasing time of 18:16, achieving my best ever age grade – first time over 75%!

I didn’t hang around long before continuing my drive south. It went well as far as Penrith, then I got delayed by a couple of hours trying to find the best way around the M6 closure for a railway bridge replacement. With hindsight, I should just have accepted the signed diversion, as all better alternatives had been closed, and I ended up back on the official route anyway. Very tedious, and by the time I reached my parents’ house for a very late lunch I had had enough driving for the day. Luckily I was able to stay the night there and delay my return to Derby until Sunday morning.

Quite a memorable New Year trip to the Highlands overall: two spectacular sunny days on Munros with little snow but lots of ice, then three increasingly snowy days on lower hills (including three new Grahams). While fairly expensive, my private hostel room had provided a convenient and comfortable base and it was an excellent way to fill the time between Christmas and the return to work. You can view my full photo album here.

My autumn break in the Highlands this year was a little less than a full week, as the best option was squeeze the trip in between a Sunday brass band contest one weekend and a Sunday cross-country race the next. I got away from Desford, post-contest, at around 3pm, and paused briefly at home to change, drop off the euphonium and pick up my holiday bags. Unfortunately my journey north was then disrupted by road closures on the M6 sliproad at junction 16 and on the M80 near Cumbernauld, both requiring improvised diversions. I eventually reached my Travelodge in Perth just after 10pm – a long day but still better than the alternative of tackling the drive with Monday-morning traffic!

Rising around 7am on Monday after a good night’s sleep, I was soon back on the road, and it took another couple of hours to reach Rannoch Station, the last 50 minutes being a tedious 30 miles along B-roads from the A9 at Calvine! My first walk of the day was up the nearby Graham, Stob na Cruaiche, on the north side of Rannoch Moor. I expected this to be an excellent viewpoint over the famous moor so I was pleased that it was a sunny morning!

I followed good tracks up through the woods onto the shoulder of Meall Liath na Doire, then the ridge was mostly pathless for the remaining 6km to the summit. The views provided great motivation though, improving as I ascended, both northwest over Blackwater Reservoir to the Mamores and Grey Corries, and southwest over Loch Laidon and Rannoch Moor to the Bridge of Orchy hills, Black Mount and Glen Coe. There was an interesting triple memorial cairn to members of the Pearson family on one of the intermediate tops.

It was a cold wind on the summit, so I only spent a few minutes taking in the views before setting off on the descent. A somewhat improved ATV track led east, dropping gradually off the south side of the ridge to enter the forest alongside the Allt’ a Bhuirich and follow its banks easily down to the main forest track. That just left 3km back to the car. I was surprised to see a man on a mountain bike, exercising his dog, and two others cycling together. I paused for a few minutes on the inland beach at the foot of Loch Laidon, which looked pretty spectacular under the blue skies!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3146922

After a lunch break in the car, I drove a few miles east to Bridge of Gaur where I started my shorter second walk of the day. This went up the 601m Graham, Leagag, now included in the list thanks to the change of minimum height from 2000ft to 600m. A good track led up beside the Allt an Fheadain and Allt a’ Mheanbh-chruidh to gain the west ridge of the hill, which led easily to the summit in little over an hour. I was surprised to pass one other walker descending. The cloud had lifted a little to reveal Ben Alder’s snowy plateau in the view to the north over Loch Rannoch, while Schiehallion and the Glen Lyon hills were prominent to the east. I descended the same way as the alternative route via Loch Finnart looked rather boggy!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3146925

It was another tedious drive back down the B-roads through Kinloch Rannoch and Tummel Bridge to Pitlochry Youth Hostel, my home for the night. I had never previously found beds available there on my visits to the town, having to stay instead at the Backpackers Hostel, and I was pleased that the SYHA hostel had better facilities, a quieter ambience, and a lovely view. An unexpected bonus was that I had the six-bed dormitory to myself for the night!

Tuesday’s forecast was poor, so it was fortuitous that my plan involved just one Graham, with most of the walk being on a good track. Creag a’ Mhadaidh was the chosen hill, my route going up from Aulich near the east end of Loch Rannoch. I used the weather radar to judge a good time to set off in a relatively dry spell – though still in continuous light rain – and found the first 3km up through mixed woodland rather attractive, with lovely autumn colours despite the poor light, and the Allt a’ Chreagain Odhair in spate below.

The next 4km, up to the broad bealach between Gualann Sheileach and Creag a’ Mhadaidh, were rather bleak, but the track at least had good bridges over all streams. I was greeted with a rainbow at the bealach, and a relative lull in the rain for the rough ascent to the summit of Creag a’ Mhadaidh, not very craggy despite the name! You could just about see down to Loch Errochty from the summit, but any higher hills in the view were in cloud.

Heavier rain set in as I began my descent, and continued for most of the walk out. Only the final 15 minutes saw some brightness, illuminating the forest colours nicely and giving my waterproofs a little time to drip and blow dry before reaching the car. A large group – multiple families on holiday together perhaps – were strolling in the forest, which was surprising given the poor weather!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3147769

I ate lunch in the car before driving north over the Drumochter Pass to Aviemore Youth Hostel. This time the six-bed dorm was fully occupied, but the excellent drying room was welcome! Aviemore was just a convenient staging post, as my next objectives were actually quite a bit further east down Speyside. Wednesday’s main walk was from Allanreid in Glen Livet, a few miles upstream of the famous distillery. My objective was Cook’s Cairn, a remote Graham across the valley from the Corbett, Corryhabbie Hill. I set off in sunny spells, following slightly boggy tracks beside the river as far as the abandoned houses at Suie. The paths were all surprisingly well signposted, but the only others I saw were a pair of shepherds on quadbikes.

Above Suie, I took the right fork to keep following the historic ‘Steplar’ route gradually up to the saddle between Carn na Bruar and Cook’s Cairn. Only as I neared the bealach did the wind turbines on the east side of the hills come into view and earshot. A further 1.5km up the ridge on short heather brought me to the summit, which had distant views of the high, snow-capped Cairngorm peaks and much closer views of Corryhabbie Hill and Ben Rinnes. I descended the same way, with the sunny spells eventually giving way to light showers that justified full waterproofs for the final few kilometres.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3148572

It was another 45-minute drive via Dufftown and Cabrach to reach the second walk of the day, up The Buck. My route was a small horseshoe, directly up the boggy northeast ridge to the summit – with an unexpected rock outcrop – then down the heathery eastern ridge over Scad Hill and Clayhooter Hill to reach a track back to the car. There were more showers and a cold, strengthening wind, but also a few brighter moments.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3148573

I drove south to my accommodation for the next three nights, the independent Ballater Hostel. Ruth and I had enjoyed staying there previously when Corbett-bagging in the area, so it was good to return. After checking in, I walked to the Co-op to re-stock on provisions. The handful of other guests had all booked private rooms, so I had two nights with a six-bed dorm to myself, and just one roommate for the final night.

I had four nearby Grahams on my to-do list for the next two days. As the weather forecast was much better for Thursday than Friday, I opted to visit three of them on Thursday! Geallaig Hill was the first. I walked up the good track from Breanaloin to the north, with sunshine low down, but reached the summit in thin mist. I felt that the visibility was likely to improve shortly and, thanks to the lack of wind, it was not cold, so I loitered a few minutes by the trig point. As I hoped, I was rewarded with fairly clear views of Morven and Mount Keen. Lochnagar to the south was visible but capped in a layer of cloud, as were the peaks on the Cairngorm plateau. I made a round walk by descending more tracks west, with more good views over Deeside, then a final 2km down the lane back to the car.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3149304

A few minutes’ drive north took me to the start point for my second walk, the summit of the A939 pass into the Don valley. I followed a rough ATV track that unhelpfully soon petered out in deep heather, making for a tiring (but not particularly long) climb up to Scraulac. Continuing east, there were better paths beside a fence over Cairnagour Hill to Mona Gowan, the Graham. I was surprised to find a digger working on the upper slopes of Mona Gowan, building small plugs of earth every hundred metres or so – I assume rudimentary grouse butts. The driver gave a friendly wave as I passed. The Corbett, Morven, to the east, was in and out of cloud, but was the most significant feature of the view. I retraced my steps to the car, except that I found a better path through the rough heather on the final descent!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3149307

My third and final walk was from Invernettie in Glen Nochty. I ascended on good tracks through a pheasant farm and reafforested slopes to quickly reach the heathery summit of Ladylea Hill. The view included the Ladder Hills to the northwest, The Buck to the northeast, and Morven to the south. I returned the same way and drove back to Ballater for the night.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3149308

Friday had been forecast to be wet and windy, but looking again in the morning it seemed it would actually stay dry until early afternoon. I therefore picked the longer (and more interesting) of the route options for my Graham, Pressendye, going up from the northwest. The southern slopes, while closer to the road, are all forested, so I was rewarded with much better views on the northern approach. The tracks via Lazy Well and over Broom Hill all gave easy walking, so I covered the 8km to the summit pretty quickly.

The south wind was certainly strong, even at 600m, but the shelter cairn was very effective so I was able to have a few minutes’ snack break without needing to put on more layers. There were extensive views over Aberdeenshire and Deeside, with some sunlit areas in the valleys but never over my hill! I followed more good tracks down to Culfork, then a final 2.5km on quiet lanes back to the starting point.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3150044

I paused on the drive back to Ballater for a stroll at a signposted local landmark, the Burn o’ Vat. This unusual spherical ‘pothole’ was carved out by glacial meltwaters at the end of the last Ice Age. I followed the short circular route through the Vat then had my lunch on a picnic bench by the visitor centre. The rain arrived soon after I got back to Ballater, so I had another quiet evening in the hostel.

With my cross-country race the next morning, I didn’t want to get home late, so I didn’t try to fit in both a parkrun and a Graham on Saturday as I’d initially thought I might. The parkrun took priority this time. Unhelpfully, a band of rain was forecast to pass over the Central Belt at just the wrong time so it was difficult to choose where I was least likely to get wet! I narrowed my options to Perth, in hope of being before the rain arrived, or Cumbernauld, in hope of being after it. I set off at 6:30am, early enough to keep both options open. Pausing to check the weather radar outside Perth, I gambled that the western option was the better bet.

It was still raining when I arrived at Palacerigg Country Park, and I did my warm-up with my rain jacket on. But it turned out that, by 9:30, the rain had almost stopped, and I actually didn’t get significantly wet doing parkrun without the coat. It was an attractive trail course, through a mixture of woodland and grassy moorland, and fairly challenging with about 70m of climb, much of it on the approach to the finish! Only 40 runners turned out, many put off by the earlier rain no doubt, so there were lots of Halloween snacks to go round!

It was another 2h30 drive to Kendal, where I paused for an extended break at my parents’ house for lunch and a stroll, then a further 2h15 home to Derby, arriving a little after 6pm. Splitting the drive into three manageable chunks with good breaks in between, it hadn’t felt that far really!

So, I bagged a total of nine new Grahams this trip, clearing up most of the ones on the fringes of the Cairngorms (after my Easter bagging foray in Angus) and ending on 135/231. Fewer than 100 to go, and I’m pleased that not so many of them will be heathery eastern ones now! That’ll be it until my New Year trip to Glen Nevis. My full photo album is available here.

I took my usual Easter long weekend in the Highlands, this year a solo trip to Angus, where I chose to camp as I hoped the late Easter would give mild temperatures. To get a head start on the drive up, I worked from my parents’ house in Kendal on the Thursday, and set off from there at around 3:30pm. Traffic was mostly quiet and, after a dinner stop at Stirling services, I arrived at Foresterseat Campsite, just outside Forfar, soon after 8pm. That meant I was able to get my tent set up well before dark and spend some time looking at the maps and guidebooks. It looked like I’d be the only tent that night, but one other arrived as I was going to bed.

Although there was a light ground frost, Friday started sunny. There was a forecast of some light rain by evening so I got away promptly. I chose to head to Glen Isla to bag three Grahams over two walks. The first walk started at the top of the low pass between Glen Isla and Glen Shee. An easy grassy ridge with good ATV tracks led me quickly up to Duchray Hill, which gave good views north towards the Munros of Creag Leacach and Glas Maol, and over Glen Shee to the West Mounth.

Continuing round the horseshoe, the descent to the pass was made a little more awkward by newly planted forestry. Once across the road, it was an easy climb up Mount Blair on a large path through grass and then heather. The summit has a transmitter mast and trig point and, unusually for a Graham, a view-finder indicating all the surrounding peaks that could be seen. The visibility was excellent and I was able to pick out summits including Ben Lawers, Bidean nam Bian, Ben Nevis, Beinn a’ Ghlo, Cairn Toul and Ben Macdui. Those high Munros were mostly capped with snow, but there was none left at lower levels. Again I continued around the horseshoe for an easy descent back to the car.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2947331

The second walk of the day started a little further up Glen Isla at Fergus. I followed good grouse-shooting tracks up beside Fergus Burn to the minor summit of Craig Lair, then onward to the Graham, Badandun Hill. The views were not as extensive as from the morning’s hills, but Mayar and Driesh were closer at hand (at least their undramatic southwestern slopes!). Surprisingly, I saw two other pairs of walkers further down the ridge.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2947335

I popped into Tesco for provisions on my way back to camp, and cooked and ate relatively early to be done before any rain. As it turned out, it had still barely drizzled by bedtime, so I needn’t have rushed. The campsite felt busier now, with three more tents arriving and numerous caravans and vans (but I don’t think any of them were occupied by hillwalkers!). A few light showers did come through overnight.

On Saturday morning I was well placed for a visit to Forfar Loch parkrun. This is an attractive, flat and quite fast course, once around the loch with a short extra loop at the western end to make up the distance. I was happy with my pace and was in third place most of the way but the two others who’d been hanging on my heels were able to outsprint me at the end to leave me as fifth finisher.

Afterwards, I drove up to the foot of Glen Lethnot for the day’s chosen Graham, Hill of Wirren. It was dry and clear but there was quite a chilly wind as I walked up more shooting tracks up the ridge then across rough heather to the summit. Mount Keen and Mount Battock were the most identifiable hills in the view. I continued to East Wirren, which gave better views of the Aberdeenshire coast, and descended by another ridge, pausing for a late lunch in the lee of a well-appointed but locked luncheon hut.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2948198

Sunday looked like the brightest day of the trip, so I headed to the most exciting of the hills on my to-do list, Hunt Hill at the head of Glen Esk. This was nearly an hour’s drive from Forfar, the second half of it all on the dead-end road up the glen! The car park was quite busy as it’s also the start point for the southern approach to Mount Keen. I had bagged that one from the north when I did it.

To make the most of the good weather, I took the long and scenic route, a full horseshoe around the Loch Lee skyline. This meant setting off a couple of kilometres down the valley to Glen Effock to begin. Good tracks led from there up onto Cairn Caidloch and Burnt Hill, which gave views of the craggier hills ahead. Then it was harder walking across pathless long grass and short heather all the way to the rocky spur of Craig Maskeldie. This is a fine vantage point over Loch Lee and Hunt Hill, and a good place to pause for first lunch.

It was just a short descent to a good footbridge over the Water of Unich above the impressive Falls of Damff, where I passed two girls who I think were there for the waterfall rather than the hill. A steep climb led along the top of the crags to the summit of Hunt Hill, a very fine viewpoint, particularly looking back towards Craig Maskeldie.

A short but steep descent on soft heather brought me to the Stables of Lee, where I was surprised to find actual stables that looked in recent use. Then I climbed steeply back up to the summit of Wolf Craig, where I sheltered behind one of the numerous cairns for lunch with a view of Mount Keen. It was also a good viewpoint towards Lochnagar and the snowy plateaux of Beinn a’ Bhuird and Ben Avon. There were intermittent ATV tracks and deer trods to ease progress along the flat ridge to the final summit of the day, Monawee. From just below the eastern cairn marked on the map, a newish hydro track gave a quick descent through the forest to Kirkton, followed by a short walk along the lane past Invermark Castle back to the car.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2949358

That left just two Angus Grahams for me to tackle on Monday: Cat Law and Corwharn on the west side of Glen Prosen. The cloud was lower than expected to start the day. I parked by the roadside at Easter Lednathie and was soon in the cloud as I walked up the track to Peat Shank and then up small trods to the summit of Cat Law. Once I’d visited the boundary stone, cairn and trig point, I used the compass to identify which of the many trods would lead me off the right way.

At around 550m I broke free of the cloud, which had clearly risen quite a bit since I’d set out, and had a view along the ridge to Cormaud. There was a good shooting track to follow for a while, then rough heather along the ridge of Tarapetmile and down to the top of the pass between Glen Uig and Glen Quharity. More shooting tracks led easily from there up to the summit of Corwharn, by then just about below the cloud.

I decided I’d stop for lunch whenever I found somewhere sheltered, but it turned out that didn’t happen until I’d trudged along the mostly-pathless ridge all the way over Adenaich Hill and Finlet to Broom Hill, almost the end of my walk! I did eventually find a good spot on the final descent, with a view of Long Goat across Glen Uig.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2950268

As on Friday, I had an early dinner to get my cooking done before forecast evening drizzle, and this time it was a good decision. I got an early night as I planned to be up at 6am on Tuesday, with a lot to pack into my day!

The day dawned sunny, so it wasn’t too chilly as I had breakfast and broke camp. I was on the road at quarter past seven, driving around an hour via Coupar Angus and Dunkeld to Glen Cochill, just south of Aberfeldy. I was surprised to find another car parked at the entrance of the Calliacher Wind Farm – it turned out to be a dog-walker rather than a Graham bagger! My route followed the wind farm tracks through Griffin Forest to near Loch Hoil, then shooting tracks most of the way up to the minor summit of Creag an Loch. This gave view over Loch Fender to the Graham, Meall Dearg.

A rough descent and reascent through long heather led me to the summit, with pretty good views of Ben Lawers, Schiehallion and Beinn a’ Ghlo. Then a short descent east got me back onto tracks. The guidebook’s recommended route through the forest back to the wind farm track turned out to have a fairly well-walked path and the full descent to the car took less than an hour.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2952082

Back on the road by 11:30, I stopped in Stirling for petrol, at Abington for lunch, and at Lancaster for a stretch of the legs. The final section back to Derby was delayed a bit by an accident near Warrington. Google re-routed me via the M61 and M62 to avoid the worst of the queue, but inevitably found other rush-hour queues that way. Nevertheless, I was home just after 6pm and a quick turn-around for food and a shower allowed me to head out to band rehearsal in the evening!

Overall, a productive long weekend of bagging, ticking off eight new Grahams and taking me to 126 out of 231 in total. Although the southern Cairngorms don’t have the most spectacular hills in the Highlands, they were a good choice this time as I’d seen that the weather on the west coast had been much wetter. Not long until I’m heading back up the M6, M74 and beyond, for the Gentian trip to Torridon in early May! After a good Graham fix at Easter, I expect I’ll be content mainly to revisit that area’s exciting Munros on that trip!

You can see my full photo album on Google Photos here.