Pitfichie Hill & Cairn William

[mcbboyd]

Another weekend, and another Sub2K Marilyn for me. It was such a nice clear afternoon that I made a last minute decision to head out and walk up Pitfichie Hill and Cairn William. Didn't have the time to walk the full route as shown on this website, but took a slightly shorter route, starting to the northeast of Cairn William.

PitfichieAndCairnWilliam.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Set off along the forestry track to start with, through typical working forestry land. Most of this area is used by mountain bikers so I kept a good listen out for any that may be storming along the paths, but didn't meet a single one today.
Forest Walk by mcbboyd, on Flickr

A path runs up between Cairn William and Pitfichie hill, and I followed this up. Soon arrived at the turn offs to go up either Pitfichie Hill or Cairn William. I opted to head up to Pitfichie Hill first. A short blast up the track and I was soon at the top and was suddenly hit by some pretty gusty winds that I had thus far been sheltered from. Absolutely great views of Bennachie in the setting sun from here. Unfortunately the wind was that strong most my photos were pretty blurry and as I was keeping an eye on the time I didn't set up my tripod to get some better shots (wish I did though, as by the time I got to top of Cairn William I'd missed the light).
View from Pitfichie Hill by mcbboyd, on Flickr

Retraced my steps back down from Pitfichie Hill to the main track, and then picked up the mountain bike track that zig-zags its way up the side of Cairn William. Could possibly shorten the walk a little by cutting across the heather in some spots, but I just stuck to the path. My mind had wandered off to it's usual hill walk daydreaming state and I was quite happy just to stick to the path and take in the views. Thanks to all the zigging and zagging it was not a steep climb at all and I arrived at the trig point feeling quite refreshed. Did plan on stopping here for a little longer to grab some photos of Bennachie and the surroundings, but as mentioned above, the light had completely faded and the view was nothing like it was from Pitfichie hill.
Pitfichie Hill from Cairn William by mcbboyd, on Flickr

Bennachie range from Cairn William by mcbboyd, on Flickr

Retraced my steps back to the car, although in hindsight when I rejoined the path between the two hills I should've turned right instead of left and that would've also taken me back to the car as that path goes around in a loop. Nevertheless had a really nice walk back through the forest tracks in the fading light, it was so incredibly quiet in the woods.

A nice little walk this. The path over from Green Hill/Tillyfourie is probably the best to take in the views, but this shorter walk is also good to blow the cobwebs away.

[The Rodmiester]

Hi mcbboyd, that looks a fine wee double, I've done very few hills in this area so this looks like a fine add on to a bigger hill to get another blue balloon Thanks for posting, I take it there is plenty of room for parking the car?

[mcbboyd]

Hi mcbboyd, that looks a fine wee double, I've done very few hills in this area so this looks like a fine add on to a bigger hill to get another blue balloon Thanks for posting, I take it there is plenty of room for parking the car?

Space for maybe 2-3 cars without blocking anything where I stopped, which was just a junction onto forestry tracks. Also plenty of space round at the other side near Tillyfourie at the official parking (the one shown on the main Cairn William walk article).

Cheers!