walkhighlands

Share your personal walking route experiences in Scotland, and comment on other peoples' reports.
Warning Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

A snowy trip around the Correen Hills circuit

A snowy trip around the Correen Hills circuit


Postby mcbboyd » Sun Dec 14, 2014 12:29 am

Route description: Correen Hills circuit, near Alford

Sub 2000' hills included on this walk: Lord Arthur's Hill

Date walked: 13/12/2014

Time taken: 4 hours

Distance: 15 km

3 people think this report is great.
Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).

Another weekend and another Sub2K for me, although a re-visit this time. Needed to get a decent walk out in the peace and quiet today to hit the mental reset button in my head after some long days cooped up in the office throughout the week.

Although I had been up Lord Arthur's Hill a couple of times, I hadn't walked the full Correen Hills circuit described on this website before. My previous walks up here were just straight up and back down, from the South, via Tulloch farm. Today I set out to do the longer trip, although I did it in the opposite direction to described on the website, which afforded me the great views ahead over to Bennachie during the descent down from Lord Arthur's hill.

The initial walk is easy past a barn and a couple of houses, but also was the most hazardous part of the journey due to the compacted snow on the farm driveway which had frozen solid and was pretty slippy. Fortunately I managed to remain upright on these first tentative steps of today's outing, and was soon more steady once joining the path towards the hills. Upon reaching the first gate it was warming to read the sign welcoming responsible walkers :). Once through that gate the walk was properly underway and I tried my best to fulfill my obligation of responsibility.

The first saunter along the path that runs alongside and above Esset Burn was enjoyable. I stopped crunching my way along the snowy path every so often to take in the peaceful sounds of the burn flowing along below. It has to be up there as one of my favourite sounds, a burn gently flowing nearby. My mental reset had begun!

Soon I was crossing over the branch of the burn which flows over the path, making use of the planks of wood handily placed to the side of the track. At this point I made my decision to turn right and make my way around in an anti-clockwise direction. I'd downloaded the route to my GPS as I find it useful for estimating time remaining on the walk, especially now the days are short. However, my ETA started to go a bit wonky as its electronic wizardry couldn't get it's head around me deviating in this way without its permission. But I soon gave it a piece of my mind and sorted it all out.

The initial climb up was easy going and soon the thinly veiled, low lying sun was starting to show. Up until now it had been quietly hiding itself behind Manabattock Hill.
ImageNear start of walk, the first ascent and the sun making an appearance by mcbboyd, on Flickr

Walking on up the hill the snow quite quickly started to get deeper, as expected, but the paths were still clear to see for the whole duration of today's outing, so navigation was very straightforward. Before I knew it I had arrived at the quarry and the little hut suddenly appeared on my right. I stopped for the obligatory photo and for a little peak inside. It was in much better condition than I was expecting, and seems to be kept quite tidy.
ImageThe obligatory picture of the hut at the quarry by mcbboyd, on Flickr

The downside of doing the route in this direction is that it was a bit early to stop and tuck into my snack whilst sheltered in the hut, so I quickly continued on my way, my full route pretty easy to make out in the clear conditions today.
ImageLooking out from the Quarry by mcbboyd, on Flickr

ImageLooking ahead round the remainder of the route by mcbboyd, on Flickr

The walk along Contlach Shank was, again, pretty easy going with the snow not being too deep on the path. With the best of the views behind me I was quite content to plod along this section, enjoying the fresh cool air. Upon reaching the end of my Northerly trek, near Badingair Hill, I stopped briefly to take in the views towards the east.
ImageLooking back to the east from near Badingair Hill by mcbboyd, on Flickr

The walk along the path past Brux Hill towards Edinbanchory Hill was evidently a little more boggy. As the temperature was only hovering around -1C some of the more wet parts of the path had not fully frozen and occasionally my foot would break through the ice. No other human footprints in the snow today, but a few deer must have used the path before me today, as I followed their tracks around for much of the next section.
ImageTracks in the snow by mcbboyd, on Flickr

The highlight of this section, however, was the views opening up towards the west with Tap O' Noth and the Buck coming into view. The views over towards the Buck in particular were fantastic.
ImageView over towards to the Buck by mcbboyd, on Flickr

The sun was pretty low again as I turned southeastwards to start heading towards Lord Arthur's hill, passing by the Wood of Logie. I paused here for a short while to scoff down a couple of choccy biccies and drink up my coffee which I'd taken in my new Thermos mug. It did a relatively decent job of keeping the coffee warm, but I think I'll stick to my flask for future outings.
ImagePassing Woods of Logie on way to Lord Arthur's Hill by mcbboyd, on Flickr

The walk up to the familiar summit of Lord Arthur's hill was a bit slower, as by now the snow was shin deep. The deer I had been following for much of the last stretch had obviously decided to head elsewhere as the path was now covered in a clear layer of virgin snow.
ImageSnowy Path up to Lord Arthur's Hill by mcbboyd, on Flickr

The light was really starting to fade as I arrived at the wind shelter at the top of the hill, so I didn't really stop there today, just pausing briefly to grab a quick photo in the direction of Bennachie.
ImageLord Arthur's Hill summit view towards Bennachie by mcbboyd, on Flickr

The journey back down the hill was soon made easier by the inevitably shallowing snow cover on the path. The views opening up ahead at this stage certainly vindicated my decision to do the walk in this direction, with only the fading light taking a little away from the view. I probably should've set off a little earlier in the day, but there were things to do in the morning that prevented that.
ImageIn the descent - View to Bennachie by mcbboyd, on Flickr

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable walk - I may just do it again in the summer time, and take the path over Manabattock Hill whilst I'm at it.
mcbboyd
Wanderer
 
Posts: 35
Munros:55   Corbetts:13
Fionas:8   Donalds:2
Sub 2000:26   
Islands:28
Joined: Mar 16, 2014

Re: A snowy trip around the Correen Hills circuit

Postby litljortindan » Mon Dec 15, 2014 9:23 pm

Looks like you had a good day. I was forced to go shopping that day but could see plenty of snow on the Buck and Tap o' Noth from Old Meldrum so wished that I wasn't shopping. Went up Lord Arthur's Hill in the summer a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it so will maybe try this circuit next time.
User avatar
litljortindan
Ambler
 
Posts: 2378
Munros:153   Corbetts:67
Fionas:29   Donalds:1
Sub 2000:47   Hewitts:12
Wainwrights:10   
Joined: Dec 11, 2011

3 people think this report is great.
Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).




Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to Walk reports - Scotland

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 83 guests