I thought this was a brilliant walk from the centre of Ballater. The shade provided by the woodland start was helpful in view of the heat.
Made a slight wrong turning when leaving the forest path (the waymarker is now obscured by a tree, but we missed the path up to the right, thinking it was too soon). We did see a couple of deer though!
However, back on route and the views really start to open up, following Mount Keen to the south all the way to Lochnagar and beyond.
The descent back into Ballater, on both open moor and native woodland, and finally beside the River Dee was an absolute delight.