A day of two halves round Glen Ernan from Torrandhu

[Gordon Ballantyne]

Yes a day of two halves indeed. Our weather fairies had deserted us for the first half with showers of rain being driven in on a stiff breeze soaking our wizened bodies, theatening to make us even more wrinkly.
At the parkup by the bridge below Torrandhu we waited for the current shower to expend itself before setting off - much to Harveys irritation. The cooncil bin lorry turned up and did a three point turn - glowering at my parked car which made his manoever a little tight. We thought they'd stopped for a rest, but then we saw a pickup truck descend from the farm with a wheelie bin in tow. Just-in-time rubbish collection !

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Parkup at the bridge below Torrandhu

With no more entertainment to watch, we eventually gave up waiting and donned our waterproofs and headed off up the track to Relaquheim. No myxy rabbit today for H to chase. Had him on the lead as the hill was strewn with sheep, which ambled away from us.
At the dam there was a posh octagonal fishing lodge with a boat and jetty. We selected the track going to a line of shooting butts past an animal shelter , then followed an ATV track on to the summit ridge and then back along to the top of Dubh Breac.

Looking back to the animal shelter near the dam below Dubh Breac

On the way, we disturbed a buzzard which flew out of a quarry formed by excavating spoil for the track we were on.
On top it was raining and breezy - somewhat "bracing", so we didn't tarry and headed off on a faint ATV track across towards the main track that we could see snaking up to the flank of The Socach through the showers.

GordonC atop Dubh Breac in somewhat sour conditions

Once back on the main track, we gemtly mosey'd up on to The Socach.

GordonC at the top of a breezy Socach

Blustery showers were still blowing through from the direction of the Lecht as we descended for a piece stop at the well maintained but locked bothy at the Fairy Hillock.
GC spotted a photo on the window ledge though one of the bothy windows of a wartime Allied tank passing a wrecked Axis tank. Couldn't read the text underneath, so don't know what it was about.

GordonB skulks in the lee of the Fairy hillock bothy

WWII tanks at the Fairy Hillock Bothy

We allowed a couple of showers to pass, from the lee of the bothy before setting off up the track to Cairn Vaichich.

At the summit area, we stumbled off the main ATV track onto a hare track to the top.
Just as we arrived, the sun came out. We could see the sun shining away to the east, but there was a fair bit of mirk away to the west towards the Lecht, where the showers were coming from.

A sombre pose on Cairn Vaichich

We headed off in the direction of the track going up Geal Carn, but soon realised why the track skirted lower to the west, so headed down to it again and thence across to Geal Carn. Not far along the track skirting Geal Carn, we spotted an ATV track going up in the direction of the top of Geal Carn so we followed it to the top. The sky had now cleared and the sun was shining, so we sat down behind the cairn and admired the view to the east down into Glen Ernan and Strathdon. H and I had done Geal Carn last March, but this was a first for GordonC. Anyway, it seemed churlish not to visit the top on our way by.

The shelter at the top of Geal Carn

GordonC and H at the top of Geal Carn

On the descent, we started following a line of shooting butts which headed off in the direction of Strathdon, but quckly realised out mistake and traversed over to the track going to Carn Mor, where we'd been last week and also "our" track down into Glen Ernan branching off it.
On the steep zig-zags down into Glen Ernan, stout barriers had been erected on a couple of the corners - nae doot after a couple of previous trouser-soiling incidents !

The track from Geal Carn down into Glen Ernan

Gordon B descends the zig zags to Glen Ernan

At the bottom of the track we crossed a nice bridge taking us down the glen through Juniper and Birks that were just beginning to display their autumn colours.

The bridge at the bottom of the zig-zags into Glen Ernan

Juniper and Birks on the way down Glen Ernan

A few wooly pigs were driven down the glen a wee bit until they found a way to join their mates off the track.
Its a bonny wee glen, which we enjoyed strolling down . The estate seemed to favour "cattle" grids rather than gates across the track, which gave us a few different ways to get Harvey across - mostly a loup over the fence at the side - good dog !
Soon we were back at the car, where I took H for a swim in the burn to clean him up after his multple visits to guttery dubs en route.
A "bracing" start to the day but a sunny finish......... our ancient legs were beginning to feel the last bit of the 20km by the time we reached the cars.
Still unable to find a bacon butty stop that meets GC's GF needs on the way back.......oh woe !