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Finished a run of night shifts the previous morning and was starting another the next day, so despite a sleep pattern shot to pieces, forced myself out of bed to go for a walk while I had the chance on this day. Not the earliest start, so I didn't aim for anything epic, but I hadn't got round to doing these 2 corbetts yet and it seemed as good a time as any. The hills themselves would be good ones for winter, but the road is notoriously bad then so maybe I was just as well to do them now.
Parked at Corgarff Castle and followed the WH route for the Brown Cow Hill circular as far as Brown Cow Hill summit, then instead of continuing the circular, headed back the same way until reaching the track again. At that point, instead of taking the track back down the way I'd come up from the castle, I headed over Carn Oighreag, down the other side and came out on the single track estate road on the south side of the river.
- Corgarff Castle from the parking area
- ...and from the other side after skirting around it through the adjoining field
- On my way up towards the 823m point of Brown Cow Hill, this was the view back to Carn Oighreag, the track I would take over it later clearly visible
- A lot of peat hags to negotiate on the way up Brown Cow Hill, but most were dry enough to walk through and the ones which weren't could be avoided with a bit of meandering around
- Small cairn at the 823m top. The main summit is the marginally higher green rounded bit ahead, though Ben Avon in the background dominates the view
- Brown Cow Hill summit at 829m, the mass of Ben Avon to the west
- Looking across Brown Cow Hill's fairly unexciting summit plateau to the next corbett, Carn Ealasaid to the north
- Passing over Carn Oighreag gives another view of Corgarff Castle
- The route over Carn Oighreag is an easy one, a good track all the way. Carn Ealasaid directly ahead.
I'd intended to go back along to the car then over the bridge at Cockbridge, but I decided the River Don looked fine to cross, so took boots and socks off, paddled across, then walked the short distance to the buildings at Loinherry and went up Carn Ealasaid from there. I didn't stick to the track, used it for some stretches and took a more direct line through the heather for others. Loads of blaeberries on the way up, so stopping to pick and eat those meant it was a slow ascent!
Gradient became much more gradual for the walk over the plateau to the summit (like Brown Cow Hill, not a clearly obvious high point but the summit cairns for both hills looked to be on as high a ground as any).
- Boots and socks off to cross the River Don at this point; a considerably easier feat to cross the Don near Cockbridge than it would be at Aberdeen!
- Ascending Carn Ealasaid's heathery southern slope, this view looks back down to the bend in the river where I crossed, Carn Oighreag and Brown Cow Hill
- Carn Ealasaid summit cairn, the only feature on a featureless plateau
- The Cairngorm giants to the west might be more interesting, but I didn't fancy their weather much today
Headed back down more or less the same way, then took the minor road / estate track on the north side of the river back to the main road and then it was just a short walk back to the car park.
- Descending Carn Ealasaid towards Loinherry for the easy walk back to the castle car park
Not the most exciting walk, but nice to get any hills done on a day where I'd originally been tempted just to stay lazing in bed.
