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Another last minute plan with the travel restrictions being unexpectedly lifted a week early – we needed to pick up a pair of skis from Alford (long story
) so figured we’d make the most of the trip and head up Pressendye. I dropped Gill a message the night before as she lived nearby incase she was free and fancied it – to our delight she was!
One pair of skis to the good, we found somewhere to get cars off the road and had just finished our sandwiches when Gill arrived – perfect timing. We headed off up the track – easy walking so far
It was easy underfoot and we had to take care to not get overexcited and go too fast – I’d just struggle later on. The track wove in and out of the trees giving us some views towards what could have been Benaquallie
Bennachie
It was a beautiful day – even better than forecast
The track wound around and gradually gained height. We then took a smaller path through a gate – this took us through some trees, still climbing
The trees had offered some shelter from the sun – now we were out onto the open hillside it was very warm!
Looking back towards Bennachie
At last we were at the top and we could see Morven with the Cairngorms behind
Lochnagar
Summit of Pressendye
Morven with (I think) Ben Avon behind
It hadn’t been a particularly difficult climb, but even the easiest of things give me trouble nowadays, so we sat down and enjoyed the views, and the company! Being a bit of a hermit, I was surprised just how awesome it was to see another friend
After a nice long break, we decided to head back down. Malky suggested an alternative route, and normally this earns him a slap but on this occasion we all agreed it looked doable
Heading down a lovely track (why can’t all hills be this good underfoot
)
Helicopter flying overhead
We took a shortcut through the forest to avoid going all the way around Pittenderich – this almost ended in disaster but fortunately the path was just really wiggly – and finally we were on a track again
We managed to cross the burn easily enough (although it would definitely be trickier if it had rained) and were on a muddy track. We met a man doing some fences and stopped for a wee chat. We could blame him for not looking at the map and getting lost….but that would probably be unfair
We missed a turning on the track and ended up at the farm at Burnside – this meant a slightly longer route and small amount of extra ascent. I’d been having a relatively decent day for me, but I definitely wasn’t amused by this
Gill invited us back to her garden for some tea and cake – well, it would have been rude to say no
The three of us managed to devour and entire cake
We eventually dragged ourselves away from tea and cake and found ourselves a very easy camp spot to rustle up some dinner
It wasn’t the world’s most amazing sunset, but it was a nice spot and did the job!
