Ben Gulabin Christmas Special

[jgregor]

Setting off from Blairgowrie in the dark we drove up Glen Shee, pulling off the A93 about a mile north of Spittal of Glenshee a bit after the snow gate and just before 9am. It was light by now, but rather foggy and a bit drizzly.

View of Ben Gulabin from A93 on a foggy winter morning

Passing though the gate, we turned right to follow the track north.

Looking back to the start

Soon we reached a gully filled with several feet of snow. The track continued on the other side, so there was nothing for it but to climb up onto the snow and cross it to the other side. Fortunately it was hard, so it wasn't too much of a challenge.

Snow bound ford

Continuing up the track, it got more and more icy.

Track almost completely iced over

Reaching and fording Allt a' Charnaich, the track disappeared under the hard snow, making it easier going.

Fording Allt a' Charnaich

The track continues into the snow

In the bleak mid-winter

We followed this snow track for about 1km as it curved round to the north-west between Creagan Bheithe and Ben Gulabin until we reached the track heading directly up Ben Gulabin. This steep track looked rather icy and I had concerns about whether it would be passable, since we had no crampons and such like.

The path up looks rather icy

Frozen in flow

However, it wasn't as bad as it looked, with grip to be found on the rough, churned up bits, or else in the heather at the edges.

View back down

Icicles

Reaching the top of this track, the ground levelled off somewhat, and we turned right to pick our way west over the rocky (and icy) ground the few hundred meters to the summit.

Near the top

The top

With visibility so poor, we saw no point in making the detour to the cairn to the south-east, and so returned back down the way we had come. The following day would have been much better visibility wise had we been able to do it then instead. Such is life, but it was still an enjoyable hike, even without the views.