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The Eagle has landed

The Eagle has landed


Postby BlackPanther » Wed Feb 16, 2022 6:36 pm

Sub 2000' hills included on this walk: Mount Eagle

Date walked: 30/01/2022

Time taken: 2.5 hours

Distance: 11.2 km

Ascent: 157m

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It was the morning before the storm or, to be precise, the morning between the two storms (Malik and Corrie). The first one has just passed over Scotland, causing damage all over the country. Our village was spared, thankfully. Yes, our rubbish bin was blown out of the garden and the local roads were dotted with fragments of broken tree branches, but at least all roofs were still in place. We lost mobile phone signal for a few days (obviously a transmission mast must have been damaged somewhere) which in turn brought to me the idea of visiting Mount Eagle - a local Sub known widely as "a walk past a mast". I had a look in Hill Bagging database and most descriptions of "climbing" this hill sounded like "Half an hour fighting with gorse bushes" or "The gorse and undergrowth horrendous". Somebody even stated " I will not be returning!" :lol: :lol: Having now done it myself, I'm not surprised. I don't think we will be returning, either. :lol: :lol: :lol:
The walk to the trig point itself can be done in an hour, but we wanted to make a longer day out of this trip, so we used existing forest track to do "some kinda circular" before tackling the thick vegetation in search for the illusive trig point.

Track_MOUNT EAGLE.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts


There is a small car park for 4-5 cars next to the entrance to the large transmitter station. We parked up and crossed the road...
Take this track into the forest:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 002.JPG

The transmission mast:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 007.JPG

We had 1-25k map with us but soon we discovered that not all tracks marked there exist in the reality. Some are just firebreaks, some simply vanished (or they were never there). It is possible to do a large rectangular-shaped walk (following proper tracks rather than dodgy firebreaks) around Mount Eagle and Cnoc Phadruig. Kevin studied the map carefully:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 016.JPG

The only views (or should I say sort-of-views) we had from the junction just above Wester Strath of Auchterflow:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 012.JPG
Looking east to Fortrose and Moray Firth

2022-01-30 mount eagle 014.JPG
The hills above Eathie

Most of the circuit was pretty uninspiring, just a stroll in the forest:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 018.JPG
Trees... trees..

Catching a glimpse of a rig moored in Cromarty Firth:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 022.JPG

After a couple of turns we were descending slightly past Cnoc Phadruig, when we encountered a larger area of felled forest. At least we had some views now - not that the day was good for landscape photographing :(
2022-01-30 mount eagle 024.JPG
A gap in the trees

Ben Wyvis, just about visible over the horizon:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 023.JPG

As a mushroom fanatic, I noticed a family of dried out stump puffballs from last year:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 029.JPG

We turned left and continued along a young pine plantation, with Ben Wyvis still showing over the line of trees:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 030.JPG

The track eventually shrunk to a path, only to join another forest track later. The latter was quite boggy:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 033.JPG

One more turn and we reached the area close to the summit. Kevin dug up his GPS and said - let the fun begin!
To get close to the patch of dense forest surrounding the trig point, we followed a very muddy ATV track along the edge of felled area:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 036.JPG

Stick to the muddy track until you have forest on both sides (the trig is inside the patch to the left of Kevin in the photo below):
2022-01-30 mount eagle 038.JPG

We wandered along the line of trees for a few minutes, trying to locate any path to the trig point. Eventually, I spotted a small gap - it is very difficult to notice - would you see a path here?
2022-01-30 mount eagle 057.JPG
THERE IS A PATH!!!

After the first few steps, the "path" becomes a bit wider, just about wide enough to squeeze through!
2022-01-30 mount eagle 040.JPG

Kevin desperate to find the way without bending in half; not so easy when you are a six-footer :lol: :lol: :lol:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 054.JPG

At least it is not a long fight... And soon we emerged on the summit, which proved to be... a patch of gorse withing a patch of dense pine woodland. In the middle of this gorse patch, a trig point stands proud:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 044.JPG

Lucy's 30th Sub, No. 62 for Kevin and me. I haven't seen him so happy to bag a Sub'2 Marylin for a looong time... The Eagle has landed on the summit of Mount Eagle!
2022-01-30 mount eagle 048.JPG

I'm not even sure why I'm doing this?...
2022-01-30 mount eagle 051.JPG

...but I know for sure that I don't like scratchy pine trees!!!
2022-01-30 mount eagle 055.JPG
I'm just a Panther... get me out of here!!!

Back on the ATV track, I couldn't resist snapping a photo of Kevin walking out of the forest:
2022-01-30 mount eagle 056.JPG
At least he's still smiling!

We returned to the main track and took the shortest route back to the car park. We actually felt proud of ourselves. We had "climbed" probably the most notorious Sub in the northern Scotland. We didn't see any eagles (or any other wildlife to be honest) but at least the weekend wasn't a total write-off.

In my next story, two more local Subs, but this time some PROPER hillwalking: heather, bog, snow patches... and the first signs of spring. TR to come soon.
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BlackPanther
Mountain Walker
 
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Location: Beauly, Inverness-shire

Re: The Eagle has landed

Postby WalkingWithKids » Wed Feb 16, 2022 8:38 pm

BlackPanther wrote:We wandered along the line of trees for a few minutes, trying to locate any path to the trig point. Eventually, I spotted a small gap - it is very difficult to notice - would you see a path here?


Yes, I would, because we walked this path in December :)
IMG_20211203_135523058_HDR.jpg
WalkingWithKids
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Location: Moray

Re: The Eagle has landed

Postby PeteR » Wed Feb 16, 2022 10:40 pm

Definitely not a hill to repeat :lol: I took an "alternative" route back from the summit via the big mast near the road......looked good in theory........nearly sank in the bog though :lol:
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PeteR
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Re: The Eagle has landed

Postby Katrina89 » Wed Feb 16, 2022 10:47 pm

Oh the memories! Yes, not the most enamouring sub I’ve done. I have a feeling Mochrum Fell in D&G will be worse though!
Katrina89
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Re: The Eagle has landed

Postby BlackPanther » Tue Feb 22, 2022 9:36 am

Thanks, everyone :D I know this is not the most inspiring of Subs, not only because of the strange position of the trig point!

I think the "sort-of-path" through the forest must be a recent thing, just proves that Subs are getting more popular. I bet it was easier to find (and tackle) for kids rather than two tall adults. Older descriptions in Hillbagging database mostly mention "a horrible tree bashing experience". In retrospect, I'm glad we waited 15 years to visit this hill, despite living ten miles down the road :lol:
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BlackPanther
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 3839
Munros:268   Corbetts:182
Fionas:136   
Sub 2000:75   
Joined: Nov 2, 2010
Location: Beauly, Inverness-shire

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