Mount Battock (so good I did it twice)

[Gordie12]

Having previously climbed Mount Battock from Glen Dye I always wanted to return to this hill but to come in from Glen Esk. I hadn't expected it to take me eight and a half years to make my return trip but such is life.

Four days earlier I was also in Glen Esk but had to concede defeat whilst trying to climb the world renowned Muckle Cairn which is at the far end of Glen Lee as you head towards Lock Muick. This hill isn't particularly high or steep but the snow drifts were frequent and up to about three feet in depth. With each step you never quite knew what to expect, one minute I would drop 6 inches through the snow, then 3 feet, then a foot - you get the picture. It was knackering and frankly I didn't care if I missed the view of the muckle cairn (if there even is one?). What made things more frustrating was that the hill I had chosen was deep in snow whilst others like Hunt Hill just seemed to have a dusting. Anyway, I knocked it on the head and headed back the 7 miles to the car which was parked at Invermark.

Fast forward four days and the snow seems to have had a fair shift so time to head back to Glen Esk with the promise of blue skies all day.

Large parking area off the Glen Esk road just after Millden Lodge (look out for the blue phone sign)

The walk starts off up the tarmac road passing this attractive looking old water mill.

Shortly after this I passed Mill of Aucheen before forking right on a track that looks like it heads straight to a cottage.

The track then veers to the right and passes the front of the cottage before heading on to open grassland.

After skirting a small area of woodland and going through a gate I headed downhill to my right to cross two small wooden pedestrian bridges to reach the track beyond the ford.

Looks like all the sheep have been brought off the hill for lambing

Out of the valley floor and with the sun out it was noticeably warmer than recent days and it was down to one layer until the top of Mount Battock.

After taking a right turn and passing through another gate the route ahead became much clearer with Mount Battock in full view.

My route goes round to the right of this hill rather than straight over the top

Might leave this one out of next year's calendar........

Looking back towards Glen Esk

The real ascent starts after passing the turning for the Hill of Saughs.

The climb about to start

The climb up Black Craig seemed really steep in places or maybe it's just because it's only my second walk since finishing the Dales High Way in October???

Executive class grouse butts on this hill - no 6 was my personal favourite.

The first snow on the track - at about 640m

Once I was on the top of Black Craig I could see the short climb that was left to reach the top of Mount Battock.

Mount Battock

And so I made it to the top, a beautiful day with good visibility especially to the north east with all the usual Aberdeenshire suspects appearing in the distance.

Summit of Mount Battock

Looking over to the tor on Clachnaben

And over to Mount Keen and pals

After a quick stop to eat the remainder of my out of date Jaffa Cakes I retraced my steps back down the hill. Then when I had lost all the height and was back down at White Burn I couldn't take my eyes off the track heading straight up Hill of Saughs. Temptation got the better of me and I headed up this steep track to the top and the point where my track met the Mount Battock circular route.

Hill of Saugh

Heading Up

Inevitably I looked over to Mount Battock and considered how close it was - hell, why not??

Mount Battock (winking at me)

This route up was definitely harder than the 1st route. Luckily the boggy bit at the bottom was frozen so that was straight forward. There is a faint path to follow but on the higher slopes it was covered in frozen snow but some kind soul had left footprints for me to use as I made my way up, eventually reaching the summit for a second time.

Not sure why I took more summit photos - nothing had changed!

This second climb deserved more chocolate so two out of date twixes were had before heading for home on the main track. Back down at White Burn I had another look up the track to Hill of Saughs but this time the legs were telling me to carry straight on and not hang a left.

All that was left was a leisurely walk back down to my starting point on what turned out to be a brilliant day out.

Destruction near the water mill at the start and end of the walk

I stopped the car on the way home (still in Glen Esk) to photograph the destruction caused by the recent storms. The Edzell area does seem to have been particularly hard hit.

More destruction further down Glen Esk