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Solo walking this week as Allison had a gig lined up for Saturday night. Corbetts, then. Forecast was fairly awful with the promise of big winds and lots of rain. West did not seem best, so I headed East for a clutch of Corbetts that didn't have much allure, but nevertheless need to be done. Since I was on my own I decided to add some Simms into the routes - have hardly done any Simms this year and will never get to 2000 at this rate(still 180 to go).
Given the high winds, I delayed heading off til early on Friday morning and headed off towards Braemar, driving as economically as possible to try and limit the amount of diesel given the astronomical cost of filling up now. Parked at Achallater, where the payment meter was not in operation and set off along the track for the standard way up Creag nan Gabhar. Paused for lunch before reaching the summit and saw a couple of figures heading up behind me. Intermittent showers and winds quite strong. Headed down, again by the usual route and gained the path which is shorter but requires a ford of the river rather than making use of the bridges. Since I was on my own, this mattered not a jot - and anyway the water level was low enough to walk across on rocks. Then the Simms were to be done - I hadn't reckoned on the 350m of re-ascent that was required for the first one, but at least they were fairly straightforward after that. Came down through a new-ish plantation and walked for a bit along the road in the rain.
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Al, on Flickr
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Al, on Flickr
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Al, on Flickr
Time to head along to Invercauld and do a bit of a walk into Gleann an t-Slugain. I was doing Culardoch and Creag an Dail Beag, but though it reasonable to include Carn na Droachaide from the east. Parking at the estate has the sensible (as far as hillwalkers are concerned) of charging a flat fee of £3
per visit, so if you're away for a night or two it doesn't cost more. I shoved what I'd need into my bigger rucksack and wandered off along the track, hoping to find somewhere about 5k into the walk to camp. Rain was coming and I also wanted to get pitched before it began. I passed a nice looking sheltered spot down to the left of the track, but not far enough in. Kept on til I was walking alongside the river and managed to find a small level-enough bit of grass to get pitched. Sheltered enough from the wind that the midges had started to come out...Had my tea and curled up with a good book and some Caol Ila left over from the CWT. Slept well, soothed by the constant flow of the river beside me.
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Al, on Flickr
The forecast for Saturday was awful - winds of 50mph plus and heavy rain all day. I was surprised to wake to a dry morning with little bits of blue sky. Packed the tent up and headed along the track, crossing the river at the start of a small new plantation and heading up the heathery slopes of Creag a'Chleirich then picking up a deer path onto Carn na Drochaide. Windy and showery at the summit, where I didn't linger - headed along the spine of the hill then turned back down into Gleann an t-Slugain with Beinn a'Bhuird and Beinn A'an ahead of me - still some patches of snow visible high up. And the tors. Back on track, I turned right before the Munro Top of Creag an Dail Mhòr and continued on a reasonable path, wet in places. Some possible spots to camp in here, if it hadn't been raining too much. Up the slopes of Creag an Dail Beag to the very windy summit. I've only been up these hills in winter conditions so it was good to have some summer colour. Across to the demoted peak of Carn Liath then a boulder field to cross to reach the track going up Culardoch. Met a couple of guys on their way down from Culardoch, the only folk I saw today. Summit duly reached, barely able to stand up against the wind.
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Al, on Flickr
Drochaide
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Al, on Flickr
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Al, on Flickr
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Al, on Flickr
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Al, on Flickr
Dail Bheag
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Al, on Flickr
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Al, on Flickr
Culardoch
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Al, on Flickr
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Al, on Flickr
From here, I had had the bright idea of going across to do the Simm of Tom Breac. One bloody Simm and it cost me about 7k of extra mileage, across boggy tussocky hell. Definitely not worth it!. There was something of an ATV track for part of it and a deer fence to climb, which was fun with a big pack in high wind, I tell you. The summit never seemed to be getting any nearer, one of those hills. Eventually reached the top, not even cairn marked, and set about getting back, which involved a considerable amount of re-ascent, into the wind. Argh. At last - after re-crossing the deer fence - I hit the track that runs south of Culardoch and the going became easier. I was doing ok for time and wondered what to do. I'd planned to do Farragon Hill and Meall Tairneachan tomorrow - should I head down the road somewhere near them or stay up here and drive down in the morning? I wasn't sure where I'd get pitched, given the wicked winds if I went down Loch Tummel way, and I did like the look of the spot I'd noticed yesterday. So I opted for that, even though it meant calling a halt to the day at just after 5pm. More Huel, finished my book and slept fitfully.
Bits and bobs of rain overnight, but not too bad, and again a dry morning. I got up early, at 5.30 and walked the few km back to the car before the world had woken up. Roads were quiet as I drove down into Perthshire and parked up at the start of the Foss Mine. I had looked at options for doing these hills from one of the many alternate tracks that lead up to them, but in the end settled for the standard route. Foss Mine looked abandoned, with only 1 landrover and one truck in situ (I later learned there's a replacement mine at Duntanlich). Anyway, there was no-one about. I chose to do Farragon Hill first, which always seems such a long way from the end of the track, especially as you have to cross bogs to reach it. I was feeling tired and lacking in energy - probably all my fighting against the wind yesterday - and stopped to have lunch at 10.20am Well I had been up since 5.30! Somewhat revitalised I continued across to Farragon Hill and enjoyed good views of Schiehalion. Then back to the track, through the quarry and up to the top of Meall Tairneachan, which is only about 40m above the track. Nice. I had hoped to do the couple of Simms to the west of the summit, but in the end I couldn't be bothered and simply returned to the track and wandered back to the car. The slats across one of the cattle grids have been removed, leaving a very deep watery hole - it looks like you can go through the adjacent metal gate rather than gingerly skirt round the edge of the hole as I did.
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Al, on Flickr
Schiehalion
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Al, on Flickr
Mine
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Al, on Flickr
Farragon
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Al, on Flickr
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Al, on Flickr
Tairneachan
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Al, on Flickr
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Al, on Flickr
Not the most thrilling of weekends, but better weather than I was expecting (save for the wild and wicked winds).
