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The weather forecast for Tuesday 18th March was very good, so we decided to do a couple of Munros. We did Creag Leacach and Glas Maol last November our final Munros in 2024 so we thought we'd start the 2025 Munros with Cairn of Claise and Carn an Tuirc two steady ones to get the Munro legs warmed up and finish off the four eastern Munros above the ski centre
This was our third time on these two and the first time at the tail end of winter.
We parked in the carpark just off the A93 at NO148800, we could see Carn an Tuirc looming above us
we've done it from here before but I don't remember it looking so steep, mind you, the memory isn't what it used to be, I must be getting old
We set off on the track, over the old bridge and along the path beside the Allt Gharbh-choire, the ground was frozen today so it was fairly easy going, I seem to remember it being a bit on the soggy side the last time we were here, We reached the Shielings then the climbing started, there wasn't any snow here but the wet path was frozen which made progress slow and a bit tiring, we had 400m of ascent to do so we took it steady, trying not to do the "two steps forward one step back" combination too many times
The view to Carn Aosda and The Cairnwell just shows how little snow there was
And even Glas Maol
Once we got to the scree in became a lot easier
there was a little bit of snow cover on the summit too.
The effort was worth it, the views were great backed by the cloudless blue sky, it was a little hazy over the main Cairngorms but we could see that they had much more snow on them.
Lochnagar
Glas Maol
There was a strong cold wind so we didn't stay still for long, we could see the cairn marked on the map and headed towards it keeping to the right roughly following east to pick up the track leading to Cairn of Claise. We could see the track as we got closer and, once on it, it was just a case of getting to the wall and following that to the summit.
We were surprised just how little snow there is on the tops around Glenshee and if this is becoming a trend, if it is it won't be good for business, I can remember March being good for snow sports 40 odd years ago in the Lakes and Dales, over the years we noticed the snow getting less and less and what we had wasn't lasting long over progressive winters, could the same be happening in the Highlands? things do seem to be changing
We had a little break on the top of Cairn of Claise looking at the views and taking advantage of the glorious weather, the wind was biting so we were soon getting cool enough to get moving again. We headed along the wall then dropped down over the boulders to reach the track heading towards Glas Maol and then descend down the ridge towards Sron na Gaoithe.
Carn an Tuirc from the ridge
The Cairnwell and Carn Aosda
As we got lower the wind was easing so we decided to have lunch in the sunshine, we found a little spot on the northern slopes of Sron na Gaoithe. by a patch of scree, it was nice and sheltered here so we took our time, looking at the views and watching the cars going up and down the A93.
Carn an Tuirc again
Once fed and watered we were off down the final 200m of the descent, being careful not to slip as we looked at Carn Aosda which looked pretty impressive from where we were.
Back at the car by 13.45 we had loads of time to get home so we spent a bit longer in the sunshine taking our boots off and getting ready for the off.
