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The clue perhaps is in the title ? 70`s – 80`s tv cop show voyeurs should have got it ! This wee jaunt although deemed perhaps to include “lesser” hills , was to include my 50th Munro – & as such was going to be a memorable day out for me , something I would never have dreamed of doing less than 2 years ago. Despite the weather report being slightly pants
I decided to head off up to Glen Shee anyway . I`m glad I did on arriving the sun was shinning strongly with clear blue skies , I parked up got ready & was off with Oskar trotting alongside me. I took the route as described here on WH - it was a much easier day out than last week up at Mayar & Driesh. I had a wee 5 min coffee on top of Carn Aosda , chatting to 2 guys who`d came up the Eastern side of the hill – more directly from the road , i`d came up between the 2 ski tows which weren`t being used due to less snow on those 2 runs.
Carn Aosda no 50
over to The Cairnwell & Carn nan Sac in the sun
Exiting Carn Asoda
They left just before me & went round Loch Vrotachan on the far western side avoiding the Carn nan Sac route to Carn a Gheoidh. I made for the bealach towards The Cairnwell & proceeded along the ridge to Carn nan Sac avoiding the snowy edge leading to Creag a Choire Dhirich.
Oskar in the sun with frozen Loch Vrotachan behind
Carn A Gheoidh looming in the background
A wee foto of Oskar at Carn nan Sac – now in a wee bit of mist , before continuing on the plateau up to Gheoidh.
The final pull then appeared -out of the mist just as it cleared nicely for the last 300 M or so. I was joined on this section by a young couple – no names sorry – forgot ! from Dunfermline , we topped out together then shared our piece before we made our way back down to the Cairnwell .
Carn A Gheoidh top in a wee bit of clag now
I think they went onto Carn Aosda as they`d came up the Cairnwell 1st .The Cairnwell was obviously different to other munro tops i`ve been on , im not going to slag it – im sure the technical equipment is there for a very good reason ?
The bealach before ascending Cairnwell looking down to Glen Shee
Creag a Choire Dhirich from Cairnwell
Looking down the car park was now full , as i`d arrived early I was in the 2nd row of cars , I continued down off the hill following the ski fence boundary in sometimes very deep snow towards the buildings , arriving at the bottom 10 mins short of a 6 hour walk. The sun had receded it was now a bit overcast , but on the run home it brightened up very much heading south.
This was my 1st day out trying my new Viewranger App on my i-phone which worked well despite operator malfunction & a battery not fully charged - which ran out after just under 3 hours. I still had a map & compass with me despite this being an “easy” walk , but I can see the value now that a GPS type tool gives you .
For me & Oskar ( & Steve McGarrett ) a great day out , heres to the next 50 !
