Bennachie Hills - The Rehabilitation Continues

[macq23]

Saturday 31st March, this date in has been written in my diary for a few months as it was agreed to go hillwalking with my good friend from Aberdeenshire. Like me he too suffered from not getting out on the hills much last year. Se he suggested going up to the Bennachie Hills up past Aberdeen and on the WH report, it looks a fine walk.

So with the lovely summer week we had last week, I have to be honest, I was hoping to God for some lovely summer weather for the walk. So I left Dundee at 8am, with some sun and clouds...clouds mmmm ok, this is fine as the sun is still there when not hiding behind a cloud. It wasn’t until I got nearer Aberdeen and my heart sank, where did all these clouds come from?! Pick my mate up and made our way to the Bennachie visitor centre. The weather was still pretty overcast, with the sun breaking through every now and then. Ah okay I will accept this weather! When driving to the centre I was pretty overawed by this beast of a hill in the distance, Mither Tap, looked like it has seen many battles!!

So we left the car and made tracks on the Gordon Way path. What struck me about this area was the way the four very well constructed trails just weaves through each other’s!! There are probably numerous ways of walking around the Bennachie Hills! So the Gordon Way path takes you through the tall dense forest. It’s actually a good way to start the walk as it’s not too steep compared to the main route most people take up to Mither Tap. Apparently we were going to do Millstone Hill as well, but my mate’s spontaneous trip to Lochnagar the day before resulted with blisters on his feet!! So decided to keep this walk a bit smaller! Wuss!

We followed the Gordon Way path up to the bottom of Mither Tap, but then taking a sharp left and onto Oxen Craig, which is actually the higher of the 2 main hills. But casting my mind back to driving up, I was convinced Mither Tap was the tallest! As we took the left path, the wind fairly picked up and it was time to put on the woolly hat, gloves and jacket. The summer BBQ week is now nothing but a distance memory!! On approach to Oxen Craig, I was fairly taken by the strange horizontal rock facings. Maybe someone can give me an insight on how they were formed?

A quick photo up at Oxen Craig, and it was back to Mither Tap, and by now it was getting busier with people, it’s a very popular area for walks and with the very well looked after and constructed paths, it’s definitely well worth a visit. Oh yeah, at this point we were hit by snow at a nearly horizontal angle!!! But this wasn’t putting me off, in fact I loved it, and was looking forward to seeing the Pict Fort at Mither Tap. The remains of the main entrance is still there and leads you up to the top. You do feel a sense of history around you and I felt quite privilege and lucky that we live in a country where history like these places are littered all over. Anyway we got to the top of Mither Tap and it was blowing a gale!! Stayed for a couple of minutes admiring the view before finding some shelter to have lunch. The number of people coming up the tourist route was staggering, almost like the main Ben Nevis route!! The Sun was beginning to come out as we made our way back down to the car on the tourist route.
This was a truly enjoyable walk, in an area I haven’t visited before and Mither Tap is a lovely sight to behold, whether when driving up or up close. That’s another day out under my belt, and already I feel like I’m getting back into the swing of things. The big question is now.......where next?!

Colony cottage

Can't miss these signs!

The dominating Mither Tap in view

Looking back at Millstone Hill and Scare Hill

Oxen Craig in the background

Mither Tap

Heading towards Oxen Craig

The rock formations as we came to Oxen Craig

Looking at Mither Tap from Oxen Craig

Oxen Craig

Me at Oxen Craig

The view from Oxen Craig

Heading towards Mither Tap - Aweinspiring

Being hit by the horizontal snow!

Pictish Fort Sign

The remains of the Fort gates

Mither Tap

The view while having lunch :-)

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[kevsbald]

Great to get into this area and glad you enjoyed Bennachie - fab wee hill.
Plenty to keep you going up near Glen Clova such as Ben Tirran?

[macq23]

Plenty to keep you going up near Glen Clova such as Ben Tirran?

Cheers it was a great wee hill to do. Yep I've got Ben Tirran planned for when I'm at the Clova Beer festival. Also planning to do Cat Law and Ben Chonzie soon too hopefully.