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As a girl who just can't say no....... to a day on the hills, the pessimistic weather forecast wasn't going to change this trait. The mid-week sneaky peak club had gone all radical and planned a day out on a Saturday
The main advantage to this diversion was that it meant WH Capo di tutti capi aka Gammy Leg Walker aka ???? eh I'll leave it there
would be able to join us. This walk had been aborted in April due to heavy snow and instead of the Lochnagar 5, we did the Glenshee 1 but was remembered for the Dalmunzie 2!!!!
And so to the players in this continuing drama assembled at Gammy's house. Jonny and I arrived at the same time as Colin and made ourselves comfortable as we headed off to the canine carpark to pick up a rather off-colour Andy
. A straightforward journey up to Ballater saw us there earlier than we thought and there to meet us was Wonderboy Ron and his Wonderdog Charlie. Ron had been round these hills on a previous occasion (just for a change
) and had planned a route to take in 10 tops while we played at munro bagging.
After failing miserably to get our parking money together, we set off in rather dreich conditions but still happy to be out together. It should be noted that we were missing one of the original Lochnagar attemptees, Jock McJock- he was tied up elsewhere
.
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- Ooops where have Ron and Charlie gone???
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- There they are!
There is a very good path all the way through the estate and for pretty much the majority of this walk. Charlie was kept on his leash until we cleared the main buildings and grazing deer and did what dogs do, ran ahead and looked back to see why we were so slow or was that Ron???
After about an hour of very easy walking the rain stopped and the sun came out- shouts of 'Tapz Aff' echoed back and forth and soon layers were shed making us all feel a lot more comfortable.
Ha ha but a wee bit too comfortable because lo and behold, what were we soon met with??....a dreaded river crossing!!! Oh we were not expecting that
The performing circus brothers Ron and Andy hopped across without any fuss while the rest of us formed a War Cabinet and decided to send in the foot soldiers, so up went the cry 'Boots Aff!' and we conquered this torrent commando stylie
With Meikle Pap providing a rather nice backdrop we stopped for refreshments and this is where my inability to say no really kicked in. I thought I had outdone myself by bringing along a Green and Blacks chocolate selection box but I was offered homemade white chocolate and custard cookies, jelly and fruit, nuts (organic and inorganic
) oranges - already peeled and segmented!!! Thick fudge rice crispie cakes!! Jeezo my jaws couldn't keep up!!!, I don't know who had the better time, me or Charlie!!!
Food orgy over, we continued along and a gentle climb on the left hand path meant we left our views of the pap behind us and got our first glimpse of the Corrie of Lochnagar and its dark lochan.
A clamber up the bouldery ladder provided us with the most obvious feeling of ascent for the day and with lots of care taken there were no problems at all.
As you can see there was still a fair amount of cloud hanging about but the views were better than are evident in the photographs. That being said a cloud free day up here would be stunning. We just made our own views!!
While four of us headed for the wide path along the plateau, Colin and Andy fancied some rimming round the corrie edge and promised to meet us at the summit. Us non-rimmers were soon to enjoy our own delights with the sighting of one of the biggest non-summit cairns on the hills (most recently Mad Meg's) on Cac Carn Mor, quickly followed by the wonderful sight of Cac Carn Beag. A phonecall to Andy assured me that they hadn't overstepped the mark with their activities and were safely on their way to join us for a group photo.
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- Sunny summit
As we made our way southwest the cloud lifted again and we got a smashing view of The Stuic, Loch nan Eun and summit number 2- Carn an t-Sagairt Mor. Oh what happiness!!!!
And then the cloud moved in...big black rain clouds!!!
and it rained and rained and rained....... You know how you have a wee tear in your waterproof trousers and you think it wont matter???? Well today it did!! I was soaked, wringing, drookit from the waist down and from the waist up, luckily my feet and head remained warm and dry otherwise I would have been pretty miserable
There's really not much to comment on the summits of the remaining four munros other than to say that they are easy peasy and make for a good stretch of the legs. Please keep checking your GPS and/or maps because at least two of them had cairns that we initially mistook as being the summits
As you will see in the photos we just progressively got wetter and wetter but the banter never threatened to disappoint and its degree of inappropriateness kept hitting new heights
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- Geez a hug!
The descent off the final summit, Broad Cairn, was a bit tricky with endless slippery boulders and we were glad to reach the bulldozed path. This takes you down to a metal hut and there's a wee bench for those who fancy a bit of a rest. Not long after this the path splits. There is a marker cairn and we took the left hand turn here with path taking us along the shores of Loch Muick. It is a very long walk back and I think it took us the best part of 2 hours (maybe more) to get back to the car. The advantage to this meant that when the sun reappeared we could shed our wettest layers and dry out a wee bit
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- Hello Sunshine!
Unfortunately for me I didn't bring a complete change of clothes (I've become complacent due to all fantastic walking weather I've had) so it was a cold wet bahooki for me. After a smashing stop at the Alexandra Hotel for Peroni and fish and chips (sorry, famous jumbo fish and chips) we headed home. And now for my apologies..... sorry to Andy who had to endure my singing on that long walk back everything from Fame to Whats It All About Alfie!!!, sorry to wee woman who sat in my seat before I had the chance to move the cushion- you don't have a weak bladder missus honest!, sorry to the pub owner I nicked half a packet of paper towels to stick down the back of my sodden trousers for the journey home, sorry to Colin and Andy for sending them home with wet trouser legs and shoulders as I seeped and slept on the way home and finally a collective sorry to Gammy from all of your passengers who despite showing great promise of liveliness during Bohemian Rhapsody (it helps if you have BIG hair) , we all promptly fell asleep and left you with a long drive home!!! Please forgive us. XXXX
