Jock's Road to Tolmount and Tom Buidhe
Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 4:53 pmI decided to do this pair via Glen Doll and Jock's Road rather than the WH route via Loch Callater because the published route is a long, long trek and also because I have always wanted to walk along the infamous Jock's Road. The road is noted as being an important part of the history of Scottish access rights when the landowner blocked access along the ancient route to keep the glen as his own private shooting area. Supported by the Scottish Rights of Way Society, Jock Winter challenged this and asserted his right to walk along the route. The case went all the way to the House of Lords before the route was finally declared a right of way in 1888.
I set out from the Glen Doll car park, past the lodge until I reached the turn off for Jock's Road. This can be followed all the way to Braemar, a route I would like to complete at some point.
- Start of the walk
- Into the forest
The beginning of this path is through some lovely forestry before a gate is reached and the glen can then be seen in all its glory.
- Glen Doll
The walk up through the glen is stunning, especially in the great weather I was having (at last
)- Looking back at the forest
Just as I was enjoying the sun and the walk I popped up in front of Davy's Bourach, a stark reminder of what this route can be like in horrendous conditions. I remember hearing the story of what happened here back on New Year's Day 1959 a while back and being up there where it occured was pretty chilling. Five members of the Glasgow Hiking Club left Braemar YH to walk up Glen Callater, over Tolmount and onto Glen Doll where family members would wait at Glen Doll YH to pick them up. However, conditions deteriorated and a snow storm blew for 2 days cutting off the roads and the areas only phone line so there was a huge delay in organising the rescue. Temperatures registered -19.5 degrees. On Jan 4th they found the first body below Craig Maud in Glen Doll. It was the thaw at the end of February that revealed 3 others, whilst the final man wasn't discovered until April. The Howff was built by Davie Glen in 1966 so the area would at last have some shelter.
- The Lunkard "bothy"
- The lodgings
Beyond the shelter I somehow managed to lose the path, I remember seeing a cairn which in retrospect probably signalled the path gaining height up the side of Cairn Lunkard. For some reason I ignored it and headed into the peat hags instead
After trudging through this for a while and putting my foot through a hidden fissure and taking a gash out of my hand, I got the map out. I realised I was at the wrong height and had wandered off the path. I headed up towards Crow Craigies and eventually met back up with Jock's Road. MWIS had forecast 50-70 mph winds but up until now I hadn't seen much of it but away from the protective sides of the glen, I certainly felt it now 
- First view of Tolmount
- View over the gorms
After the summit of Crow Craigies I headed west and began the climb up the side of the Tolmount. This was covered in mountain hares bolting in all directions. From the top of Tolmount I had a wonderful view towards Glen Callater with its Loch in the distance.
- Summit of Tolmount
The wind was so strong at this point that I was having to lean into it to avoid being blown off the cliffs
You know what happens to somebodys face on a rollercoaster because of the g-force? That's what it felt like. My cheeks and mouth were about 5 inches to the right of where they should have been Not wanting to hang about I dropped down off the summit to a ruined shelter - the walls were too low to offer much protection but it was a handy place to hold on to while I refuelled. Scoob999 if you are reading this, this was the shelter you missed. Incidentally, I also thought I heard rutting stags like you did but then a bird flew off out of the undergrowth, not sure what it was but the sound definitely originated from there. Didn't see any bears though
Onwards now to Tom Buidhe, a clear path to follow until it disappeared briefly into an area of easily traversable peat hags. Picking the path back up led to an soft undulating track to the summit of munro number 2.
- View to Tom Buidhe
- Summit of Tom Buidhe
From here I had to re-cross the glen over an area of heavy peat hags. I contoured around Meikle Kilrannoch keeping above the worst of the hags until I could pick out a line of attack heading towards the White Water. Making it down to the burn I found a nice place to cross, picked my way through some more peat until finally joining back onto Jock's Road and headed back towards the main part of Glen Doll.
- The White Water
Just before I reached the shelter, I noticed this on a nearby boulder - I must have walked straight passed it on the way up...
Now it was just the pleasant walk down to the forest and back to the car. A poignant but beautiful day out despite the wind speed - i'd take that over the clag anyday
Much as I enjoyed climbing the two munro's this was one of those days where the walk outshone the climb. A highly recommended alternative route to tackle this pair.
