free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
We started @ the car park 1km E of Old Blair, crossed the road & headed up a track by the right side of the house, it was a dull & cloudy morning & as we started to head up the path, i could see the snowy tops of The Beiin a' Ghlo group & hear the roar of the River Tilt which was bursting @ the seams due to the heavy rain from the previous couple of days.
Its a fairly long walk in 8k in total up Glen Tilt, over an old stone bridge & past a house & some out buildings, not to mention some very vociferous dogs,not best pleased by our presence [ glad they were in kennels].
Up past Marble Lodge & over another stone bridge before finally reaching a wooden bridge across the Allt Craoinidh & finally onto the hill itself, a very steep climb @ first up a faint path before it merges with a clearer track up the S shoulder of Carn a' Chlamain. Further on the track veers off to the right, you leave the path here & follow a faint but more direct path along the crest of the hill, from then on the climb becomes steeper, you have to climb over a wall before reaching a wide flat area before the final push to the summit.It was here on the flat area that i came a cropper to the elements, it was almost a complete sheet of ice apart from a few pockets of grass dotted around like stepping stones, the wind had picked up & as i went to stand on one of the grass pockets, the wind caught me off balance & down i went, sliding along the ice on my rucksack, i slid about 20 ft before managing to stop & scramble to my feet @ the 3rd or 4th attempt, much to the amusement of my mate!.
Onward & upward onto the summit, we didnt hang around on the top due to the fact that the wind was blowing us off our feet [46mph] so a quick pix & off we went again descending down alongside Allt na Maraig, finally reaching Forest Lodge before the long walk back to the car.
My first winter outing had gone well, even time to squeeze in a wee slide...wheeeee!
