New years eve eve on Mount Battock
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:06 pm(9km and 300m of ascent of this route were on bike)
Sadly I haven't managed to get out on the hills that much in the recent snow. One walk up Creag Mac Ranaich and Meall an t' Seallaidh down near Strathyre on Boxing Day, but no photos and barely any views. Therefore I thought it would be a good opportunity to write up last years post-christmas day out instead.
A bad cold had stopped me from getting out any sooner, but by the 30th I felt well enough to do a small walk at least. I chose Mount Battock, as I was staying with family in Dundee, so it wasn't too far away.
The Corbetts book mentions a rather attractive looking route including Clachnaben, but I didn't really feel up to the distance, so went for the Glenesk start instead. I have linked to the walk on the site as for the most part I followed the same route. At Millden Lodge, things weren't looking that inspiring, with the cloud sitting at about 500m. For convenience, I had my bike and cycled up next to the Burn of Turret, to the point where it split into the Black and White Burns. The track was steep in places, but fairly well made.
At this point I was going to bash through heather onto the Hill of Saughs, but there was an unmarked track going that way, so I followed that instead. As I got higher, the sky gradually got brighter, until at 600m I was out into the sunshine and blue sky!
The inversion was pretty impressive, and it was very cold. Some of the steeper sections of the hill were very hard packed snow and I needed my axe a couple of times. From the summit, Lochnagar and the Cairngorms could be seen poking through the cloud. There was also an electric fence to spice things up. I can't remember now if there was a stile or whether I took my chances with it. Either way, I didn't get a shock.
Followed the fence W back into the cloud. At this point, I wasn't too sure where I was going, so I just stuck to the fence. Eventually it met a track. I followed this downhill and it brought me back to my bike very quickly. A quick whizz back down hill and I was back at the car.
Decided to drive up to the road end and cycle up to Loch Lee. I had a vague notion of bagging Hunt Hill while I was up there, but it didn't look too inspiring after the inversion I had just had. It was clear though that the Falls of Unich and many of the glens and hills surrounding Loch Lee would be worth coming back to explore in better weather. I have since been back, but that is for another report!
Sadly I haven't managed to get out on the hills that much in the recent snow. One walk up Creag Mac Ranaich and Meall an t' Seallaidh down near Strathyre on Boxing Day, but no photos and barely any views. Therefore I thought it would be a good opportunity to write up last years post-christmas day out instead.
A bad cold had stopped me from getting out any sooner, but by the 30th I felt well enough to do a small walk at least. I chose Mount Battock, as I was staying with family in Dundee, so it wasn't too far away.
The Corbetts book mentions a rather attractive looking route including Clachnaben, but I didn't really feel up to the distance, so went for the Glenesk start instead. I have linked to the walk on the site as for the most part I followed the same route. At Millden Lodge, things weren't looking that inspiring, with the cloud sitting at about 500m. For convenience, I had my bike and cycled up next to the Burn of Turret, to the point where it split into the Black and White Burns. The track was steep in places, but fairly well made.
At this point I was going to bash through heather onto the Hill of Saughs, but there was an unmarked track going that way, so I followed that instead. As I got higher, the sky gradually got brighter, until at 600m I was out into the sunshine and blue sky!
- Hill of Saughs
- Mount Battock from Hill of Saughs
- Back to Hill of Saughs
- Final slopes of Mount Battock
The inversion was pretty impressive, and it was very cold. Some of the steeper sections of the hill were very hard packed snow and I needed my axe a couple of times. From the summit, Lochnagar and the Cairngorms could be seen poking through the cloud. There was also an electric fence to spice things up. I can't remember now if there was a stile or whether I took my chances with it. Either way, I didn't get a shock.
- Back down ridge
- Cairngorms from summit
- To the NE
Followed the fence W back into the cloud. At this point, I wasn't too sure where I was going, so I just stuck to the fence. Eventually it met a track. I followed this downhill and it brought me back to my bike very quickly. A quick whizz back down hill and I was back at the car.
Decided to drive up to the road end and cycle up to Loch Lee. I had a vague notion of bagging Hunt Hill while I was up there, but it didn't look too inspiring after the inversion I had just had. It was clear though that the Falls of Unich and many of the glens and hills surrounding Loch Lee would be worth coming back to explore in better weather. I have since been back, but that is for another report!
- Falls of Unich
Nice photos of the inversion 
