Hill of the King and 2 Jesters

[dektasker]

Had been planning to walk from St Andrews to Dundee to put some miles in for the Loch Alsh dirty 30 at the beginning of June. However at the last minute we decided to do these two munros as it had been a while since we last bagged any new ones.

Any way Gerry and I had both looked at the same hills by pure coincidence and that sealed our fate for the Sunday. I looked at the route on various sites and plumped for the walkhighlands route. I downloaded the GPX file, transferred in to the satmap and printed off the map.

The weather forecast was fine, cloudy with rain later in the afternoon. We thought we would be clever and do the route in reverse, bag the two munros later in the walk and to cut down on the long walk back after getting to the summits. It always seems that the walk back takes forever and it seems to zap the energy.

Anyway we parked at the Dalmunzie Castle Hotel which is well sign posted with a car park for walkers at the rear. There are good signs at the start of the walk and we walked along Gleann Taitneach. This actually reminded me of Corrie Fee and the sugar bowl at the end with the water fall and the steep climb up.

The water fall at end of Gleann Taitneach by dektasker, on Flickr

Anyway the walk up to the water fall was a bit boring. Must have been too early for the wildlife and the scenery was bit bland as spring had not really reached there yet!!

This is not true. When walking up by the waterfall the scenery back was absolutely stunning and this was making the long walk in well worth it.

look back towards Gleann Taitneach by dektasker, on Flickr

However the best was to come with the stunning Loch nan Eun. To find this at the top was totally unexpected. And worth the walk just for this alone. It does take your breath away, just the size and ease of access around the whole loch.

Loch Eun 3 (1 of 1) by dektasker, on Flickr

After a quick snack off we went. This was when we wished we had read reports from other walkers but will take this as a learning opportunity for future. We set off following the route on the map. Far too much bog (exceptionally boggy, the worse we have walked in so far.)

Bog land (1 of 1) by dektasker, on Flickr

Must admit that we doubted whether the St Andrews to Dundee walk would have been better but we headed up to a faint path on the hill in front of us..

Somehow we got a bit confused and followed the path over the top of the hill and ended up at Glas Tulaichean, which was supposed to be the second munro of the day!!.

Glas Tulaichean by dektasker, on Flickr


Glas Tulaichean Gerry pointing the right way by dektasker, on Flickr

Some great views from up here and after a quick rest and a look at the map we decided to go for route one to Carn an Righ. We had a look across and knew we would have to drop a lot of height then make it back up again. This was when we decided not to complete the loop but to go back the route we came and do the long walk back aaggh. Thought this was the lesser of 2 evils as walking down and up again to Glas Tulaichean was too much to contemplate.

The walk up to Carn an Righ. was actually ok and not as difficult as we first thought. The views are pretty special and well worth the effort.

Carn an Righ by dektasker, on Flickr

We followed the route back that we should have taken initially walking along the bottom of Mam nan Carn. This is horrendous and I recommend you avoid this. Must be a nightmare when it’s been raining for a few days? It is bog ++ with a faint path here and there.

Bog land (1 of 1) by dektasker, on Flickr

Funny the people you meet up the hills. We came across another walker from Dundee, a Polish guy who had been thinking of walking on towards Linn of Dee. This guy was very fit, power walking up the hills but decided to head down to the hotel. Funny enough he had done the same route as us because of the bog and done Glas Tulaichean first by mistake!! Who says lightening does not strike the same place twice?

Now for the second walk along Gleann Taitneach, this was a lot better. Seen my first eagle soaring high above us and caught sight of a herd of deer on Creag Dallaig.

water fall on way back along Gleann Taitneach by dektasker, on Flickr

Back to the car with sore feet for a well deserved bar of chocolate. Both of us were knackered and Gerry fell asleep in the car on the way back. He has never done this before. Funnily enough he woke up just as I overtook a row of cars. Just shows how your senses always work when danger is present!!

There are a few sets on flickr with the photos from the various walks we have done. Follow the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/67862513@N03/sets

Hopefully see you on the hills sometime.