The Buck

[Gordie12]

A fairly early start this morning and with the forecast for the east seeming to be the best it was up to Fettercairn and Aberdeenshire bound again. Only problem was that I was out before the gritter and the section of road between Clatterin Brig and Cairn o' Mount was to say the least dodgy. The car was squirming all over the place approaching the view point and I needed all the road and 2nd gear to get up and over the top. Once over the high point of the road it was then a very slow descent before I met the gritter a few miles further North at Strachan.

Plenty space to park the car at the side of the B9002 just under 1km south of the A941 junction.

Room for 3/4 cars by the side of the road

Gate on the right 0f the road 100 yards from the parking area

Once over the gate there is a faint track first through the grass and then the heather heading more or less directly for the hill. It's just a case of following the track until a line of old fence posts can be seen heading straight up The Buck then heading directly for them. It's a bit damp in places but there are plenty of grassy tussocks to do a bit of bog hopping on.

A boggy track

Time to follow the fence posts

I was probably half way up the line of fence posts before the track dried up and was firm underfoot. One small frozen bit of snow to walk through and fairly quickly the top was reached.

Target for later - Tap o' North

An ever improving track

A small dollop of snow

Approaching the top

Trig Point at top

The boulders at the top were frozen so a bit of care was needed for the last few feet to the trig point. A bit cloudy today, looked like there would be great views on a better day.

Ben Rinnes (I think?)

One of the stones near the trig point

Heading back down

After a few minutes at the top I retraced my steps back to the car. At the bottom of the hill I didn't find the feint track I had followed on the way up so the going was a bit harder and definitely wetter. Back at the road I got a big wave from a farmer on his tractor (would this have happened in Angus I wonder???).

Fair to say this isn't my favourite Aberdeenshire hill but a decent walk none the less. Only took about an hour and forty minutes as the hill is fairly close to the starting point on the B road.

[raykilhams]

Nice wee walk not too far from where we are , might pop out and do it myself soon. Those markings on the stones looked a bit fishy
Thanks Gordie

[Gordie12]

Hi Ray

It takes a couple of hours to get there (or at least it does with ice on the road), to make the journey worthwhile I did Tap o' North as well as it's only about 5 miles away and although a good bit lower than The Buck I think the views are better.

[RicKamila]

Its the 2nd boggiest walk we've ever done. View from the top is spectacular though.

[litljortindan]

Nice to see this and glad you survived the drive. We went there three years ago on a cold May day and are familiar with the bog. I'd agree Tap o' Noth more enjoyable and better views but the Buck still has good views to Cairngorms and a wild feel to it if that's not exaggerating..

[Gordie12]

Its the 2nd boggiest walk we've ever done. View from the top is spectacular though.

Begs the question............what was the bogiest?????????????

[Gordie12]

Nice to see this and glad you survived the drive. We went there three years ago on a cold May day and are familiar with the bog. I'd agree Tap o' Noth more enjoyable and better views but the Buck still has good views to Cairngorms and a wild feel to it if that's not exaggerating..

Hi litljortindan

I enjoyed this hill but maybe not as much as I was hoping. Nothing to do with the bog, I knew in advance to expect it and with the recent weather it's pretty hard to find a dry hill anyway. Probably had something to do with the overcast day, for the last few months I've been coming up to Aberdeenshire and always had great weather and stunning views from the tops so maybe the day just wasn't as good as I expected. I love the fact that the hills in this part of the world are fairly well spread out and separated by miles and miles of flat land so each hill stands out and most seem to have brilliant views.

[RicKamila]

Its the 2nd boggiest walk we've ever done. View from the top is spectacular though.

Begs the question............what was the bogiest?????????????

Loch Sneosdale on Skye....

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