free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
The forecast wasn't great for today, but also wasn't entirely right - gale force winds? No. Showers? Three flakes of snow does not make a shower. It was actually a clear day, and got better, even if what wind there was remained chilly.
Whatever it was today, it had clearly been very wet in the last few days - all the streams were swollen to the extent that any idea of just walking across them had to be scrapped - bridges the only way across.
I parked on the verge beyond Auldallan and started walking back towards it to use the bridge across the stream there to Mile Hill. Except I couldn't see one. Maybe I just couldn't see it, but I don't think it's there. This forced a rethink - should I drive further along the road to park near Knowehead of Auldallan? I couldn't be bothered moving the car in the end, so just reversed the order I'd planned to do the hills in and headed off up Cat Law.
- Mile Hill's green-ness from the low southern slopes of Cat Law and the wetness underfoot.
Cat Law never becomes steep from here, just a gradual constant heathery (and very wet underfoot at times) walk up to the snow line at 600m and beyond. No cats, but plenty of other things to see - snow buntings, white hares, ravens, and probably more grouse than I'd seen than on any other hill I've been up. The clearest part of the long view was all the way to the Lammermuir Hills over the corner of Fife poking out from beside the Fintry Hills.
- Fintry Hills silhouette
- SW from trig on Cat Law - Meikle Bin in the far distance
- Ravens swirling and diving, shame I can't hold my camera straight
From the top, I headed down to Bodandere Hill and a frozen pond, before changing tack a bit to go down via Tombay because I looked ahead to the stream crossing on the road at the foot of Tombay.
- Cat Law from Bodandere Hill
- Over Corwharn to Driesh and Mayar at the invisible border between snow and cloud
- Cat Law over Tombay from the foot of Creigh Hill
Once over the stream, I was head over heels on some hidden fencing wire and into the mud, but then made easy progress on a rising ascent up Creigh Hill, with terrain being the same as on Cat Law, heathery - I tried to stick mainly to burnt patches which made for slightly quicker going. I hope they're right about the northern top being higher as I didn't have time to bag the southern top. The views westward really opened up here, Mount Blair being very prominent (it was hidden in cloud when I was on Cat Law) and the big hills to the north clearing up too - a lovely afternoon for anyone on Driesh and Mayar.
- Mount Blair above Backwater Reservoir and Hare Cairn, from the top of Creigh Hill (with some zoom)
- Mayar and Driesh above Corwharn and Cat Law from Creigh Hill
- Mile Hill from Motherlie Cairn on Creigh Hill
From Creigh Hill it was a fairly straight descent through sheep populated heather to empty lower fields and Easter Coul, making another sudden, muddy visit to the ground on the way. The corner between that road and the track to Newton was cut through an empty field with open gates. You get views of the remarkable Balintore Castle - a Victorian pile that was left to rot, before the current restoration project which seems to have saved it. The blog of the restoration is here:
http://balintorecastle.blogspot.co.uk/
- Balintore Castle
Past Newton I took the track to Gairlaw - Gairlaw's abandoned and rotting, but the fields were populated with friendly black bullocks. Through some more mud just to the south of the cottages and it's then a steep few hundred metres to the top of Mile Hill. The light was just beginning to fade here, so just a quick few last photos and then down. I decided to go down to the west which was fine apart from the lack of a gate through barbed wire fencing - there's one small bit without barbed wire next to an animal's drinking trough which made a handy step - presumably there's a gate in the fence to the south of Mile Hill somewhere. From there it's an easy stroll across fields (no heather around Mile Hill), across two wired-shut gates (there's a new double electric fence with a hedge planted between them north-south to the east of Hilton and along the south side of the track to Gairlaw) and down past Hilton.
- Swollen streams and twisted trees
- Sunset over Loch of Lintrathen from Mile Hill
From there it was a simple walk along the track back to Knowehead of Auldallan past the felled woods and along the road back to the car. There probably would've been plenty of room to park at Knowehead and this would make a better start point for the walk without there being a bridge at Auldallan.
One real low was the huge rubbish dump of fridges, hi-fis, and general metallic junk just by the track leading to Knowehead. Out of sight, out of mind. Not really, just out of their mind. It was too dark for a photo by then unfortunately.