free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Walked the route as outlined in the main article on this website, but took an extension down the other side of Corryhabbie hill to the 'Elf House' cave in Glen Fiddich.
Parked the car just along the road from the farm and wrapped up before setting off. Was a pretty overcast day, but visibility was good underneath and it wasn't too cold at the start, but pretty windy. The top of the hill was well into the cloud, so wasn't expecting any great views from the top.
Set off across the fields and soon picked out the track. Not the most popular of walks this I guess so, even though it was Saturday, I had the whole place to myself. Didn't bump into another soul for the entire walk, except for a local farmer as I returned to my car later in the day.
Before I knew it I was over the fence and into the heather. Couldn't really find any clearly defined path, but was easy enough to see where to go. Looking up the hill it wasn't going to be long before I was in the clouds.
Just before ascending into the murk I stopped for a short while to admire the views. Visibility was great below the cloud level.
The walk up to the top, through some remaining patches of snow, was pretty tedious going in the weather. The wind was pretty wild and the views non existent. Was happy when the trig point came into view and stopped for a short while. Didn't hang around very long however.
Decided that, as time was looking good, I'd take a trip down the other side, into Glen Fiddich, to visit the Elf House. So I set off from the trig point and continued along the track before taking a right hand turn and following Morton's Way down the hill. Before I knew it I was out of the clouds and admiring the views along Glen Fiddich. This is certainly the nicer and more remote side of the hill.
Once down I joined the landrover track running along Glen Fiddich, which provided a welcome respite from the winds for a while.
After short while I found the little stream running down from the Elf House cave and followed the faint path up to explore, jumping from one side of the stream to the other as I went along. Soon found the cave, and peered inside, but didn't venture in too far (it's not exactly a huge cave, perhaps more a crack in the rock). Sat beside it to eat my lunch, enjoying the peace and quite offered in this delightfully quiet and sheltered spot. Rather annoyingly I forgot to take any photos when I was there (must have been too chilled out).
Soon, it was time to set off and retrace my steps back along the track, and up onto the hill again. Approaching the top of the track the wind had really picked up and it was pretty slow going walking up the last stretch, face into the wind, to join the track back along the top of the hill. Again, before entering the overcast clouds, I stopped to grab a picture of the views down into Glen Fiddich.
Once back up the walk along the top was easy going, with the wind behind me and speeding me along.
The last stretch back to the car, after turning to the west at Shepherd's Cairn, seemed to drag on a bit, traipsing through the farmland. Most likely due to my new walking boots not fitting my right foot particularly well, so my heel was getting ripped to bits.
Overall a pretty refreshing walk, which cleared away some cobwebs after being away from the hills too long.
