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Another glorious day forecast! Blue skies and great views! And still no working camera…. But at least I would be achieving my next milestone, the halfway mark, in much better weather than the previous milestone. So really should not grumble.
It was already pretty busy in the Glen Muick car park when I set off, but most folk were heading across the river. My route was a clockwise circuit of the Loch Muick munros. From the map it all looked very tasty, so it would be a good walk for a memorable hill.
Walking along the track thoughts turned back to the beginning of this munro adventure. When I set off for Ben Lomond 4 years ago I had no idea that the innocent walk would turn into hill fever. The bug struck fast and mercilessly, before I had even arrived on the cloudy summit. And after 136 munros the excitement still hadn’t worn off. I hoped it never would.
My musings were interrupted by a land rover approaching on the track. I stepped aside and stuck my hand up to the driver, as one does to acknowledge their moving to the side and slowing down. The driver was a familiar and regal looking young man. Had I just waved to prince William?
The walk along the loch side was wonderful. The dark blue water, the steep slopes holding the loch and hiding the hills. After a short snack break at the bridge I made quick work of the steep ascent onto the moor. Once up it was easy walking along the track. On the way I spotted a funny wall on the left, no more than 1 meter tall and 2 meters long, with turf on top. I loved the big empty open space. Bleak and beautiful. Another short snack break at the shed with the bench outside. It is not often that you get presented with seating like this in the hills!
The ascent of Broad Cairn was bouldery and fun. It was very windy now and with the summit cairn providing little shelter I thought it was best to keep moving. The views back to Loch Muick were great. But the real eye catcher were the dramatic crags of Creag an Dubh-loch, plunging down to Dubh Loch. The walk onwards to Cairn Bannoch did not involve much in the way of descent and ascent, very easy going.
The summit of Cairn Bannoch is on top of a small tor. The wind hadn’t abated and I was glad there were some biggish rocks to hide behind. Here I met another walker. He was on a hiking trip with an impressive 24kg weighing rucksack. We had a good natter whilst marveling at the views and enjoying the warmth of the sun out of the wind. After chatting for a while we said our goodbyes as I had a few more hills to get on with and he still had a fair bit of walking to do for the day.
Yet more gentle slopes to Carn an t-Sagairt Mor, getting a tiny bit steeper once past the base-contouring path. Just before the first summit I met a walking duo. They had a brisk pace going so we just exchanged cheery hellos. Not sure which of the two summits was the higher one, I also walked to the next, which had the benefit of better views towards Loch Callatar. Looking to the east got me wondering where the next munro was hiding. The bealach below the Stuic seemed higher than the lump to the south of it.
Down to the contouring path with magnificent views over Dubh Loch, and onwards to Carn a Choire Bhoidheach. Despite this being quite sheltered I could feel that the wind had picked up.
Surely, once on the bealach the munro was there. It took no more than 5 minutes to get to it. Which was good, as the Stuic was luring me. So far the trip had been pretty rewarding with good views, but the Stuic topped everything. Those spectacular cliffs and Loch nan Eun nesting below, wow!
Sitting behind a boulder out of the wind with that view, was just the best place on earth. No one else around, just me and the views. Perfect.
After a while it got a bit nippy and that was the cue to start moving again.
It was swift walk across the plateau and up towards Lochnagar. There was a coming and going of people, very busy. It was great walking along the impressive cliffs to Cac Carn Beag and then a nice little scramble to get on top of the tor. Wonderful 360 degree views! Terrific cliffs! The space! Wow wow wow!
Bowled over by the scenery, I almost forgot that this was my 141th munro….
I didn’t hang about for long. It was getting quite crowded on the summit. I’d had the Stuic all to myself, so was happy enough.
Theme for the day had been the wind and even on the descent it was very strong. Lower down whilst marveling at the cliffs, there was a mini-whirl wind which managed to get hold of my map case. Away it flew, and with it the copy of the map. Gone! Hm, must remember to take a back-up map with me for the next walk. Luckily visibility was good and plenty of people were going in the same direction as me. The path down from Lochnagar to the bealach with Meikle Pap is amazing. It was like walking on a pavement, on those huge flat boulders. Lower down I passed a group of climbers and had a chat with two of them. They had climbed up from the lochan. It sounded brilliant and is something which is on my ever growing list of adventures to undertake.
At the ford a splash of cold water from the Allt-na-giubhsaich provided a bit of relief for my windburnt face and then it was a pleasant walk through the woods back to the car. I must return to Lochnagar, what a beautiful hill!
