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Yeehaa another biketastic adventure !
Start this time was from the rather beautiful Invercauld estate- well worth the £2 parking fee to have a clean toilet and wash facility
I was lucky to be given some valuable advice about this walk, first was from Val - if I'm not enjoying the cycling ditch the bike after you leave the forest-( did that) and second was from Monty- use the long flat terrain to run most of it. I wasn't too sure about this but was keeping my options open.
After ditching the bike I followed the higher path to the lodge and after a crappy scrambly ascent I was up on an amazing path. A smashing curvy gently ascending path all the way to the Sneck. Unfortunately the clag that I had hoped would clear was still hanging about
Turned right up to the steeper slopes of Ben Avon and met two blokes who were heading over to Beinn a Bhuird. Made my way as best I could to the Tors and clambered through the middle section only to discover a very easy path coming from the left.
No expert scrambling alas- just a bumshuffle to what I hope was the summit.
A quick shuffle down and then onwards and downwards to Beinn aBhuird. Although a good path to begin with, I some found myself unsure of where to go so I did two things I got out my GPS and I ran! And so that's what I did- run, check, run, check until I reached the disappointing summit-
A quick word with a woman running around the summits on a challenge run and then another encounter two different guys and I was off as fast I could down to the Sneck. Happy to be back in the land of visibility, I slowed down and ate for the first time on the walk
Feeling a bit more relaxed and all fuelled up I decided to start a gentle jog and then into a faster run. Before I knew I was back at the ruins, this time I took the lower path and had a wee rummage around the charming Fairy Glen. Another 30 min jog saw me back at my bike and then a speedy downhill cycle to the carpark.
Despite these hills being a long journey in and out I would happily repeat them to get the amazing views that I'm pretty sure I missed out on