- Red deer stag, two points short of being a royal stag!
Could there be any better start to a walk? We started early at 6:36am and instead of following my usual route around the loch for the first time I took the signposted path towards Lochnagar. I spotted a few more deer in the distance but most of the herd wasn't on the lower ground, not something I found too surprising when the midge attack started...
At the cottages again there was a signpost for the Lochnagar path and I followed the path through the woods spotting a roe deer buck standing among the trees.
- Roe deer buck
The path led out of the woods and towards a ford, this was where the fun started as whilst I was trying to figure out the best way to cross the midges launched their attack! I was surrounded by the nasty things! It was a quick dash across the river and then a mad race uphill to escape the swarm, there was no standing around along this first stretch as the midges would soon start to gather! I spotted a herd of sensible deer at the top of one of the hills, I'm guessing they probably aren't big midge fans either!
Eventually I seemed to lose the midges, and instead found a nice red grouse that was more than happy to pose for a few photos.
- Red Grouse
Further up the views started to open out and a slight breeze picked up. The sun was starting to break though, but the glorious sunshine promised on the weather forecast was just fleeting. On the plus side, it meant it stayed nice and cool!
Where there was an obvious marker cairn I took the route to the left for the route to Lochnagar. After climbing some stone steps, Lochnagar was back in sight again! I took the path to the right to head up to Meikle Pap first and was put to shame by Millie...while I struggled up the last couple rocks to clamber up to the top of Meikle Pap she stood watching me in amusement and when called up she simply jumped up in a single go from a standing start making it look all so easy. She cleared at least five foot (my height). Cue smug look from Millie...
- Not bad for a dog who is nearly 11 years old!
From the top I could look down at the corrie below and across to Lochnagar. From there it looked a long way round to the summit! It also looked very narrow, but it turned out that look was deceptive.
We returned to the main path and started heading up...and then back down again before heading up again towards the summit across a wide plateau so Millie was able to regain her freedom though we stayed well away from the edge sticking to the left of the marker cairns. The path was clear to see and follow up to a super-sized cairn and from there to the summit.
- Summit marker
For a little while we had the summit to ourselves and Millie earned lots of treats for sitting for photos before we started the descent. On the way back down I put Millie on the lead so I could go take a look at the cliffs and they are amazing! The photos really don't do them any justice whatsoever!
The views of the cliffs more than made the trek worth it! We returned to the cairn to head for our downhill route, it was easy enough to see the path running along the side of the Glas Allt.
After the amazing views from the top, I did sort of feel that this path was a bit like being on a stony, gritty treadmill. I was sure my legs were working but I didn't seem to be getting very far at all! I reached some steps which gave a bit of a change, then it was back on the treadmill (though it was becoming increasingly rocky) until I reached the bridge and crossed over to the opposite side of the stream. Shortly afterwards Loch Muick came into view and Millie started getting increasingly excited. She is very familiar with Loch Muick and I think she knew we were heading there.
I stopped to look at the falls before continuing down towards the loch.
There was a good path all the way down to the forest surrounding the big house, and from there it was a race to the lochside as I was getting left behind by a doggy who really wanted to go swimming!
The rest of the route I've done several times, again though it was a race to the boat house (for more swimming). It isn't the most exciting route back but I don't think anything could eclipse those stunning cliffs of Lochnagar anyway! I did consider going the other way, but I could see the route was busy with people and it is much easier to just take the wide road on a busy day like it was today! When I got back to the car 7 1/2 hours later the carpark was full, as was the coach park and the nearest "passing places"! I jumped in the car and left a space free for whoever might come looking for a space, there were a fair few cars heading up to the Loch when I was leaving so there as probably one lucky person who found a parking space!
