Mayar and Dreish with a high camp

[mrssanta]

Fresh from climbing Ben Chonzie in the rain and wind we headed further east to try and catch some better weather for an overnighter before going back home to Yorkshire and work
We parked in Glendoll car park and popped in to the ranger station for some change and to let the rangers know we would be out all night. We were told to look out for peregrines on the cliffs of Corrie Fee and that they have raised three babies this year!
It was a bit midgey in the car park so it's a wonder I didn't leave anything vital behind as midges make my brain malfunction quite badly.
We left the car park a little after six setting off up the forest track which leads through Corrie Fee onto the plateau.
It was a bit of a dull evening and quite midgy in the woods but with smidge and keeping moving it was tolerable.

autumn berries already in the woods

a bank of horsetails - mini forest within a forest - do the fairies live here?

It took us a little over an hour to reach the edge of the woods where you come round a corner and out of the trees and there is the whole of Corrie Fee spread out in front of you and below. It's definitely a WOW! moment.
There is a handy rock and it was an ideal spot for a brew. In fact I refused to go further without one as I had only had one cup of tea all day and that was with my breakfast! Out of the forest there was enough breeze to keep the midges away.

Happy Mugs in Corrie Fee - it's much better in real life, get there if you can!

Thus reinvigorated and refreshed, we followed the excellent path which winds through Corrie Fee and up the headwall with the big waterfall a constant companion.

waterfall

We heard the peregrines calling and saw them wheeling above the crag. I was also impressed by the variety and profusion of wild flowers. I took lots of photos of them but not many came out well, ho hum.

bluebells, bell heather, tormentil, lady's mantle and I think a little bedstraw

yellow saxifrage, bluebells, horsetails, lady's mantle, and leaves of violets which will have flowered in the spring

I'm quite proud of this picture but I'm not sure what it is.

looking back over corrie Fee from near the top, you can see the flat meadow and the drumlins covered with heather near the corrie mouth.

The path has been beautifully made right up to about 800m height on the way to the summit of Mayar, and it was about this point that we stopped and pitched our tent on a not very flat bit of ground near a handy rock. We could hear water running in several burns near where we camped, but actually Rudolph had to go downhill quite a bit to find some water he could actually reach, as it was running underground!
We stopped at about 8.30pm just as the rain came on so we boiled water quickly for our blow-up meal and ate it inside the tent before settling down for the night.
I'm usually responsible for making sure the tent is pitched with feet at the bottom and head at the top of whatever slope we might be on; unfortunately I did not do a very good job this time, we were in too much of a rush before the rain came on, but despite this I slept pretty well as I was on the uphill side of the tent. Rudolph was very nice about it. He must have been tired.
In the morning the cloud was still shrouding the top of Mayar but we were just under the cloud base. We did not rush away and were treated to shafts of sunlight breaking through and the cloud very gradually lifting. It was quite hazy but in the distance we could see Mount Keen and even Bennachie to the north-east.

a hint of sun coming through in the morning onto the cliffs of Erne Craigs

Erne Craigs and Craig Rennet looking good

and Lochnagar appearing behind

Mount Keen

We expected Mayar to be a bit of a boring lump but in fact the top is really interesting with a nice rock to sit on and look over into Glen Prosen - unfortunately a bit of cloud blew over as I was getting the camera out of my pocket.

Rudolph and the nearly-view into Glen Prosen

and me on a handy rock.

We set off towards Dreish along the obvious path with more hills becoming visible all the time.

another view of Craig Rennet

hills like pillows in the sunshine.

At the top of the Shank of Drumfollow we met a man who had come up in the middle of the night and camped. He was just packing up his tent and he passed us and reached the top of Dreish ages before us; we found him sitting in the shelter having breakfast and we had a good chat putting the world to rights, sitting in the warm sun and looking out at Lochnagar and trying to identify the other hills from the map. It's a really good shelter with plenty of room for 5 or 6 people to sit comfortably, more at a squeeze.

Lochnagar from the summit of Dreish

An older couple arrived and they had taken only an hour to come up Dreish from the car park; they passed us again on the way down. very impressive!
Shortly after we left the summit a very heavy shower of rain came over necessitating waterproofs, but it had gone by the time we reached the bealach.

oops too busy chatting and forgetting the summit pic. Took this looking back at the summit shelter on the way down

The Kilbo path down the Shank of Drumfollow is excellent and there were quite a lot of people on Dreish going up and down.

Looking back at Dreish and Little Dreish from the Kilbo path

stitchwort

You go through a gate into the woods then promptly come back out again and most of the fence is broken down or non-existent. We crossed the Kilbo Burn and stopped at the edge of the forest for a cup of tea and our lunch - just enough out of the forest to avoid being midged too badly. Hard boiled eggs, cheese, oatcakes and blaeberries for pudding!

happy mugs waiting for the water to boil

Looking back up Corrie Kilbo from our lunch place at the edge of the forest.

Further down although on the map it looks like you are going deep into the forest in fact a large tract of it on the uphill side has been clear felled so it was a lovely warm sunny day and very pleasant.

pretty splash of colour from the foxgloves

Nearly back at the car, Craig Mellon framed by trees

Back to the car at about two o'clock ready for the long drive back home. Till the next time.

[Rudolph]

Re the Picture of which you were proud and of something you couldn't identify ......

It's a fly - sitting on a flower!

Hope that helps!

[Driftwood]

Re the Picture of which you were proud and of something you couldn't identify ......

It's a fly - sitting on a flower!

Hope that helps!

From looking it up - otherwise I'd have given the same answer - I'm going to say that it seems to be a Sneezewort. At least, that's the best match that I can find for the petal shapes and the colouring of the central cluster.

Some fine views and none the worse for some dramatic unveiling by the cloud.

[mrssanta]

Re the Picture of which you were proud and of something you couldn't identify ......

It's a fly - sitting on a flower!

Hope that helps!

From looking it up - otherwise I'd have given the same answer - I'm going to say that it seems to be a Sneezewort. At least, that's the best match that I can find for the petal shapes and the colouring of the central cluster.

Some fine views and none the worse for some dramatic unveiling by the cloud.

oh I do think you are right about the Sneezewort.
And although the wall to wall sunshine days are fine, sometimes the gradual views are more satisfying.