Mount Blair dash

[Driftwood]

A leg-stretcher on the way from Aberdeen, via Kirriemuir to Birnam. The weather had kept me off the tops for a day or so and the forecast was still windy, but things were improving through the middle of the day.

So, after a drive up through Glen Isla, I found a spot to park the car just west of the bridge and track to Balloch. I could have parked further west (it turned out), saving a few metres and a bit of heather-bashing. But the route I used did offer more variety than heading up and down by the quickest track.

My brother stayed with the car and had a bite of lunch while I booted up and took a light pack. It was breezy and clear beneath high clouds, so I went bare-armed hoping not to overheat.

Overlooking Balloch

After passing one gate into a field, I headed uphill around a corner of fence, onto the open hill. This was heathery and fairly steep, enough to warm up without being troublesome. And the ground was nicely dry on the rounded ridge leading southeast.

Looking back / westwards

I was feeling rather warm, despite the refreshing breeze, by the time that slopes eased and showed more of the way ahead. I took in the minor lump of Creag na Cuigeil, from which there were traces of a path towards another climb to Mount Blair itself.

Clearing over Creag na Cuigeil

Heathery slope to the top

The heather thinned, showing more gravelly soil and wear from feet as I approached the cluster of summit features, from mast and generators to cairns old and new.

Pick your summit feature

Improving weather brought me sunshine and increasingly blue skies, encouraging a 5-minute break on top. That gave the chance to take more photos and chat with two fellows who arrived from the west with quite substantial packs. They turned out to be doing a coast-to-coast and had taken the high route to take advantage of the weather and views.
Those views were well worth the walk, even if I'd been carrying a long-distance pack. One of the treckers obliged me by taking a photo (it was easier than finding a suitable rock of the cairn to balance the camera).

A breather with views

Then we parted ways, in my case to use the track leading northwest downhill.

Track back down

The track provided a quick way of shedding altitude, so much so that I jogged a lot of the way, at least until the gate into a lower enclosure.

Through the gate

The next part was slightly more sedate, to avoid bothering the herd of grazing cows, or step in anything that they had left. Though, cutting across to the road, I found some wet and rushy ground so ended up with damp boots (but not feet) anyway.

Cow slalom

A gate (not that of the track I'd left) led onto the road, where another 5 minutes of striding alongside Cateran Train markers brought me back to the car. I was tempted to add Duchray Hill, but that would have taken an extra hour and a half, so would have to wait. Perhaps as a short horseshoe route with Monamenach another year.

Trailing back

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