free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
The countless number of times that I have driven past this hill and thought I must do it - one of these days. So when a freezing, blue sky day presented itself along with the opportunity to take an afternoon off work, I thought I would check it out. And, as this winter goes, it seemed to be one of the better days for a decent covering of the white stuff. Given the number of daylight hours available (another way of saying I’m not very fit
)I decided to take the shorter route up from Glen Buckie starting from the end of the public road near Ballimore Farm.
Parking area at end of public road.
Park up on the left hand side of the parking area and walk across the bridge.
A soon as you cross take a sharp right up the slope as indicated by the “Footpath to Brig o’Turk via Glen Finglas” right of way sign. Ahead is a stone wall with two gates. I took the left hand one but in anything but bone dry or frozen conditions I would recommend the one on the right - it would be drier and have some path to follow. Once through follow the path/fence until the fence takes a turn to the left then head straight uphill until you reach the ridge.
Looking back down to Glen Buckie from the top of the first fence.
The ridge is broad and the best ground lies to the left (east) side. I know this because I took the right hand side which has several ups and downs to work the legs that extra little bit. I was a wee bit disappointed as, for some unknown reason, I thought the ridge would be better defined and perhaps narrower. On this day the ground was frozen but it looked like there would be boggy areas in the middle of the ridge in wet weather.
Looking towards the summit - left side easier
The summit soon comes into view and then follow another fence uphill until you reach a stile where the fence turns to the left. At this stage the walking was great - powder snow with no hard pack or ice underneath - I didn’t slip once (which is unusual for me
)
Fence and summit ridge
Looking back down the ridge along the second fence
Go over the stile then head for a solitary looking fence post on the summit ridge. Turn east and a few hundred metres brings you to the summit cairn. The view is pretty good all round with all the usual Central Scotland suspects. As it was such a nice day I ended up staying a while on the summit then had a fast descent on powder snow.
View south from summit to Ben Ledi, the Campsies and Glen Finglas
View north west
Jawnee’s view: A quieter alternative to the sometimes overrun Ben Ledi. A short walk for a clear day. Take care when driving down Glen Buckie if snow/ice on the ground - plenty of places to come off the road. In stalking season a phone number is posted at the parking area - call it and they’ll tell you where they are and aren’t stalking.
