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It was a very windy Saturday. Gusts 40-50mph on Munro level, temperature dropping near freezing. Not a day to venture onto the highest mountains, but in our opinion, an easy Graham was worth a risk
We had done Cook's Cairn before and found the route from Allanreid via Glen Livet very pleasant. It's a long-ish walk in but crosses a nice, quiet glen with easy walking on decent tracks. WH route also throws in Coryhabbie Hill but we don't really like that second mountain. I'm sorry, Coryhabbie, but you are so boring that we'll probably never bother repeating you!
Cook's Cairn itself is far from exhilarating either, but it has that feeling of remoteness we always found enchanting. The walk-in passes a ruined cottage at Suie and crosses River Livet on a footbridge. And this little bridge caused us a bit of consideration. When we arrived at the car park at Allanreid, we found a note pinned to the info board, quote "Bridge at Suie Lodge closed for the public. Apologies for any inconvenience".
We decided to go regardless. As far as we remembered, the river near Suie wasn't too deep so we hoped we could ford it even if the bridge was really uncrossable.
Weather forecast suggested passing showers, but somehow, we managed to avoid the rain altogether, despite multiple showers passing by:
To begin with, we crossed a few fields full of sheep and followed the waymarked Livet Path. Across the river, the near-perfect silhouette of The Bochel reminded us about a quick visit to this Marylin a few days earlier:
The first bridge was OK to cross. We noticed that the water level in the river was quite high but it was too late to turn back now
Welcome to the moor! Don't forget to keep your dog on the leash! Thankfully, they don't demand that for panthers
The less popular side of Ladder Hills:
Walking into the glen with sun shining above us. It was windy and quite cold, but at least it wasn't raining
The white top of Cook's Cairn, our target hill, can be seen to the left of the picture:
View back down Glen Livet, with The Bochel dominating the horizon:
Zoom to Suie Lodge and the track leading up the hill behind:
We reached the second bridge and found out it was still standing, and looking sound, I'm not sure why it was deemed unsafe? Maybe the river has damaged the spans, I don't know. What I know is, we committed a public offense by using the bridge despite the warnings!
What's wrong with it?? Kevin investigates:
Black Panther caught red-handed:
The ruins at Suie, Coryhabbie Hill behind:
The abandoned cottage at Knochkan, the top of Carn na Bruar in the background:
During our previous visit, we had a look inside the abandoned lodge and it made us feel very depressed, so this time we just walked past. Such a shame about this building, but I think it's in such a remote location that living here would prove impractical. Or maybe whoever owns it doesn't care (isn't it still part of the Crown Estate, so technically it is state-owned?):
The building as seen from the east:
Past the lodge and another ruined cottage, we picked an ATV track heading up the slopes to the col between Carn na Bruar and Cook's Cairn. Well, the word "picked" is possibly not the best way to describe it. We discovered, that the former grassy track was replaced with a freshly-bulldozed new one. I must say the new track is badly made, has no drainage whatsoever and I'm afraid, in a year or two it will be eroded beyond recognition. Hopefully I'm wrong...
Also, at the start of the new track, we were welcome by a note pinned to a wooden post "You are entering an area of construction work, please avoid the machinery, blah blah..."
Whaaat? A windfarm HERE?
Thankfully, the main traffic for the windfarm comes from the other side (Aldivalloch) and the construction must be finished by now as the turbines are already all up and running.
Looking back down the new track, to the ruins of Suie:
Zoom to the ruins, with the white tops of Ben Avon on the horizon:
So far so good, windy but sunny and no wind turbines in sight just yet...
Back to the white Cairngorms:
The first wind turbine comes into sight! Cook's Cairn summit to the left:
At least with the new track came a new marker, pointing away from the whooshing hell and onto the less eroded path up the final slopes of the Graham. By now, the wind was so strong we struggled to stay on out feet:
The way up looks benign...
And in any other circumstances it would be a walk in the park, but with crazy wind gusts, we staggered from side to side, performing strange pirouettes on the snowy surface. At some point, we caught a quieter moment for a few photos and a short video:
El Bandito is back, this time on Cook's Cairn. It was Lucy's 80th Graham, but she could not celebrate as she would no doubt fly away with the wind! I was close to the same fate
Views from Cook's Cairn are not extensive but nice enough. This wee mountain does indeed have a taste of solitude, despite the new wind farm. Such a shame we couldn't stay here for a bit longer, have a cup of hot tea and enjoy the views to the nearby hills... Instead, it was just a matter of a few quick snaps, turning back and running down, out of the hellish wind
The Buck to the east, our previous Graham:
Bad weather passing over Coryhabbie Hill:
View west towards the Cairngorms:
The new windfarm
On the way down to the col:
Once on the lower slopes, the wind eased off a bit and the air felt warmer, too. We returned to Suie and found a sheltered spot behind one of the ruined buildings, where we stopped for a hot cuppa and something to eat.
Finally, we retraced our steps back along Glen Livet. This time we didn't cross the forbidden bridge, but found a suitable spot to ford the river.
River Livet and Ladder Hills:
Beware hills, I'll be back!
Overall, a good day despite being pushed from pillar to post. Not a very demanding route, but in my opinion, a very entertaining way of climbing Cook's Cairn (haven't done the route from the east so I can't compare, but I imagine that the walk in from Aldivalloch would be mostly on bulldozed tracks for the windfarm). The river could be a problem in full spate, hopefully the Suie bridge will be repaired/consolidated in the near future. I couldn't find any info about it online though.
...................
So this was the last outing of our March hols, but it's been 2 weeks since and on weekend days, we visited two more listed hills: a quick but steep Graham in the far north and a gentle Corbett circuit in Corgarff area. TR's in progress.
