A Good Friday - Meall Gorm and Craig Choinnich

[Gordon Ballantyne]

Forecast very good, so an extra day out to knock off Meall Gorm, missed out on Tuesday. We threw in Craig Choinnich to make the trip worthwhile..

MEALL GORM AND CRAIG of INCHNABOBART

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Headed off to Spittal of Glenmuick to a nearly-full carpark with Gordon coughing up the £4 parking fee.
Seemed a lot and we fully expected a boxing glove to shoot out of the machine as our "free gift" !
Suitably denuded of our cash, we headed off across to Alt-na-Giubhsaich in blazing sunshine and a warm breeze.
An estate guy on a quad passed us with a powerfull looking rifle slung over his shoulder with tele-sights and a silencer. We wondered what he could be shooting at this time of year ? The Glenmuick herd of deer were grazing down the glen a bit just now.
Counter-intuitively we turned right at Alt-na-Giubhsaich down the glen towards Inchnabobart - now there's a name to conjure with !
It always reminds me of the Clay doo shooting meets in Angus, back in the 70's when the keepers came from near and far for a dram and a news. This keeper had a laugh like a braying donkey that could be heard all the way from the beer tent and I always associate him with Inchnabobart ( probably a completely different keeper ) But the name stuck in my head.
The legends John & Margaret Robertson stayed at the Spittal in those days and I used to visit them occasionally with my father-in-law who lived in Glen Clova, ( who was Margarets's brother.)
We were glad of the shade of the trees as we walked along the track to Meall Gorm, passing a couple of granite mileposts and a a couple of pony tethering posts before we cut off up Meall Gorm.

30mile "A B" milepost on the Inchnabobart track

The NW slope had fairly recently had a heather burn, so we took advantage of this and made an easy ascent to the top. There were great views across to Bheinn a Bhuird and Ben Aan, with Cac carn Beag of Lochnagar keeking round the flank of Conachcraig, a corbett I'd done with my eldest daughter Nicola a few years previously. To the north we spotted a herd of deer on the crest of Craig Megen, and beyond the Coyles of Muick.

Dyslexic milepost by the strainer at the top of Meall Gorm

GordonB checking the route at the top of Meall Gorm

As the breeze was blowing from the south, we headed down to the lee slope of Craig of Inchnabobart and found a warm slab to stretch out on and have our piece. At this point, we spotted some shielings on the SE flank of Meall Gorm and mused at some length about the hardy cheils that occupied them in days of yore.

The Inchnabobart luncheon slab

Sheilings on the SE slope of Meall Gorm

We continued back over Craig of Inchnabobart ( you see - I even like typing it ), descending easily to the track by heather burns. On the way, we tested out this muckle stane that looked like an armchair.

Coyles o Muick from the top of Craig of Inchnabobart

Craig o Inchnabobart armchair stane

On the way back to the car park, a landrover was parked by the bridge over the river Muick. An auld guy with a badge on his shirt and a young lassie were flying a drone over the deer herd, which was working its way back up the glen.
The auld yin ( rather un-necessarliy ) advised us to keep our dog under control as the deer were working their way back to grazing by Loch Muick. I obliged by putting Harvey back on the leash for the last few hundred metres to the car.
Back at the Spittal, the car parks were full and cars were parked at the side of the road for about half a mile down the glen road.
We unfrocked and headed off for Braemar with the car AC on full blast.

CREAG CHOINNICH
Managed to squeeze on to the grass verge at the gate to the path.
GordonC had ascended this Hump many times as Braemar is on his list of preferred sites for his caravan.

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He headed off up the direct route among the shady scots pines. We were so confident , we left our packs behind for this short end-of-day excursion.
( or could it have been that we were getting tired ? )

GordonC sets off up th Choinnich shady path

GordonC taking in the view from the Choinnich path

The views from the top were stunning. Now I knew why Jim Lyon made it his favourite hill. I'd never seen Braemar like this before.
GordonC gave me a history lesson on all the buildings and paths/tracks/roads we could see. The only building I recognised was the Golf clubhouse which I'd visited on a few Company outings. What a viewpoint ! GordonC called me over to get a great view of Invercauld house.

GordonB gazing up the lower glen o Dee

GordonB pretending he's nae tired

Bheinn a Bhuirdh & Ben Aan from Choinnich

Invercauld House from Craig Choinnich

Had to get down to cool my overheating feet. What a day ! If this is global warming - bring it on !
I'm running out of adjectives to describe how fortunate we've been with this winter/spring weather, but as I write this report up, I'm positively glowing from the effects of the spring sun. Fit another braw day !