Braid Cairn - Glentannar

[Gordon Ballantyne]

Braid Cairn at the end of Glentannar was the target today.
We took our bikes , mainly for the return trip back down the glen.
GordonC steered us to the park at the back of the estate offices, where we parked up.

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On the way up the glen, we stopped at every bridge and interesting artifact to give H a plooter in the water, both to keep him fresh, but to keep him cool and hydrated. Luckily we were in the forest for most of the way.which shaded us from the morning sun. Later in the day, the clouds and the stiff southerly breeze kept us cool.
Glentannar is a lovely glen full of caledonian pine forest. I once took my wife up it for a romantic walk many moons ago..... Later we took our grandchildren for a safari drive laid on by the estate staff, up the Loggers track and down Glen Allachy.
Our daughter and son-inlaw were married in the ballroom on a glorious september day, then on another occasion our Grumpy old mens group had a walk around the estate precinct, including the visitor centre, St. Lesmos chapel and the Ballroon, then a wee walk up to the view point - so a lot of history - not including some hills bordering the glen wi ma mate GordonC.
But still I found new things to see that I hadn't noticed before on the way up the glen this time , as we stopped frequently to gawp.

The bonny Water of Tannar

The concrete ford below Clachan Yell with it's "shipyard " plate repair.

Haevey having one of his many splash stops

The half-way hut in Glentannar

]
We passed some Eco-workies stopped by the brig at Etnach with a Hilux hitched to a bogey with a digger on it, ( Think they were called McGowan ) with a spaniel in the digger cab, quietly watching us. They were up at the lodge wandering about doing some sort of inspection.

The eco-workies gear at Etnach

The fine brig by the old cattle grid

H didn't like the grating on the bridge, so had nipped round the side and through the river before I even noticed. Near the Corrach, we stopped for a lee before hitting the top and exposure to the stiff breeze. After a bit, GordonC thought he heard voices. Och, we thought, jist our imagination.

The "voices" stop on Mt Keen

When we got going again, GC spotted a gang of folk on the summit plook of Mt Keen. We soon found out that that they were more Eco-workies from the same company, putting braw steps up the steep bit to the summit, to repair the ugly gash worn by the many walkers on the hillside. The lower path had already been done ip beustifully. Great troops - I must put more money into the path repair project.
They had temporay divertion signs which looked a bit out of place on Mt Keen - but, it saved our lives and we made it to the top, after congratulating them on their fine job.

The eco-workies looking after our safety

Harvey posing in top if his first Munro - Mt Keen

We cooried doon in the summit shelter for a piece. Just as we were about to leave, a beefy young lad in shorts and a tee-shit appeared from the Glen Esk side. Hardy loon, we thought as we left the top wrapped up in our fleeces and jerseys !
As we suspected, there was a path down to the bealach and up the other side to Braid Cairn, although we lost it in a couple of places - losing our trackers badge again ! A blue hare in it's summer coat shot off ahead of us.
At the top of Braid cairn there was a sticky-up bit of rock that we passed and went on to a more substansive cairn, but when we got there, the squinty stane looked higher, so we went back to it - just in case. ( getting a bit nerdy, although we haven't taken pics of our GPS display yet ! )

Mt Keen from Braid Cairn

The squinty stane on Braid Cairn wi a "B" on it

The path continued over to the Gathering Cairn. We wondered what was gathered there - sheep, cattle, chickens, people ? I'm sure there's a rational answer..

Fine cairn on the Gatherin' Cairn

We descended down to the path below the cairn to pick up the return path. At the grouse butts, the path became a track - albeit a rough one, which took us back over the Cock Cairn to the Mt Keen track and our bikes.

The Cock Cairn with Mt Keen behind

On the way, we saw the Eco-folk taking the digger up the track to where they were working. Bet it's a braw path all the way by next year.!
We cruised gently down the glen back to the car, again stopping frequently for H to drink and splash.

Brig over the Glendui burn on the way home

The hero of the day was definitely Harvey, who took in everything in his stride while we used mechanical means for some of the trip. He's getting really fit. A great day when Harvey bagged his first Munro - the most easterly, weel done H !