Mount Keen. Hopefully the first of many.....
Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:14 am
After the Lairig Ghru I needed a new challenge. I had just taking up walking at the start of the year for doing the Lairig Ghru but with that in the past now and being firmly hooked on seeing the great outdoors my next goal was to bag my first munro before the year was out. After looking at several reports and walks I decided that Mount Keen would be my first. Being the closest of all munros might have been a factor in this decision.
There are two ways we could have attacked this munro. The first being from Glen Tanar and the second starting from Glen Esk. Andrea and I decided that Glen Esk would be better suited for us as it is a slightly longer walk from Glen Tanar although walking through the forest at the start would have been nice.
As we parked up it was coming on 9.45am and so we were off by 10am.
I had seen in one report this sign stating which way Mount Keen was which I thought was brilliant so I had to stop for a quick photo.
We picked up the path that would lead us up Glen Mark towards Mount Keen and after walking past the House of Mark the view of the glen soon comes into light.
The weather was ok. A bit cold and cloudy but with any luck hopefully no rain. After a kilometre or so the Queens Well could been seen in the distance as well as Couternach with the steep looking path to the right.
I was quite surprised how many people seemed to have the same idea as us. A popular climb this must be. The almost flat path all the way to the well was a great warm up for us before the start of the ascent.
After a couple of ford crossings over Easter Burn and Ladder Burn the path starts to climb and the view looking back down Glen Mark behind you is wonderful.
We soon came to a fork in the path. Keeping to the left would by-pass the top so we followed the path to the right which would take us to the summit. By this time it came down a thin drizzle that lasted about 15 minutes. Looking back, you could see the "wave" of rain sweeping down the glen which made for a splendid viewing.
By now the top could almost be seen and with less than two kilometers to go we were almost there. The only thing that bothered me now was that the view would be obstructed with cloud cover which would be a shame as I love just standing at the top of a hill and take in the scenery for 5 or 10 minutes.
Although the views in front of us didn't look great, looking back down the way we came gave for some great viewing again.
The closer we got to the top the cloud seemed to thin out with views opening up all round us which put a smile on my face. The top of Mount Keen was near with the trig point in sight.
It was time for lunch. There is a wind shelter just beside the trig point which was much needed as the wind by now was strong and very bitter. The views from Mount Keen are really good. With Morven to the north, Lochnagar and the White Mounth Munro's to the west and Mount Battock with Clachanben to the east. I tried to see if I could make out Mayar and Driesh as I'm sure you would be able too but cloud in the far distance hindered me. I could even make out Bennachie. Superb.
After taking several more photo's it was time to make a move and head back to the car. The sun by now was starting to shine and with a feeling of real achievement it had been a really good day out.
There are two ways we could have attacked this munro. The first being from Glen Tanar and the second starting from Glen Esk. Andrea and I decided that Glen Esk would be better suited for us as it is a slightly longer walk from Glen Tanar although walking through the forest at the start would have been nice.
As we parked up it was coming on 9.45am and so we were off by 10am.
I had seen in one report this sign stating which way Mount Keen was which I thought was brilliant so I had to stop for a quick photo.
We picked up the path that would lead us up Glen Mark towards Mount Keen and after walking past the House of Mark the view of the glen soon comes into light.
The weather was ok. A bit cold and cloudy but with any luck hopefully no rain. After a kilometre or so the Queens Well could been seen in the distance as well as Couternach with the steep looking path to the right.
I was quite surprised how many people seemed to have the same idea as us. A popular climb this must be. The almost flat path all the way to the well was a great warm up for us before the start of the ascent.
After a couple of ford crossings over Easter Burn and Ladder Burn the path starts to climb and the view looking back down Glen Mark behind you is wonderful.
We soon came to a fork in the path. Keeping to the left would by-pass the top so we followed the path to the right which would take us to the summit. By this time it came down a thin drizzle that lasted about 15 minutes. Looking back, you could see the "wave" of rain sweeping down the glen which made for a splendid viewing.
By now the top could almost be seen and with less than two kilometers to go we were almost there. The only thing that bothered me now was that the view would be obstructed with cloud cover which would be a shame as I love just standing at the top of a hill and take in the scenery for 5 or 10 minutes.
Although the views in front of us didn't look great, looking back down the way we came gave for some great viewing again.
The closer we got to the top the cloud seemed to thin out with views opening up all round us which put a smile on my face. The top of Mount Keen was near with the trig point in sight.
It was time for lunch. There is a wind shelter just beside the trig point which was much needed as the wind by now was strong and very bitter. The views from Mount Keen are really good. With Morven to the north, Lochnagar and the White Mounth Munro's to the west and Mount Battock with Clachanben to the east. I tried to see if I could make out Mayar and Driesh as I'm sure you would be able too but cloud in the far distance hindered me. I could even make out Bennachie. Superb.
After taking several more photo's it was time to make a move and head back to the car. The sun by now was starting to shine and with a feeling of real achievement it had been a really good day out.