“Rest” day - nice easy little hills

[Jaxter]

Previous day's adventure - a biggie

Thursday 9th August 2018
Morrone
11.91km
644m ascent
3 hours

After 3 relativey big days an easier stroll seemed in order – and an opportunity to break in my new boots on a smaller walk. After a leisurely start I drove to the start point near the duck pond in Braemar


It was windy but bright


I followed the maze of paths through the trees and soon was out in the open again. The views were awesome towards Ben Avon


Ben Avon zoomed


Braemar


The inner Gorms


The path was a little boggy in places but largely avoidable – it may have been a different story in wetter conditions. It actually turned out that I’d taken a shortcut and if I’d stuck to the actual path I’d have been fine

As I gained height the track widened and soon it was marked by some huge cairns


The Gorms


Looking back to the huge cairns and Ben Avon


Lovely Lochnagar


Ben Avon again


When I reached the summit it was pretty windy but there were plenty of buildings and things to shelter behind

Loch Callater – having explored this area a bit recently I was realising how close everything was!


Glenshee hills


Bit of a balancing act – Morrone summit


Sun hitting the Gorms


I continued along the track – no out-and-backs for me!


Looking back to the summit of Morrone


Gorm-a-rama


Lochnagar in the sun


It was easy walking down the track and my legs were feeling tired after the past couple of days


Back on the ground I met up with the old military road which was my route back to Braemar


I passed a weird structure…any ideas what this is for?!


Looking back towards Creag nan Gabhar


I cut up and over towards the viewpoint so save walking all the way through Braemar – the views from here were even better than earlier




Then I was back at Braemar where I did a bit of wandering around before heading back down the road to catch the end of the Ballater Highland Games

Morrone.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

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Friday 10th August 2018
Geallaig Hill
9.72km
410m ascent
2 hours 20 minutes

Another morning, another leisurely start….eventually I packed everything up and headed a few miles up the road to Braenaloin where I parked in a layby. Just as I was about to get my boots on the rain started…. After a while it stopped again and I headed up the track towards Geallaig Hill.

Looking back


It was a good track and easy to walk on. The rain seemed to have cleared and it was good to be out for an easy stroll


It looked dark in the distance but the sun was still shining here


I think that’s the Lochnagar massif in the background


The clouds were looking pretty cool!


I startled a few grouse (although they probably scared me more than I scared them ) and before long the gradient eased…


…I could see a huge cairn


And then I was at the summit of Geallaig Hill


Morven


I could see the cloud coming in; a few rumbles of thunder later and the heavens opened


What followed were several kilometres of trudging along a wet track in the tipping rain. No photos because it was minging Eventually I dropped down and then hit the road.


It did stop raining eventually – not the nicest end to the day but better than not doing anything


Back at the car there was a midge army waiting for me so it was a very quick change of shoes and ditching waterproofs before heading north for the next adventure….

Gealaig Hill.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts