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Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!

Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!


Postby Jaxter » Wed Sep 20, 2017 5:43 pm

Route description: Càrn na Drochaide, from Linn of Quoich

Corbetts included on this walk: Càrn na Drochaide

Fionas included on this walk: Creag Bhalg

Date walked: 03/09/2017

Time taken: 5.19 hours

Distance: 15.2 km

Ascent: 936m

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Another last minute plan saw Colin and I trying to beat the weather – it looked best in the East until mid afternoon so when Colin suggested a wee Corbett near Braemar I was game. I’d had a tough evening out on the Luss Grahams the night before so was happy for a nice easy day :roll:

It was a long drive and as we drove all the way along to Linn of Dee and then all the way back on ourselves to get to Linn of Quoich we realised that we should have left the car and walked across the Victoria Bridge at the Mar Lodge….but hey :lol:

We reached the parking area at Linn of Quoich and paid our couple of quid for the privilege. Plenty of folk were parked haphazardly all over the verges to avoid paying which I think is pretty poor show…a few quid to support the National Trust isn’t very much to ask :(

Colin kitting up with Creag Bhalg behind
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Morrone
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We set off down the track and came across the bridge that was down….
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We wandered onto what remained and marvelled at the power of water that it must have taken to wash the bridge away :shock: There was an option to walk upstream to another bridge but the river seemed low enough that we thought we could get across…. 8)

I got my bin bags on and headed off; unfortunately I ended up on the wrong side of an electric fence and tried to cross a bit of river that was too deep…. Letting out a string of curses I splashed towards the bank and managed to avoid getting too wet, much to Colin’s amusement as he easily hopped his way across the other side of the fence without any bin bag assistance at all :lol:

Before it all went wrong....
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Fortunately it was a nice warm day and we were able to laugh about it :D We made progress along the track and were getting pretty warm – it was a much nicer day than the forecast had seemed to suggest!

Looking back towards Creag Bhalg
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Colin had been mentioning a weird humming noise and as we rounded a corner we realised that it wasn’t just Tinnitus – there were lots of bees :lol:
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Eventually we realised we ought to be going uphill, so picked a route uphill and got on with it. It was steep and some sections were so dry that it was slippy. We wound our way steadily upwards towards a track we thought was there.

Looking back towards the Dee and Braemar Castle
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Towards Linn of Dee
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We met the track and although it was fairly intermittent it felt good to have something to follow :lol:

Carn na Drochaide ahead
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The path disappeared completely as we crossed a boggy bealach and headed directly upwards towards the summit. The heather was deep and it was hard work! We took a wee breather to admire the views
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Once the worst of the climb was done it was a case of an easy walk across rocky ground to the summit. It was such a relief to be out of the heather :lol:

The summit was a magnificent viewpoint and despite being a bit blowy we managed to find a sheltered spot behind the cairn for some very welcome lunch :D

Ben Avon
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Beinn Bhrotain, Monadh Mhor and the Braeriach Ridge behind, Macdui and pals in front
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Panorama shot
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Lochnagar, a bit hazy but still impressive
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The Devil’s Point and Cairn Toul
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Macdui and Derry
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After a search of a map we decided this must be Beinn a’ Bhuird
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Lochnagar again
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The impressive Beinn a’ Bhuird crags
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The Cairngorm Massif
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Jaxter pose
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Colin and Jura
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I suggested that if the weather held we could pop up Creag Bhalg which I thought was a Graham. Colin agreed…. :lol: It looked like we could head down towards the trees, across a bridge and then upwards. On paper it was simple….practise is never quite the same :lol:

Initially it was simple; we headed down a well-made path discussing all manner of things and giving me a new cake to make – the “doughnut cake” that we didn’t know the name of (turned out to be a Bundt or Gugelhopf cake) :D
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After a while the path started swinging towards the car par so we left it and took a straight line towards the plantation. We crossed the track and dropped down towards the river which we planned to follow upstream a short distance to a bridge.

However, it appeared that the bank of the river had been washed away leaving nothing to walk on :shock: So we would have to cross the river without the aid of a bridge…. I employed the bin bags (more successfully this time :lol: )
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while Colin went for the boots off option.
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Jura wondering what all the fuss was about :roll:
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Safely across, Morrone ahead
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Once Colin had dried his feet we stumbled our way through some jungle until we came to the track. This provided some mercifully easy walking as we travelled up the glen until the gradient on Creag Bhalg eased a little.
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A rock pool
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Soon enough we had to head uphill. Initially we stumbled through trees and heather and all manner of undergrowth. Once out of the forest it didn’t get any easier :shock: At times we were trying to walk through waist high heather and it was really hard work :crazy: :crazy:

Stopping for a breather – Colin and Carn na Drochaide
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A weird tree
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However, due to the wind direction, we were sheltered here so every time I stopped I had flies buzzing around my head which was really annoying!

Me getting cranky :lol:
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Beinn a’ Bhuird
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We struggled on and on and on and eventually made the ridge :thumbup: From here it was a short walk along – would you believe it – an actual path :lol:

Creag Bhalg summit
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There was another cairn further on which I visited, just in case. It was an even better viewpoint down Gleann an t-Slugain
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Colin on the summit with Morrone behind
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Gotcha :D
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We could see the weather starting to close in on the higher tops to the west and could feel a few droplets in the air. The wind was also picking up so it was time to get out of there.

The ridge – our route home
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A last view of Beinn Bhreac, Beinn a’ Bhuird and Ben Avon
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We followed the ridge (a path :D :D ) then dropped down to some sort of wee power substation. We had hoped there might be some sort of track from here but sadly not.

Our destination….
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Morrone
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Carn na Drochaide
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We headed down through the trees…
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…and then steep heather
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Before walking a few metres along the road back to the car. In terms of distance and ascent it was a pretty easy day, but wading through heather is incredibly tiring :shock: :crazy:

In fact we were so tired that we had to stop for cake in Braemar on the way home :lol: :thumbup: Colin's photo as I was too busy eating :lol:
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Carn na Drochaide and Creag Bhalg.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

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Jaxter
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Re: Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!

Postby malky_c » Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:13 pm

Creag Bhalg - nice little summit, rubbish way up (I think I did pretty much the same, and remember drowning in waist-deep heather) :) . Pretty sure there's another bridge at the Punch Bowl just above the Linn of Quoich - all electric fence-bagging could have been avoided :wink: .
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Re: Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!

Postby Mal Grey » Wed Sep 20, 2017 9:33 pm

Obviously it would be wrong to giggle at an image of a lady crossing a river wearing colour-coordinated plastic bags on her legs, let alone the mental image of her possibly not realising the fence was electric and grabbing it for help...as that's the sort of thing I'd have done! So I won't laugh and will, instead, bow down to your ingenuity. :clap:

Nice day for it, lovely country for views when the weather's like that. More hills I've never heard of though.

Clever to put "cake" in the title, I bet it gets loads of views! :lol:
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Re: Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!

Postby Graeme D » Wed Sep 20, 2017 10:30 pm

Nice looking pair of cakes! :lol: :wink:
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Re: Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!

Postby BlackPanther » Thu Sep 21, 2017 10:01 am

Nice looking cakes... Especially for somebody on strict diet :lol:

We did this duo in early March this year, river was far too high to wade (with or without bin bags) so we walked a short distance to the new Punch Bowl bridge - it is only about 500m up the river (115913):
Image
Never mind the mishap with the fence... At least you had lovely weather and superb views from both hills, which we never did. It was so windy we could hardly stand up straight on the summit of the Corbett :lol:
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Re: Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!

Postby Alteknacker » Thu Sep 21, 2017 10:39 pm

This seemed like a very strange hill to choose, until I saw the pics of the Cairngorms... The cliffs, crags and corries really are something else. Continuing to make really good use of the mega-camera, I see :) .

Interested also to see your rubble bag technique. I guess each rubble-bagger has her/his own method. I don't use poles, so I just hold the bags as high as I can and walk veeeeeerrrrrry slowly :D .
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Re: Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!

Postby tall-story » Thu Sep 21, 2017 11:10 pm

Thanks again for a great nonsense filled day on the hills :clap: I guess we could have went upstream and looked for the bridge but where would the fun be in that :roll: Rubble sacks r' us :D
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Re: Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!

Postby ancancha » Sat Sep 30, 2017 10:15 pm

Nae water moccasins yet Jaxter :roll:
They even got them in blue to match your bin bags :lol:
Nice part of the world up there :clap:
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Re: Wading through heather earns tasty cakes!

Postby Jaxter » Sun Oct 01, 2017 12:43 pm

malky_c wrote:Creag Bhalg - nice little summit, rubbish way up (I think I did pretty much the same, and remember drowning in waist-deep heather) :) . Pretty sure there's another bridge at the Punch Bowl just above the Linn of Quoich - all electric fence-bagging could have been avoided :wink: .

We couldn't be bothered walking to that bridge, and figured it was fine anyway. Which it would have been if I hadn't been a total idiot :lol: :lol:



Mal Grey wrote:Obviously it would be wrong to giggle at an image of a lady crossing a river wearing colour-coordinated plastic bags on her legs, let alone the mental image of her possibly not realising the fence was electric and grabbing it for help...as that's the sort of thing I'd have done! So I won't laugh and will, instead, bow down to your ingenuity. :clap:

Nice day for it, lovely country for views when the weather's like that. More hills I've never heard of though.

Clever to put "cake" in the title, I bet it gets loads of views! :lol:

To be fair, I was laughing at myself, and certainly would have laughed at anyone else in a similar situation :lol: :lol:
Cake is the best. It's how I make friends 8)



Graeme D wrote:Nice looking pair of cakes! :lol: :wink:

They were tasty as! :D :D



BlackPanther wrote:Nice looking cakes... Especially for somebody on strict diet :lol:

We did this duo in early March this year, river was far too high to wade (with or without bin bags) so we walked a short distance to the new Punch Bowl bridge - it is only about 500m up the river (115913):
Image
Never mind the mishap with the fence... At least you had lovely weather and superb views from both hills, which we never did. It was so windy we could hardly stand up straight on the summit of the Corbett :lol:

We were just lazy :shock: But I'll take the views! 8)



Alteknacker wrote:This seemed like a very strange hill to choose, until I saw the pics of the Cairngorms... The cliffs, crags and corries really are something else. Continuing to make really good use of the mega-camera, I see :) .

Interested also to see your rubble bag technique. I guess each rubble-bagger has her/his own method. I don't use poles, so I just hold the bags as high as I can and walk veeeeeerrrrrry slowly :D .

Sometimes the less attractive hills have the best views 8)
I think I have multiple techniques, depends on the river. If I'm balancing on rocks I use the poles for balance. Deeper water means you have to hold the bags up :wink:



tall-story wrote:Thanks again for a great nonsense filled day on the hills :clap: I guess we could have went upstream and looked for the bridge but where would the fun be in that :roll: Rubble sacks r' us :D

Always like a challenge eh :wink: Pleasure eating cake with you :D



ancancha wrote:Nae [url=<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">http://southeastwetsuits.ie/product/alder-coral-soul-ladies-beach-shoes-blue</span>/]water moccasins[/url] yet Jaxter :roll:
They even got them in blue to match your bin bags :lol:
Nice part of the world up there :clap:

I should probably get myself some of them...but rubble sacks work so well :lol:
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