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Munros: Carn an Tuirc and Cairn of Claise.
Date: 28/12/2017.
Distance: 11 km.
Ascent: 640m.
Time: 5 hours, 40 minutes.
Weather: Cold breeze and some drifting cloud with strong sunshine at times.
David got in touch with me a few days before Christmas suggesting a walk at some point over the holidays. Conveniently, it ended up being when I was down in Dundee, so we could share transport for some of the way. We were both slightly flexible about which day to go, but our chosen date of the 28th looked to be a good pick. Glen Shee seemed like an obvious destination, so we met up in Perth and I drove us up to the ski centre. We parked up a short way down the Glen Clunie side of the pass, and were on our way before 10:30 am. Perhaps a little on the late side to be starting at this time of year, but I was reasonably confident we'd have time for a reasonable walk.
Carn an Tuirc from the A93 It was bloody freezing at the car, but we soon warmed up following the path up the Allt a' Gharbh Choire. The going was a little slippy in places, with icy patches under the fresh snow, but we made reasonable progress towards Carn an Tuirc.
Starting out 
Cairnwell and Carn Aosda 
Back to Carn Aosda and An Socach Avoiding the icy sections on the steeper ascent put us into slightly tiring drifts in the longer heather. Once this was over, the ground improved rapidly but we needed to pick our way carefully to avoid sliding over icy rocks. There were a good number of grouse and hares around to keep us entertained.
Carn Dubh with Devil's Point behind 
On Carn an Tuirc Before too long, we were above the surrounding hills with good views to the Cairngorms. All that remained was a pile of icy scree which marked the summit dome. Moving around to the south of the summit, we were able to wind our way up, missing out the majority of the awkward underfoot conditions.
Beinn Iutharn Mor and An Socach 
Approaching the summit of Carn an Tuirc 
Hare on Carn an Tuirc 
Cairn of Claise The summit wasn't really a place for hanging around, so we dropped off to the south again to get some shelter for a break. I had hoped for a reasonable amount of visibility today (which we got) but I really hadn't bargained on the amount of sunshine and impressiveness
.
Creag Leachdach The south side of the summit was where all of the snow had blown to so there were a couple of deep drifts to wade through, but once over them, the walking onto Cairn of Claise was pretty straightforward and we made a decent pace. A diversion to Tolmount and Tom Buidhe had been discussed briefly, but we had started out too late really.
Walkers heading to Carn an Tuirc 
Coire Kander with Cairn an t-Sagairt Mor behind There was even more sunshine over to the east at the top end of Glen Clova, with plenty of contrast and shadow highlighting the lumps and bumps of the plateau in between. Although Glas Maol didn't spend much time out of the cloud, Monega Hill and the top of Caenlochan Glen looked enticing.
Towards Glen Clova, Dreish and Mayar Rather than following the wall and crest of the ridge over Cairn of Claise (which was again slippery and slow going), we diverted briefly to the cairn from the landrover track to the east. We were grateful for this track as it allowed us to do a large chunk of the walk at a decent pace - we knew the steep parts of the descent at the end would be slow so we wanted a reasonable amount of daylight to get down them.
Monega Hill and Caenlochan Glen 
South from the summit of Cairn of Claise 
Snow and sunshine 
Glenshee hills from Cairn of Claise 
Down Caenlochan Glen By the time we reached the top of the Sron na Gaoithe ridge, David was getting a bit sore, so it was good that the initial part of the descent was fairly easy angled. We passed a couple of fellrunners on their way up - they seemed pretty keen as it was getting on for 3pm and they were really only just starting the reverse of our route. However they were planning to finish in the dark, and probably got the best of the gloaming on the plateau.
Sron na Gaoithe and Glen Clunie 
Fellrunners just visible We had much less to do, but I was glad that we were still out at this point, as the best part of the hill day for me is when the rays lengthen and the grass turns golden (I suppose dawn can be good as well, but I'm rarely up!).
Sunset over Glas Maol As expected, the last steep section off Sron na Gaoithe was tough for David, particularly as it came right at the end of a 5 hour plus day out. I'm not sure whether having the car in full view is encouragement or just teasing, but eventually we were off the steep part, making the final steps up to the car just before 4pm. There was a little bit of a margin for error there as I think we could have managed another 30-40 minutes out on the hill before needing to get torches out.
Carn an Tuirc 
Heading for Sron na Gaoithe
Sron na Gaoithe
Last light on Carn an Tuirc
Carn Dubh 
The CairnwellWe were both very happy with our day out - had David not got in touch, then I probably would have played it safe with the weather, headed for the lower hills, and not had such a fantastic walk on the high plateau. It certainly rates as one of my favourite days out on the hills around the Cairnwell
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