walkhighlands

Share your personal walking route experiences in Scotland, and comment on other peoples' reports.
Warning Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

4 at Glenshee

4 at Glenshee


Postby CGreen » Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:20 pm

Munros included on this walk: Cairn of Claise, Càrn an Tuirc, Tolmount, Tom Buidhe

Date walked: 16/04/2011

Time taken: 6.5 hours

Distance: 9.6 km

Ascent: 914m

Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).

Starting out from the car park on the A93 the wildlife already looked promising with a potential peregrine sighting as we drove up (it was difficult to get a good look and keep the car on the road though, so I chose to avoid the crash ...)

We crossed an old stone bridge and made our way up the glen beside the river, turning left and up the shoulder of the hill instead of climbing Carn an Tuirc from the main path. Already we were seeing a few mountain hares, still half in their winter coats. At first we stopped, got our our cameras and snapped away. Soon we realised there were literally hundreds of them - "look, another 4 over there, and 3 more there", we soon stopped saying to each other.
DSC00657.JPG
View from the car park up to Carn an Tuirc

DSC00670.JPG
1 of many, many mountain hares


Obviously the mountain hares were a bit of an attraction - at least to the golden eagle that flew overhead. Unfortunately we didn't see it catch anything - can't have everything.
DSC00693.JPG
View from top of Carn an Tuirc


From Carn an Tuirc we hot-footed it off to the next Munro - Cairn of Claise. This was a fairly easy walk with a gentle slope up to the top. The wind was getting up a bit by this time, but the sun was out.
DSC00703.JPG
View to Glas Maol from Cairn of Claise


From Cairn of Claise we cut across country to avoid doubling back along the dry stone wall, and caught the path to Tolmount, the 3d Munro of the day. The tops were getting a bit busier now, but everyone seemed to pass by at a distance, with a nod of a head, or raised hand in acknowledgement. A quick stop for a bite to eat and we were 'haring' off to the 4th Munro - Tom Buidhe. This was reached fairly quickly, with the opportunity to tramp through an enjoyable patch of snow:
DSC00707.JPG


We contemplated going on to Glas Maol but our legs just didn't have the energy left. So instead we came back down round the edge of Garbh Choire and back to the car park, sun kissed, exhausted, and ready for the 2 hour drive back to Edinburgh, whereupon I looked at my pictures and discovered I'd somehow set the date stamp to 'on' on my new camera ... Panorama stitches ruined then :(

This was my first real excursion in the Cairngorms, and the first time I've done more than 2 Munros in 1 day. Really enjoyable, so more Cairngorm adventures beckon soon.

Tick Risk: low to negligble (in my amateur but extremely paranoid opinion) based on an Spring walk. No liability accepted for anyone following my advice!

Route taken was hand plotted and not from the GPS - but should be roughly accurate. Paths on the hill are pretty clear at all times although we did do some cutting cross country.
Attachments

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

User avatar
CGreen
Mountaineer
 
Posts: 49
Munros:60   Corbetts:29
Fionas:11   Donalds:15
Sub 2000:10   Hewitts:22
Wainwrights:39   
Joined: Aug 22, 2010

Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).



Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to Walk reports - Scotland

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Edward Moye, Moonstone Hippy and 88 guests