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To finish off our trip Neil and I decided to bag a ‘cheeky munro’ on the Sunday morning before the journey home. We decided on Mount Keen given that we were staying in Braemar and it would save having to make a special trip for this isolated hill on another occasion. In addition we had our bikes, which we felt would cut down on the route times and so still allow us to get home at a reasonable hour.
We arrived at the car park in Glan Tanar in fairly decent weather and set out at 08.45 into the woodland trail. This was a pleasant ride, ever so slightly uphill overall, but plenty to keep you interested. After about 7km we left the cover of the trees and out onto open fells and exposed to the weather; slight drizzle and a stiff breeze straight into our faces. I tucked in behind Neil to avoid the wind – I could tell that he was having to work really hard to make headway, but I didn’t have the legs to get out in front. I did toy with the idea of shouting out to ask him to keep in a straight line as I kept getting a blast of wind each time he weaved around to keep on the best line, but I didn’t think he would see the funny side
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We could see some MTB tracks heading out along the track and given the heavy rain the day before figured they must have been made that morning and so expected to see the rider returning at any time.
09.50 we reached the final bridge over the burn from where the path steepens noticeably. I decided to ditch my bike at this point after my experience on Mayar and Driesh, so I threw it into the heather beside the track. However, Neil decided he was going to try and make it up on his bike. Knowing he would therefore be much quicker on the descent I starting knocking out a good pace towards the top to try and beat him up.
As I reached the final ascent the wind really picked up and continued to do so as I climbed, by the time I reached the top I was struggling to stay upright and I picked my way through the boulders, touched the trig point for the most fleeting moment before turning and heading back it was 10.40. Disappointingly I saw that Neil was only just behind me and I also noticed that the MTB tracks we had been following went all the way to the top – big respect to whoever pushed their bike up there in that weather
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After dropping from this top and out of the worst of the wind I decided to take a quick photo as the mist has parted briefly showing the Mounth Road below, but by the time I got my blackberry out of my pack the mist had rolled in again.
![Just below summit of Mount Keen with Mounth Road to rear.jpg]()
- Just below the summit of Mount Keen
On the subject of photographs I’ve been impressed by some of the images on WTH and resolved to make more of an effort to record future trips.
We jogged back to the bridge arriving at 11.00 and set out for Glen Tanar. The ride back was fantastic, we had the wind behind us and it was marginally downhill all the way, so we were really flying and arrived back at the car for 11.30. We just had a seven hour drive home to follow, during which we could look back on a productive few days; between Thursday afternoon and Sunday morning we had bagged 17 munros and ran/walked/biked over 100km. Having said that it was hard work and in the gym the next day I was washed out, so next time I’ll be looking for something a little more sensible and maybe even have the chance to enjoy the views and take some photos.
I’ve read a few reports that knock Mount Keen and I certainly didn’t see it in the best conditions, but I’m sure on a nice day our route would make a nice long walk (or walk/bike combined).
