walkhighlands

A Walk of Three Thirds

Date walked: 04/03/2024

Time taken: 6.2 hours

Distance: 30.1km

Ascent: 820m

For the last two years this has been my February/March go-to route as I get the legs ready for the walking season. This year it's a later 1st visit to the route but my 3rd trip to Glen Esk in a week.

Starting at the Invermark Car Park at 7:10am it's a balmy -4 (it was -6 on Friday) and with low sunlight hitting the glen, it's a beautiful start to the day as I head past the ruined castle and on towards Loch Lee.

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Hills to the south of Loch Lee


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Kirkton in the early morning light


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I used to have hair that got in my eyes but that was 40 years ago!


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Church ruins beside Loch Lee


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Loch Lee and a very difficult to spot heron on a rock at the edge of the water


At this time in the morning I have Loch Lee to myself and it's a really enjoyable walk with the spectacular low light from the sun which is directly behind me. After Loch Lee I follow the Water of Lee into Glen Lee as I follow the track through the narrow glen up to the Stables of Lee (a lot of Lee's!).

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Inchgrundle looking tiny with the hills behind


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Glen Lee


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Yet another photo of this tiny bothy - not sure how many I have now but it's a lot.


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Glen Lee between the bothy and the stables


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With the snow on the hill behind, these deer were easy to spot


After the stables there is an unnamed burn to cross, Usually this is straight forward but the normal stepping stones are under water so I head uphill for a safe crossing point. Luckily, I had only gone through the heather for ten to fifteen yards when I spotted what looked like a good place to cross. I reached the stones in the middle of the burn and as I was deciding how to plot my way over the last part, I managed to over balance and was off. One step into the cold water and out on to the far bank - could have been a lot worse I suppose.

I know from the last two winters that the further up Glen Lee you head, the more the glen retains snow as it narrows and is sheltered on all sides by the surrounding hills. Even with that knowledge I was surprised how the track suddenly transformed from spring to winter in the space of about 100 yards.

Still following the Water of Lee the gradual climb becomes much harder than normal. The snow isn't deep, it's a fairly consistent 3-4 inches and in shelterd spots it has a maximum depth of about a foot but this is at 600m and four days earlier I was a dozen miles down the glen at 753m and all the snow was gone - amazing difference.

On reaching the point where the track fords the burn the gradual climb of the last couple of miles will change in to something much steeper and I considered turning back but the stubborn me one over and I headed on up. The snow on the far side of the burn was deeper and the gradient was much tougher but surprisingly I found this slightly easier, I also thought that once I reached the plateau where the wind always seemed to blow hard there was a good chance there would be less snow than on the lower more sheltered ground and this turned out to be the case making the last mile to the end of the track (by Easter Balloch) a bit easier. By now there was quite a bit of cloud around, the sun had disappeared and in what was a fairly strong wind it was pretty cold so while I was hungry that would have to wait till I could get out of the wind.

I retraced my steps (literally) back to the point where a track heads off over an unnamed top at 761m towards Muckle Cairn. Again I considered just heading back the way I came but quickly decided to stick with my normal route and head towards Muckle Cairn. Still on a bit of a plateau this was OK, the snow was a consistent depth with only the odd deep pocket in sheltered spots. Because of the increasing cloud cover all the distant tops to the north had disappeared but it was still a really good walk over to Muckle Cairn where I saw my first footprints of the day so at least a couple of people had come directly up from the burn crossing just above the stables. A quick photo at top of Muckle Cairn and I was off down the hill to rejoin the main track and find a place to cross the burn. Halfway down Muckle Cairn I suddenly went from a winter hill to patchy snow and then nothing but heather. The winter part of the walk was over and it was back to spring for the final leg.

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A sudden transformation


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On the plateau the wind has blown the snow off part of the track


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Following my footsteps back down towards my turn off for Muckle Cairn


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Heading towards Muckle Cairn


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And again


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The most un muckle Muckle Cairn top


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The last shot of the surrounding hills before dropping down out of the snow line


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Crossing point of the burn on the return leg


Just past the stables I stopped for my first food of the walk, the customary dairylea cheese and raspberry jam rolls - heaven :D

After the little bothy there is a track that heads uphill to the north (between Cairn of Camlet and Monawee). I had never been on it before but today my nose got the better of me and I took the detour as initially it climbed quite steeply away from the main track through the glen before eaasing off. I followed it till the crossing of a burn to check that it was passable and seeing that it was turned back with the intention of returning here soon for another wander (possibly over to Wolf Craig which sits above the Stables of Lee).

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The walk back down Glen Lee


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Time for a diversion


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Turning point on my diversion route


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My 3rd winter in these hills and no deer spotted - today 3 herds watching me from a distance


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Last look at Glen Lee


Back on the main track I headed back to the car park and once I was down at Loch Lee there were a few people out for a walk. Very much a spring-winter-spring walk today with the middle part feeling like a completely different world. At times, it felt like walking through treacle and it was easily the toughest conditions I've done this route in - bloomin good fun though :lol: :D :lol:

I've done this route numerous times and don't make it public but this was just a special day so here it is!

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Comments: 4



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Attachment(s) Date walked: 01/03/2024
Distance: 30.5km
Ascent: 1250m
Comments: 2
Views: 230


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Attachment(s) Date walked: 26/02/2024
Distance: 16km
Ascent: 649m
Comments: 6
Views: 476


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This post is not published on the Walkhighlands forum
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Distance: 0.1km
Views: 29


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Attachment(s) Date walked: 20/09/2023
Distance: 127km
Ascent: 3583m
Comments: 4
Views: 751


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This post is not published on the Walkhighlands forum
Munros: Broad Cairn, Cairn Bannoch, Cairn of Claise, Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr, Càrn an Tuirc, Tolmount, Tom Buidhe
Date walked: 13/09/2023
Distance: 37.1km
Ascent: 1415m
Views: 31


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Attachment(s) Munros: Broad Cairn, Cairn Bannoch, Cairn of Claise, Càrn an t-Sagairt Mòr, Càrn an Tuirc, Tolmount, Tom Buidhe
Date walked: 28/08/2023
Distance: 37.3km
Ascent: 1408m
Comments: 4
Views: 808


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This post is not published on the Walkhighlands forum
Attachment(s) Date walked: 24/08/2023
Distance: 49.4km
Ascent: 353m
Views: 59


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This post is not published on the Walkhighlands forum
Munros: Cairn of Claise, Càrn an Tuirc, Creag Leacach, Glas Maol
Date walked: 06/07/2023
Distance: 24.6km
Ascent: 810m
Views: 177


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This post is not published on the Walkhighlands forum
Date walked: 02/07/2023
Distance: 34.5km
Ascent: 574m
Views: 109

Gordie12


User avatar
Location: Nr Forfar
Activity: Wanderer
Pub: None (I like them all)
Mountain: Ben Macdui
Place: Tiree
Gear: Platypus Hydration System
Member: None
Ideal day out: I love a long walk into a good hill (doesn't need to be a Munro)

Munros: 114
Corbetts: 65
Fionas: 30
Donalds: 38+0
Wainwrights: 32
Hewitts: 37
Sub 2000: 35
Long Distance routes: West Highland Way    Borders Abbeys Way    Cateran Trail    Dava Way    Fife Coastal Path    Formartine & Buchan Way    Great Glen Way    John Muir Way    Moray Coastal Trail    Speyside Way    St Cuthbert's Way    Rob Roy Way   



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Statistics

2024

Trips: 3
Distance: 76.6 km
Ascent: 2719m

2023

Trips: 24
Distance: 1288 km
Ascent: 35622m
Munros: 35
Corbetts: 3
Fionas: 3
Wainwrights 6

2022

Trips: 12
Distance: 1086.2 km
Ascent: 28806m
Munros: 1
Corbetts: 2

2021

Trips: 26
Distance: 933.6 km
Ascent: 20397m
Munros: 2
Corbetts: 1
Fionas: 9
Donalds: 17
Sub2000s: 1

2020

Trips: 18
Distance: 516.7 km
Ascent: 10153m
Munros: 1
Corbetts: 1
Fionas: 3

2019

Trips: 10
Distance: 696.3 km
Ascent: 18301m
Fionas: 1

2018

Trips: 22
Distance: 851.4 km
Ascent: 17960m
Munros: 6

2017

Trips: 69
Distance: 2130.8 km
Ascent: 43147m
Munros: 3
Corbetts: 1

2016

Trips: 61
Distance: 1611.9 km
Ascent: 38788m
Munros: 2
Corbetts: 22
Fionas: 2
Donalds: 10
Sub2000s: 1

2015

Trips: 65
Distance: 2192.25 km
Ascent: 64016m
Munros: 25
Corbetts: 15
Donalds: 3
Hewitts: 9
Wainwrights 11

2014

Trips: 67
Distance: 1816.7 km
Ascent: 51209m
Munros: 30
Corbetts: 8
Fionas: 2
Sub2000s: 6

2013

Trips: 53
Distance: 1012.75 km
Ascent: 29007m
Munros: 18
Corbetts: 9
Fionas: 12
Donalds: 7
Sub2000s: 21

2012

Trips: 5
Distance: 271.7 km
Ascent: 1740m
Munros: 2
Corbetts: 1


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