Bad an Loin by the Tomb - Glen Shee
Date walked: 08/03/2024
Time taken: 3 hours
Distance: 3km
Ascent: 360m
A murky day......only one hill planned to minimise the discomfort !
A wee scuff o snow on the road as we breasted the bealach above the ski centre, but clear down to the Spittal
It was drizziling as we parked in the layby on the main road just N of Old Spittal Farm and the Cateran Trail.
Clumsily tooled up in the chill breeze then set off down to the farm in a bit o sleet.
Mused at the breed o dark bodied ewes with white heads & legs, which subsequent googling revealed as Herdwicks.
Pulled up our snoods to minimise the stinging effect of the sleet coming into our faces on the breeze. How did we manage without buffs in the last century ? Ah - now I remember, it was a customised knitted balaclava with a patch inserted across the mooth for winter climbing.......
Stumbled along the track towards a shed where some workies had parked their van and were fiddling with an animal feeder on the fence.
We vacated the track to allow a keeper in his 4x4 to pass with ( in his case ) - a warm wave - heater going full blast nae doot. We marched along to Tomb croft - quite a doom-laden name for a dwelling, we thocht.
Turned up the hill from Tomb, following the track as the snow/sleet started to ease. Tinkered with going direct up a grassy gully to the top of Bad an Loin - but, scarred by a lifetime of "taking shortcuts" we resisted and continued to follow the track to the bealach, where it forked. After a brief pause, we struck off up the hill over muirburn which made the ascent to the N top fairly straight forward. Quickly clicked off a couple of shots with our numbing fingers, then hustled off across to the S top which looked higher.
Clicked off another couple o shots, then retreated into the lee of the grassy gully spotted earlier on the way up from the track.
Picked up a single wee red deer antler with a damaged tip that had been shed some time ago.
Stopped briefly for a piece and a view down the glen into the gloom. As we descended the gully, our suspicions of a tussock-filled gully were unfounded, as it had been grazed and travelled by sheep/deer and certainly at this time of year it was a viable ascent route.
Descended to the track and a flock of BF sheep which had appeared from no-where in the interim. They seemed unpreturbed by our presence and continued to graze as we passed. GC picked up an abandoned krab as we passed the Tomb, promising to apply WD40 to free it up.
Trundled back to the car, noting a string of moles that had been "exterminated" as the sun poked holes in the cloud to brighten the day.
Once back at the car, we decided to bypass the cafes of Braemar and Ballater and head straight home for a BR & coffee in the Westhill Golf Course clubhouse. GC had expended a whole £10 for social membership to secure his supply of BR and Coffee on any day of the week ! The chef had just left but the heroic waitress drummed up our delicious BR's in his absence !
We completed our thaw-out with a fine view from the clubhouse over Westhill and a hazy one of the Hill o Fare.
Unfortunately, the eastern hills of Clachnaben, Kerloch, Mongour & Cairn mon Earn were lost in the mists today.
The higher hills of Glen Shee had acted as cloud-magnets, so we were spared the clag today.
A wee scuff o snow on the road as we breasted the bealach above the ski centre, but clear down to the Spittal
It was drizziling as we parked in the layby on the main road just N of Old Spittal Farm and the Cateran Trail.
Clumsily tooled up in the chill breeze then set off down to the farm in a bit o sleet.
Mused at the breed o dark bodied ewes with white heads & legs, which subsequent googling revealed as Herdwicks.
Pulled up our snoods to minimise the stinging effect of the sleet coming into our faces on the breeze. How did we manage without buffs in the last century ? Ah - now I remember, it was a customised knitted balaclava with a patch inserted across the mooth for winter climbing.......
Stumbled along the track towards a shed where some workies had parked their van and were fiddling with an animal feeder on the fence.
We vacated the track to allow a keeper in his 4x4 to pass with ( in his case ) - a warm wave - heater going full blast nae doot. We marched along to Tomb croft - quite a doom-laden name for a dwelling, we thocht.
Turned up the hill from Tomb, following the track as the snow/sleet started to ease. Tinkered with going direct up a grassy gully to the top of Bad an Loin - but, scarred by a lifetime of "taking shortcuts" we resisted and continued to follow the track to the bealach, where it forked. After a brief pause, we struck off up the hill over muirburn which made the ascent to the N top fairly straight forward. Quickly clicked off a couple of shots with our numbing fingers, then hustled off across to the S top which looked higher.
Clicked off another couple o shots, then retreated into the lee of the grassy gully spotted earlier on the way up from the track.
Picked up a single wee red deer antler with a damaged tip that had been shed some time ago.
Stopped briefly for a piece and a view down the glen into the gloom. As we descended the gully, our suspicions of a tussock-filled gully were unfounded, as it had been grazed and travelled by sheep/deer and certainly at this time of year it was a viable ascent route.
Descended to the track and a flock of BF sheep which had appeared from no-where in the interim. They seemed unpreturbed by our presence and continued to graze as we passed. GC picked up an abandoned krab as we passed the Tomb, promising to apply WD40 to free it up.
Trundled back to the car, noting a string of moles that had been "exterminated" as the sun poked holes in the cloud to brighten the day.
Once back at the car, we decided to bypass the cafes of Braemar and Ballater and head straight home for a BR & coffee in the Westhill Golf Course clubhouse. GC had expended a whole £10 for social membership to secure his supply of BR and Coffee on any day of the week ! The chef had just left but the heroic waitress drummed up our delicious BR's in his absence !
We completed our thaw-out with a fine view from the clubhouse over Westhill and a hazy one of the Hill o Fare.
Unfortunately, the eastern hills of Clachnaben, Kerloch, Mongour & Cairn mon Earn were lost in the mists today.
The higher hills of Glen Shee had acted as cloud-magnets, so we were spared the clag today.
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Gordon Ballantyne
- Location: Westhill, Aberdeenshire
- Occupation: Retired
- Activity: Munro compleatist
- Mountain: Ladhar Bheinn
- Place: Knoydart
- Member: Ex- RAF MRT Kinloss
- Ambition: survival
- Munros: 282
- Corbetts: 89
- Fionas: 20
- Donalds: 7
- Sub 2000: 59
- Filter reports
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- Distance: 17 km
- Ascent: 982m
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- Distance: 537.5 km
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- Corbetts: 1
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- Ascent: 18940m
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- Ascent: 30825m
- Corbetts: 2
- Sub2000s: 4
- Trips: 34
- Distance: 238.1 km
- Ascent: 11995m
- Corbetts: 3
- Sub2000s: 13
- Trips: 20
- Distance: 174.7 km
- Ascent: 7787m
- Munros: 1
- Fionas: 2
- Sub2000s: 26
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- Ascent: 9193m
- Corbetts: 9
- Fionas: 1
- Sub2000s: 2
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- Ascent: 9680m
- Corbetts: 14
- Fionas: 1
- Sub2000s: 2
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- Ascent: 11042m
- Munros: 1
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- Donalds: 7
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- Munros: 2
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- Munros: 1
- Corbetts: 3
- Fionas: 4
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- Distance: 11 km
- Ascent: 1160m
- Corbetts: 1
- Joined: Jan 30, 2011
- Last visited: Mar 18, 2024
- Total posts: 394 | Search posts