walkhighlands

Down with the Royals, up on the Coyles!

Sub 2000s: The Coyles of Muick

Date walked: 20/01/2024

Time taken: 2.9 hours

Distance: 10km

Ascent: 510m

When I had done a wee Friday night off the radar bothy with Allan and Colin just before Christmas, they had mentioned a weekend in January at Stag bothy up on the Alvie Estate near Aviemore which I might be interested in attending. I was, and promptly bagged the date on the family calendar. Plans then changed to a night at Corriemor/Magoos up near Oykel Bridge in the far north before finally changing to Glas Allt Sheil in Royal Deeside on account of the fairly dire weather forecasts for the third weekend of the year.

I had changed my plans for Stag bothy (up on the Friday night, wild camp, hill on the Saturday before walking in) to plans for Corriemor/Magoos (up on the Friday night, wild camp, hill on the Saturday before walking in). Now I had to come up with a Plan C, ideally along similar lines. However as the Friday drew closer, I was less and less inclined towards the Friday night part of the plan. The weather played a major part in this but also the fact that various other commitments had just got in the way and I was woefully ill-prepared for a Friday night departure. Then Allan messaged and suggested car sharing on the way up on the Saturday and we arranged that he would be at mine for 11 o'clock on the Saturday.

He arrived a short time after 11 and we transferred his gear into my car and hit the road for Deeside, stopping briefly at Lidl in Blairgowrie for essential supplies. The roads were absolutely fine after the snowfall of the last few days but many of the fields were still blanketed white and as we gained height towards Glenshee ski centre, the bigger hills still looked well plastered. The parking areas at the ski centre were rammed like I have seldom seen them before but we sailed on past and down into Deeside.

A few folks had fallen by the wayside over the previous few days and pulled out, largely on account of the weather forecast being p*sh. It looked like it was going to be Allan and myself (and Luna of course), Dean (who I reckon I maybe hadn't seen since the Torridon WH meet in late 2015), Stevie (who I had met somewhere, sometime but couldn't recall exactly where or when), Derek (who I had met at a few recent meets) and his pal Bod, who I had never met. I was just surprised to hear that there was another Bod cutting about the hills and howffs of Scotland! Allan and I had decided to do a wee Sub2K bagging raid on the Coyles of Muick before heading in to the car park at the Spittal of Glen Muick. We were away from my car by the gate at the start of the track near Loch Ullachie on the B976 by 13.30 and after a quick detour into the trees to check out the frozen loch, we soon reached the moorland of the open hill, following the well defined path up the side of the forestry to our left.

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Allan and Luna at the start of the track

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Loch Ullachie

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Almost clear of the forestry

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Towards Lochnagar

The going wasn't easy on the rough terrain and narrow path. Patches of deeper, soft snow were interspersed with sections of hard ice and at times the path became a bit eroded around the edges and fell away to our right into steep, heathery slopes. After a while the gradient eased and levelled out, before eventually dipping into a wide hollow and then making the final ascent up to the summit.

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Beautiful but deadly - fortunately easily by-passed

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Luna keeping a close eye on the back markers

The forecast was for the weather to get a bit wetter and wilder later on throughout the afternoon and although it was still remarkably mild considering the sub-zero temperatures that were fairly widespread over the last few days, the sky was increasingly hinting at the unsettled weather that was to come.

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That Sarah Connor moment when you know there's a storm comin!

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Stick well to the edge Mr McConnachie!

We spied a little hut a short distance away in the trees off to our left and decided to check it out on the descent. Maybe it would be one of those XXX places about which there had been some wild Whatsapp speculation over the last few weeks! :lol:

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A wee sunny spell behind us!

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Some deep stuff in the wide hollow

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Morven to the north

The final pull up onto the broad summit ridge was quite rocky and was a pleasant change from what had gone before. We headed straight over to the southern cairn which appears to be the high point and true summit from where there are views up the length of Glen Muick to the great bowl cradling the loch on the shores of which sat our home for the night.

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Approaching the large cairns just north of the summit

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South west from the summit towards Conachcraig, Loch Muick and the White Mounth

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Just a tiddler but still the first hill of 2024!

We then headed back to check out the huge cairns to the north before beginning to retrace our steps down past the flanks of Meall Dubh and alongside the edge of the plantation back to the road.

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These were clearly built with great care and effort!

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South west along the summit ridge

It was noticeable on the descent just how much the snow had melted away even in the short space of time since we had ascended but there were still some awkward moments on the difficult terrain and a few near misses for both of us. Allan's luck did eventually run out though when he slipped and fell, landing ar*e first on a patch of ice that promptly cracked beneath him and he ended up with his rear end planted firmly in a cold, muddy puddle! It always pays to not be at the front at times like these! :lol:

We nipped into the trees to check out the prospective XXX bothy but it was firmly locked. We could see in through the windows to a very basic wood panelled room with table and chairs and a stove and basket of logs against the back wall.

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If it's one of these XXX establishments then it must be closed for the off-season!

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At least it wasn't this that Allan fell into!

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Down Deeside

We were back at my car in just under 3 hours with the gloominess of imminent nightfall beginning to take hold. After a quick bite to eat we drove round to the Spittal of Glen Muick, paid the £5 parking fee, shouldered the heavy packs and hit the track for Glas Allt Sheil. As we approached the cluster of Balmoral Estate buildings where we needed to turn left along the north shore of the loch, I went my full length and face planted the track. I think I had been fiddling with my head torch setting and also carrying a bag of bothy essentials in my other hand and not paying sufficient attention to foot placement. Fortunately there was no damage done to either me or the bag of bothy essentials! :D

From this point on the headtorches were needed full time, even if they served primarily to accentuate and pick out the fine, driving drizzle that had now set in. The wind was fierce and of course, the Law of Sod dictated that we were walking directly into the teeth of it. Every now and then, a gust was severe enough to pretty much stop us dead in our tracks. Eventually, and without further mishap, we reached the edge of the forestry surrounding the big house at Glas Allt Sheil and saw a beam of light coming from near the doorway of the bothy tucked away round the back.

The other four guys were well settled in but running a bit light on fuel so the 5kg or so of smokeless coal that Allan had carried in and my 2kg plus about 8 or 9 substantial logs was very welcome. The Diabolo toastie makers were put to good use (Allan using his for the first time since getting it at Christmas, mine a veteran of many a bothy night), the beer and wine flowed and Allan managed to take a header down the ladder from the sleeping area in the roof space. And he was on the alcohol free stuff!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:

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Derek, Allan, Stevie and Dean gathered round the gogglebox

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Bothy life

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Comments: 2



Few redeeming features (or is that a bit harsh?)

Attachment(s) Fionas: Mullach Coire nan Geur-oirean
Date walked: 09/10/2023
Distance: 30km
Ascent: 1290m
Comments: 4
Views: 610


Foaming, but not at the mouth!

Attachment(s) Sub 2000s: Glas Bheinn (Glenelg)
Date walked: 08/10/2023
Distance: 9.7km
Ascent: 560m
Comments: 2
Views: 441


Beinn Tharsuinn - as easy as 1-2-3

Attachment(s) Corbetts: Beinn Tharsuinn
Date walked: 24/09/2023
Distance: 15.3km
Ascent: 880m
Views: 249


Lunndaidh Calling

Attachment(s) Munros: Maoile Lunndaidh
Date walked: 23/09/2023
Distance: 22.4km
Ascent: 1300m
Comments: 1
Views: 388


1, 2

A'Mhaighdean, RSM & more from Poolewe - Hallowed Be Thy Name

Attachment(s) Munros: A' Mhaighdean, Ruadh Stac Mòr
Corbetts: Beinn a' Chaisgein Mòr
Fionas: Beinn a' Chaisgein Beag
Date walked: 29/07/2023
Distance: 66.2km
Ascent: 2370m
Comments: 17
Views: 2326


No more screw-ups and a worthwhile exercise in masochism!

Attachment(s) Corbetts: Sgòrr na Diollaid
Date walked: 11/06/2023
Distance: 6.4km
Ascent: 550m
Views: 281


1, 2

Mullered - XXXX hot with a very unpleasant after taste!

Attachment(s) Munros: An Socach (Mullardoch)
Date walked: 10/06/2023
Distance: 29.2km
Ascent: 1200m
Comments: 23
Views: 8339


Beinn Bloody Bhuidhe - the Yellow Munro Fyne-ally falls!

Attachment(s) Munros: Beinn Bhuidhe
Date walked: 19/05/2023
Distance: 20.2km
Ascent: 900m
Views: 564


Ambleside 2023: Loughrigg Fell - there's always The Unicorn!

Attachment(s) Wainwrights: Loughrigg Fell
Date walked: 10/04/2023
Distance: 8km
Ascent: 400m
Comments: 2
Views: 1259

Graeme D


User avatar
Location: Perth
Occupation: Teacher
Pub: Moulin Inn
Mountain: Too tough to answer
Gear: Paramo gilet/Scarpa boots
Member: MCofS
Ideal day out: No such thing as a bad day out on or amongst the hills - only degrees of goodness.
Ambition: 2b sent home on full pay!

Munros: 251
Tops: 31
Corbetts: 123
Fionas: 75
Donalds: 22
Wainwrights: 28
Hewitts: 36
Sub 2000: 59
Islands: 6
Long Distance routes: West Highland Way   



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Statistics

2024

Trips: 1
Distance: 10 km
Ascent: 510m
Sub2000s: 1

2023

Trips: 11
Distance: 232.1 km
Ascent: 11110m
Munros: 6
Corbetts: 5
Fionas: 2
Sub2000s: 1
Wainwrights 1

2022

Trips: 12
Distance: 235.8 km
Ascent: 15225m
Munros: 15
Corbetts: 3
Fionas: 5

2021

Trips: 11
Distance: 209.6 km
Ascent: 14050m
Munros: 7
Corbetts: 8
Fionas: 3

2020

Trips: 10
Distance: 141.3 km
Ascent: 8280m
Munros: 5
Corbetts: 3
Fionas: 1
Sub2000s: 2

2019

Trips: 19
Distance: 276.6 km
Ascent: 18150m
Munros: 11
Corbetts: 7
Fionas: 4
Sub2000s: 1

2018

Trips: 18
Distance: 350 km
Ascent: 18085m
Munros: 6
Corbetts: 4
Fionas: 3
Donalds: 1
Sub2000s: 4
Hewitts: 14
Wainwrights 21

2017

Trips: 19
Distance: 209.4 km
Ascent: 17090m
Munros: 9
Corbetts: 11
Fionas: 2
Sub2000s: 3

2016

Trips: 26
Distance: 352.85 km
Ascent: 25760m
Munros: 18
Corbetts: 4
Fionas: 7
Donalds: 4
Sub2000s: 2
Hewitts: 15
Wainwrights 6

2015

Trips: 23
Distance: 451.7 km
Ascent: 24468m
Munros: 18
Corbetts: 6
Fionas: 10
Donalds: 9
Sub2000s: 3

2014

Trips: 28
Distance: 450.3 km
Ascent: 24390m
Munros: 16
Corbetts: 10
Fionas: 5
Donalds: 1
Sub2000s: 8

2013

Trips: 30
Distance: 355.5 km
Ascent: 24877m
Munros: 12
Corbetts: 14
Fionas: 8
Sub2000s: 6

2012

Trips: 29
Distance: 393.5 km
Ascent: 23469m
Munros: 20
Corbetts: 8
Fionas: 4
Donalds: 5
Sub2000s: 5

2011

Trips: 37
Distance: 478.9 km
Ascent: 28081m
Munros: 25
Corbetts: 9
Fionas: 7
Donalds: 1
Sub2000s: 16

2010

Trips: 48
Distance: 569.5 km
Ascent: 24365m
Munros: 30
Corbetts: 21
Fionas: 11
Sub2000s: 7
Hewitts: 6

2009

Trips: 19
Distance: 271.4 km
Ascent: 15243m
Munros: 27
Corbetts: 7
Fionas: 2

2008

Trips: 3
Distance: 60.1 km
Ascent: 3488m
Munros: 4


Joined: Oct 17, 2008
Last visited: Mar 19, 2024
Total posts: 3993 | Search posts