Creagan a' Chaise summit, May 2017


My first time on the Cromdales was a beauitiful spring day climbing Creagan a' Chaise with Evelyn and Moira. I'd assumed we'd be back sometime to do its northern twin but the route description put us off and there was always something more appealing we could do instead. Then I read Tortoise's description of going from the Strath Avon side which sounded more amenable and I rounded up a few pals to do it with me. So thanks to Tortoise for her map which we followed pretty closely.

There is good parking at Inverchabet, immediately after crossing the River Avon from the B9136.

Rest of the crew at the parking spot


We started along a track parallel to the river which then turned left beside a fence with sheep on the other side. One of the sheep had managed to escape from the field and was on the track ahead of us so we put the dogs on lead. As we walked on it kept running in front of us on the track which meant it would end up quite far from where it was meant to be. So we took a detour across the grass in an effort to overtake it and very quickly that worked and it ran back down the track.

Lone sheep ahead




We continued to the farm buildings at Knock, turning left at the sign for Cromdale.



Follow the sign for Cromdale




Looks like lightning struck that roof


Dark cloud over fishing lochan


Strath Avon and Cairngorms beyond


Ben Rinnes


Once out on the moorland we let the dogs off until the person in the lead called out that there were more white woolly things, not sheep but possibly goats. As soon as I saw them I remembered there are reindeer on the Cromdales. A few years ago I had read a news item about a solo female hiker having a scary experience with a young male reindeer which had gone for her with his antlers in a fairly prolonged 'attack' which only ended when she managed to escape over a fence. When she reported it the response from the people who manage the herd said they knew the individual she described and he was a bit of a rascal, which I don't think she found all that reassuring! I hadn't told this story to the others as I didn't want to worry them unnecessarily as it seemed unlikely we'd come across any reindeer. And here they were.

These are not sheep


Unlike red deer they seemed curious and approached us for a closer look. That they were so unbothered by us suggested they were used to people and their approaching us told me they were hoping for food. I've since read a bit about the Cromdale reindeer and their owners do come up to supplement their diet with extra lichen, heather and birch. The Cairngorm reindeer have regular visits from the public on guided tours to feed them food provided by the rangers, but I don't know if this happens with the Cromdale reindeer. They weren't afraid of us but they weren't pushy either and made no attempt to follow us as we continued uphill.

Reindeer and Ben Rinnes


He had an itch


Reindeer we left behind


The useful track suddenly ended and from there it was mostly pathless over grass and low heather. I also noticed a fair amount of lichen, an important part of reindeer diet.

Pathless up the side of the ridge


On the ridge looking SW towards Creagan a' Chaise


The Met Office had said it would be dry with sun in the early part of the day with a strong possibility of rain from midday and clearing again later. So we weren't surprised to see rain clouds moving in our direction and feel the chill of the wind higher up.

Rain is coming


Then suddenly on the ridge we came face to face with a second group of reindeer. These ones approached even more confidently than the first lot and the tail of the younger dog went right down. He wasn't happy. One of the group of us commented later that they were intimidating. They came closer and my dog barked. It was just one bark. I told her to be quiet as I didn't want the reindeer getting agitated. She didn't bark again but the one bark was enough and they backed off and stood nonchalantly looking to the side. My assessment was they don't feel threatened by people but don't get so many people up there that our appearance wasn't worth investigating since we might be bringing them goodies. When we didn't have anything for them and had a dog that gave a warning bark that was enough for them to decide we weren't of any further interest.

Reindeer on the ridge




Keira and the reindeer (Moli's photo)


Perfectly adapted to winter up here


I was buzzing. To see these magnificent animals close up was more than I could ever have hoped for. Reindeer roamed freely on the higher Scottish hills until about 800 years ago, when they were hunted to extinction. Then in 1952 a few were reintroduced to the Cairngorm plateau where the sub arctic conditions allow them to thrive and the number has grown to about 150. To join a guided tour to see the Cairngorm reindeer it costs an adult £20 and here we'd been up close and personal for free. Added to that each of us was climbing a new hill.

We could see two tops ahead but the one to our left looked higher and was the one with the trig point so we headed for it.

Carn a' Ghille Chearr summit


Carn a' Ghille Chearr is apparently Gaelic for the hill of the wrong boy but we were happy we had the right boy with us!

How to avoid the dogs begging for your lunch


Summit dogs - they had done well (Linda's photo)


For lunch we tucked ourselves in on the NE side of the trig point, out of the full blast of the wind. But we didn't hang about for long as the black cloud was now close and we knew the rain was coming. We headed back along the ridge, retracing our steps as much as we could to get down off the ridge in a trajectory to meet the top of the track we'd come up. The rain started in earnest and I stopped to add another layer, a hat and waterproof gloves and felt better after that. We reached the top of the track and followed it down finding the Knock Burn fuller than it had been on the way up. It's amazing how quickly rain can make a difference to water levels.

Descent in the rain


Fishing lochan in the sun


Rain drops on the lens


Despite waterproofs and boots we were all pretty wet but we weren't complaining. We'd had a great day on the Cromdales, seen lovely views and changing skies, got to the top of our hill and met the reindeer!