Fourman Hill, Knockan, and ton up for Ben

23 September 2013

Participants: Neil and Ben

Where: Fourman Hill, 344m/1,128', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 29, NJ 571458 and Knockan, 372m/1,220', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 28, NJ 351463.

 

The forecast was correct, it was a cracking day. The colours on Ben Rinnes were amazing.....

But it was a less striking looking hill that I was aiming for, Fourman Hill, a sub-2k north of Huntly.....
 

 

It didn't matter that it was not very high, the view from any hill would have been worth the effort today. There was space for the car at the top of the minor road that branched off the A97 at the Bogrie hotel and continued uphill for about a mile past the farm at Fourmanhill. There wasn't going to be much ascent today to claim the sub-2k's; there was only about 100m worth of climbing from the car park to the top of Fourman Hill and about the same on Knockan later in the day. From the road, a track meandered gently up a pleasantly wooded area on to the open moor.....

There was a cairn and trig situated inside a patch of gorse.....

 

 

and there was a view, inevitably in this part of the country, to Ben Rinnes.....
 

 

Another small sub-2k, Knock Hill, was a few miles away to the north. I climbed this one a couple of years ago.....
 

 

I really like the contrast between the moorland and the farmland in the north-east; this is looking across Banffshire.....

The next hill that I had targeted was not so nice looking, really only an area of high moorland and now also spoiled by wind turbines. The starting point was a minor road between the A95 west of Keith and the B9115 to Dufftown. There was space to park at a cattle grid beside the start of the wind farm access road, which I simply followed up on to the plateau....
 

 

The angle of the "climb" can be seen in this photo.....

I hadn't, of course, taken the map with me not realising that the plateau would be so flat that the highest point would not be obvious. Doh!

However, after a bit of searching a cairn was spotted. It was so flat up here that there wasn't much of a view although Ben Rinnes did make an appearance on the western horizon. I'm not certain that the cairn is the highest point, the ground immediately to it's north looks as though it might be a bit higher. For anyone else who ventures onto Knockan without a map the cairn is a couple of hundred yards north of turbine no.4.
 

 

This was Ben's hundredth listed hill (Munro/Corbett/Graham/Sub-2k). He found a puddle to have a celebratory drink from. 

And then it was back down the track to the car.....

I rounded off the day by visiting Balvenie Castle at Dufftown.....

This ruin is notable for housing at various times the Black Comyns, the Black Douglases and the Earls of Atholl. There is a connection to Robert the Bruce and Mary, Queen of Scots was a visitor. Although now looked after by the State, it is owned by an American. So does history unfold!