Dun Coillich

26 October 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Dun Coillich, 572m/1,877', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 52, NN 762537

Although the cloud was well down on the Campsies when I left the house, MWIS was promising that it would lift as the day went on. I took the A9 and then cut across to Aberfeldy, the tops were still shrouded but lo and behold, as I drove along the Tay valley, Schiehallion appeared with only its higher reaches still capped. It looked like it was going to be a good day after all! Dun Coillich was a new Marilyn for me and as it sits in the shadow of Schiehallion I reckoned that it must be a good viewpoint for it. This is a view of Dun Coillich from Glengoulandie- taken on the way back when the cloud had completely cleared and the weather was much brighter.....

The few reports that I had read about this hill suggested an approach from the B846. I had a look at the approach from the Dun Coillich Community Woodland car park but it looked as though there were a number of fences to get over which might have posed problems for Ben so I carried on. An alternative approach was from White Bridge but construction traffic was everywhere and it looked as though the parking area was being used as a turning area for big vehicles to get in to one of the new tracks that had been built on the east side of the road. I presume that all this is for the Beauly- Denny power line; there were new roads everywhere that I hope will be removed once the pylons have been erected. So I decided to carry on again and go round to the north side of the hill and have a look at the approach from the Braes of Foss car park- the start of the track up Schiehallion. My objective looked a bit further away from here.....

The only possible problem was getting through the deer fence that separated the JMT land from the Community Woodland area but shortly after leaving the forest and almost at the point where the Schiehallion path started to climb I spied a gate which had pedestrian access. The only way I can describe the going is "rough". The community website says that all the sheep and deer have been removed from the area so there were no tracks of any description to follow. It looked as though it had been the intention to plant trees on this side of the hill as I came across a number of holes in the heather- however there was no sign of any saplings and the holes just served as booby traps. Thank goodness for trekking poles, saved me from falling into one! It got a bit easier as I got higher. Schiehallion dominated the view.....

My route led directly to the western of the two tops where the highest point was marked by a few stones.....

There was another top a few hundred yards away with a more substantial cairn which according to the map is the true summit. However there is not much between them so it's worth doing both......

Here are a couple of other views from the summit. This is looking over Loch Kinardochy towards a distant Beinn a'Ghlo.....

and due east to the Corbett, Meall Tairneachan.....

It seemed to be much easier going down than coming up. I found that the grassy areas were very wet- my boots are now well used and my feet were soon soaking- and it was better to stick to the heather. Low down, we raised a snipe. This is looking back to the car park (in the gap between the trees) from about the half way point.....

Despite the rough going, I enjoyed this walk. The bigger hills are often best viewed from something smaller and this was definitely the case today. I drove home by Aberfeldy and Crieff stopping to look at the Wade bridge in Aberfeldy.....

Goseland Hill

19 October 2011.

Participants - Neil, Steven and Ben
Where - Goseland Hill, 435m/1,427', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 72, NT 071351

No decent summer and no decent autumn either so far in the central belt! The weather had been pretty grim since I returned from my few days in the North-East but it looked as though today was to be ok so it was into the car and off to the south of Lanark for a short walk on Goseland Hill, one of the sub-2,000' Marilyns in that area that I have not yet blogged.....

This is a heather covered hill in the middle of sheep country, although Ben does not appear to be interested in sheep I always try to keep him well away from them and today fortunately they were on a different part of the hill. I had climbed this hill a couple of times before and it provides some good views; today was the best weather conditions that I had had on my visits. I haven't checked exactly but the hill seems to sit on the watershed with the Tweed just a short distance to the east and the Clyde a short distance to the west. Minor roads circle the hill and there is a wee quarry like area at the east end of the track to Goseland house on the south side which can take a few cars. From the car parking area, it was straight up steeply about 200m in height over short cropped heather to the east top of the hill. As we climbed up, good views opened up to the west towards Tinto.....

From the east top it was only a short walk along a gently inclining plateau to the trig. Ben was first to get there as usual.....

Here he is again with Steven and then with me with Broughton Heights in the background.....

This is again looking towards Tinto......

The Culter hills are to the south.... in the wrong place at this time of day for photography, but I had better not complain too much about the sun or we'll be in for another few weeks of cloud and rain.....

It really was great weather today though as we reluctantly left the top and headed back down the way we had come.....

Ben Rinnes

A short visit to the North-East, Day 4

30 September 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Ben Rinnes, 840m/2,756', Corbett, Map 28, NJ 255355

The cloud had moved on overnight and it was another gloriously sunny day. However, more cloud and rain was forecast to move in from the west later in the day so I made an early start. It was a short drive to the start point- a car park just off the Dufftown to Tomintoul road. I was the first car there although another arrived just as I was setting off up the hill and it was joined by a few others during the course of the morning. This is a popular hill, probably because it is the highest in the area and has a good path up it. It also has a well defined outline and can be seen and identified from many miles away. This was my third visit and in easily the best weather.

The initial part of the track to the top of Round Hill was steep. The whole route opened up from there.....

The track continued over Roy's Hill.....

and then steepened again as it climbed towards the tors that marked the summit.....

The summit is called Scurran of Lochterlandoch- I love these north-east names! Although it was warm and sunny it was also windy and I was glad to find shelter in the lee of the summit tor while Ben explored a bit of the summit plateau.....

There was a real feeling of height up here; this is looking down on the sub-2,000' Marilyns of Meikle Conval and Little Conval.....

Other folk were starting to arrive as we set off down. Here is another view of the Convals' from lower down with Ben Aigan to the left again....

And that was the last hill of my short visit to the North-East. Four new sub-2,000' Marilyns for my list plus another visit to a popular Corbett in perfect weather conditions was not bad going! I completed a circuit by driving back via Tomintoul and Braemar. It started to rain about a mile from home.

Ben Aigan

A short trip to the North-East, Day 3.

29 September 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Ben Aigan, 471m/1,546', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 28, NJ 310482

It was still warm but cloud had moved in overnight so there was not a lot of sunshine today. However the atmosphere was still clear so I would get the views. It was only a short drive- Ben Aigan stands above the town of Rothes and is deep in forestry country. However the top was outwith FC land so was clear.....

The forest area was part of the Monster Cycle Trails project and I drove to the car park for the start of these which was off the A95. Looking at the map this was a longer route than some others but after two very short days walking I reckoned that we could manage something a bit more lengthy. This route I estimated as being about 3 miles each way with about 250m of ascent. The track contoured round the hill with a number of changes of direction with the first objective being the mast at the top of Knock More.....

There was a firebreak that would have saved some distance and time by missing out Knock More but as we were in no hurry we didn't take it and stuck to the main track. The track was shown on the map as ending at the radio mast but I had checked in advance and found that it in fact continued to the edge of the forest at the start of the upper slopes of the hill. The trees had been cleared around the mast and I got my first view of the day's objective.....

Outwith the forest I was on private estate land and the track changed to a path.....

It was not far from there to the trig, here with Ben Rinnes in the background.....

and looking more or less in a southerly direction.....

We went back the same way and I visited Elgin Cathedral in the afternoon.....

Bin of Cullen

A short visit to the North-East, Day 2 cont.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Bin of Cullen, 320m/1,051', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 29, NJ 480643

Various minor roads through some nice countryside took me to the start of my second walk of the day- the Bin of Cullen. The harvest was in full swing and it looked like being a bumper crop.....

The start point for this one was near to a farm called Braidbog where there was some parking at the entrance to the track through the forest. It was mixed woodland and very pleasant to walk through as the leaves and ferns were starting to turn into their autumn colours.....

The track was marked on the map and although it changed direction a few times there was no problem. Higher up there was a short cut but it was a bit bouldery so I just stuck to the main track. The top of the hill was above the trees and as I had expected it was a very fine viewpoint, the best of the trip so far. This is looking south back to Knock Hill.....

and this is a slightly zoomed shot of that first hill of the day.....

There was a view indicator erected by the Rotary Club of Buckie to mark the Millennium; this is it with the town of Buckie in the background.....

and this is looking down on the town of Cullen....

and that is where we went after leaving the hill- to find a seat on the seafront and to do a bit of sun bathing!

Knock Hill

A short visit to the North-East, Day 2

28 September 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Knock Hill, 430m/1,412', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 29, NJ 537552

It was just as well that I only had a couple of small hills on the radar for today as the temperature soared; by mid-afternoon it was registering 26 C. I drove through Keith and took the A95 Banff road and after a few miles the first of the day's objectives came into view.....

The start point was at the end of a narrow road to a few houses at Swilebog where there was parking for a few cars. The route up the hill was obvious; I could see a narrow path heading straight as an arrow from the woods surrounding the car park car park to the summit.....

There was a fence just before arriving at the top but it had a gate for pedestrians. It was something of an unusual summit with a trig point, a cairn, a smaller, memorial cairn, and a modern stone circle. The trig was also unusual as it was square; I hadn't come across one like that before.....

Unfortunately, the distant views were a bit hazy but on the way back down, I did take a picture looking towards the Banffshire coast......

Although small, the hills in this area are really nice and looking to the north, I could see the next objective, the Bin of Cullen. As it was much closer to the coast, I was looking forward to an even better view.

Knock of Braemoray

A short visit to the North-east, Day 1.

27 September 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Knock of Braemoray, 456m/1,495', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 27, NJ 011418

At long last the forecast promised a few days good weather so it was an opportunity to go further afield. The best of the weather was supposed to be in the Moray Firth area so I booked a few nights in Elgin. It was overcast when I left home, chucking it down at Drumochter (where have I said that before!), dry again by Aviemore and the sun was out when I reached Grantown. The Knock of Braemoray looked as though it would provide a good, short walk so from Grantown I headed up the A940 to Forres. The hill came into view when I reached Dava.....

I carried on to the highest point of the road where I turned the car and parked in a layby on the east side, which proved to be almost directly below the summit....
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 It was straight on to the hillside from the layby; the angle was easy and the heather mainly short so there was not much effort involved. The best of the view was behind me looking west to Lochindorb.....

So it wasn't long before I reached the top- here is Ben cooling off in a lochan with the trig behind and a rainbow providing a backdrop as the last of the rain disappeared into the east.....

According to the map, the highest point is a few yards south of the trig in a boggy area although it wasn't evident from looking around where exactly it was. So after a bit of wandering about and taking a final photograph looking towards Lochindorb it was back the same way to the car and on to Elgin.....

 The actual walk was less than 2 miles with about 160m of ascent and only took an hour. A good way to break up a long journey.