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.....