Benaquhallie

13 March 2012.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Benaquhallie, 494m/ 1,621', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, OS 37, NJ 606087

It had clouded over during the night and looked as though it might take a few hours to shift. I had spent the night in Ballater and was now heading for Alford and this Marilyn was only a few miles off route. By lunch time, the cloud had shifted and it was back to sunshine but by that time I had climbed the hill; however here is a view of it from the south under the better weather conditions.....

I found space to park the car at the end of a minor road before the houses at Upper Dargie. It was a straightforward case of climbing the south slopes, firstly through a field and then through some thick heather. There was no path. I could see from a distance away as I approached the hill that it sported a huge cairn....
.

It wasn't at the highest point but the trig was only yards further on. This is the view east to Bennachie.....

and west to Morven.....

Although it had been a bit of a plod through the heather this one only took 40 minutes to get up. I spoke to the landowner when I got back to the car; he thought that the cairn had been built as some sort of watch tower but he didn't know who had built it or when. It certainly commands wide views of the surrounding countryside.