Brimmond Hill

22 July 2012.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Brimmond Hill, 266m/874', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 38, NJ 856091

It was a bit of a change for Ben's morning walk- at home its along the pavements to the newsagents but today it was up Brimmond Hill on the outskirts of Aberdeen before we headed back down the road. There was a bit more cloud than on the previous two days, it was breezy and the forecast was for rain later but the visibility remained good. On the previous occasion that I climbed this hill I approached by a path from the west so today I drove round to the car park to the north. This must be one of the easiest of the Marilyns in Scotland, there is even a tarmac track up.....

So it didn't take long before I was approaching the summit, which was actually a bit of a mess with various radio masts and an untidy cairn with a flagpole stuck in it.....

The weather was much better when I was last up here in July 2009 so I am posting a couple of photographs that I took then; firstly a view to the city and then a view across rural Aberdeenshire to Bennachie.....

These were taken at a virtually identical date and it was really noticeable how far behind the growth in the fields was today, presumably due to the lack of sunshine in recent weeks. Anyway, that was the short break over and I drove home via the Cairn o'Mount road to join the main road at Brechin.

Pressendye

21 July 2012.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Pressendye, 619m/2,031', Graham, Map 37, NJ 490089

Pressendye is the most easterly Graham north of the river Dee; it rises above the farmland north of the village of Tarland.....

The sun was out when I set off although it looked as though there were a few showers about. I had read that it was possible to park at the farm at Petts but there was a big sign saying no unauthorised vehicles and I couldn't find anyone to ask so I drove back down to the B9119 and parked at the entrance to the farm road. I then walked back to the farm, through the farmyard, and on to a track that continued all the way to the summit. From the farm, there was a good view back across the farmland of Cromar to a distant Mount Keen, the most easterly Munro......

The first bit of the walk was through an old forest, the trees were well spaced out and there was an occasional view to Morven to the west.....

There were lots of signs saying that walkers were welcome and also a few of these......

I am not sure what the route was an alternative to but the marker posts served to keep me on the right track! Leaving the forest behind, it was just a case of following the track straight uphill through the heather to the substantial cairn and a trig.....

I was really impressed with this hill; although of the spacious variety, the views were excellent and I spent a fair bit of time at the cairn. Morven dominated the view to the west.....

The Buck was prominent to the north, it's one that I must do again sometime, my only previous visit was a quick dash to the top to avoid stalkers.....

This is looking north west in the general direction of Glenlivet, I wasn't able to identify any of the hills but it was a great view anyhow.....

I met a few other people on the hill; they had all come up from Tarland and it seems that there is a good route from there starting at a car park. One to investigate for a future visit as I am sure that this is a hill that I will come back to some day.

Hill of Fare

20 July 2012

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Hill of Fare, 471m/ 1,545', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 38, NJ 672028

The forecast was for a couple of reasonable days before the weather once again deteriorated so I took the opportunity to go back to Aberdeenshire to do a couple of hills that I had not yet done. I like this part of the country with its mix of hill and farmland. Although the hills are of the lowish variety, they tend to be isolated and provide good, wide views. Hill of Fare is the highest point of a big area of moorland just to the north of Banchory; this is a view of it from the east.....

I opted for a route from the south, starting just west of a road that led to the hotel at Raemoir. There was space to park a few cars at the entrance to the track, which took a circuitous route round some buildings before arriving at this gate at the entrance to a forest.....

I was glad that there was a track on this hill; the going underfoot would have been awful otherwise with thick heather and bracken between the trees. This is looking across the Dee valley to another sub-2k, Kerloch, which I climbed a couple of years ago.....

The track emerged from the trees and skirted Craigrath from where the views started to open out; this is looking south to the distinctive tor on Clachnaben with the Corbett of Mount Battock to its right...long time since I've been up there.....

Just past that, I reached the moorland and a view of my objective to the west, still a fair bit away. In fact it was the best bit of 5 miles from start to summit.....

I knew that there was a small cairn not far off the track but it was not easy to spot where exactly it was in the thick heather especially as all ot the ground round about seemed to be the same height! As I reached the approximate area, another walker appeared coming in the opposite direction and although he wasn't going to the cairn, he did have a large scale map with him and I was able to work out from that roughly where it was. And here it is, less than 50 yards from the track, just where it takes a bend to the left. The hill in the distance is the Mither Tap of Bennachie.....

This hill would probably be better climbed in a month's time when the heather was out, everything was a bit uniform brown colour today. Nevertheless, it was a good walk and although the sun never quite came out, it was bright and I got this rather atmospheric shot (zoomed) of Clachnaben and Mount Battock on the way back down.....

The Amulree Grahams: Meall nan Caorach and Meall Reamhar

14 July 2012

Participants - Just me
Where - Meall nan Caorach, 623m/2,045', Graham, Map 52, NN 929339 and Meall Reamhar, 620m/2,035', Graham, Map 52, NN 922332

It had been awful weather and the forecasters were promising much more of the same. So when a half decent day came along, I had to take the opportunity. It was fairly grey but there was some blue sky and the atmosphere was very clear. Meall nan Caorach and Meall Reamhar are not the most exciting of hills which is probably why I had never climbed them before! There was nowhere to park at the start of the track that passes between the two hills so I left the car in the car park at Amulree village hall which meant about an 800m walk along the road at the start and finish of the day. The whole walk could be seen from the car park, Meall nan Caorach is on the left and Meall Reamhar on the right.....

I followed the track past the cottage at Girron and on up the glen, gaining height gradually.....

Meall Reamhar looked like it was the rougher of the two so I climbed it first. There was a barbed wire fence between the track and the hill that I had to cross, one of the the reasons that Ben wasn't with me (lots of sheep was the other reason). He is too heavy now to lift over fences. I joined the west flank of the hill and plodded on to the cairn, reaching it just as a shower came in. It was short lived however and it soon cleared up again, great as there were some good views to be had. This is looking west over distant Amulree to Loch Freuchie with the Glen Lyon hills in the background.....

and this is looking towards Ben Chonzie.....

The drop to the glen was just over 500'; a fence led straight down and then steeply up the second Graham, seen here from part way down.....

I had been going quite well but this next bit of ascent brought me to a stop, lounging in an arm chair watching Euro 2012 followed by a fortnight's watching the tennis is not really the best preparation for hill walking. Anyway, after a few stops I made it to the trig. On the way up there was a good view down the glen to Loch Freuchie with Carn Mairg and Schiehallion in the background.....

You can't see much of the Griffin wind farm when driving up the road to Aberfeldy but it is certainly well seen from here.....

I think that I made the right decision to leave Meall nan Caorach to last as the best of the view was in front of me all of the way down the west slopes back to the track.....

This was a longer walk than I had done for a while and my legs were feeling it when I reached the car