Bennachie

22 September 2012

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Bennachie, 528m/1,735', Sub- 2k Marilyn, Map 38, NJ 662227

Bennachie is the dominant hill in Aberdeenshire, easily recognisable and visible from many parts of the county. I think of it in terms of a mountain rather than a hill but in fact, writing this up, it suddenly struck me that it was lower than Coiliochbhar Hill which I had climbed yesterday. It comprises a high moorland with a series of distinctive granite tops. There are a number of possible starting points and ways up the hill but I like the one that starts at the Forestry Commission car park at Back o' Bennachie- charge £2. A well constructed path led up through the forest and directly to the main top, Oxen Craig. It was another cool but very clear day and the views when I got past the forested area were extensive. This picture is taken from where the path leaves the shelter of the trees and is looking over Aberdeenshire towards the coast.....

I stopped a lot on the way up to admire the views and take photographs, this is looking north over Insch to Hill of Foudland.....

and this is looking north-west to Tap o' Noth with Ben Rinnes behind and to its left.....

There is lots of signage on this hill, no chance of getting lost here.....

We carried on to the top of Oxen Craig where there was a substantial cairn and also a topograph- they certainly cater for visitors hereabouts.....

After a bit of a rest and a chat to some other walkers, it was time to head for the most distinctive feature of Bennachie.....

Down on the moorland again, Ben decided to solve any possible dehydration problems before we carried on to this well known landmark.....

 

It is crowned by a mass of granite and there are the remains of a Pictish fort just below the top. I believe that there are some hard rock climbs to be had on it, not being a climber the cliffs look terrifying to me!  Fortunately, the walkers path circles the hill at a fairly gentle grade on its way to the top. Not surprisingly, being a weekend, there were a lot of other walkers about with the Mither Tap being the most crowded. I guess that there must be many people who only visit it and are under the impression that they have reached the highest point on Bennachie.

We then re-crossed part of the plateau to visit the most northern tor, Craigshannoch.....

This is the view from it to Oxen Craig.....

and this is looking across the farmlands of Aberdeenshire.....

It was then time to head down and start the journey home, via Alford, Braemar and Perth. It had been a good couple of days, and there are still some sub-2k's in the area that I have not yet done.

Coiliochbhar Hill

21 September 2012

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Coiliochbhar Hill, 533m/1,748', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 37, NJ 503163

The weather was good and I decided to make another visit to Aberdeenshire. The main focus this time was another ascent of Bennachie, but there were a few other sub-2k Marilyn's in the area that I had not yet climbed. I had chosen Craiglich as one to climb to break up the journey as it was on the direct route that I was taking to Aberdeen but when I pulled up at the start point I saw that there were cows and calves in the field that the track went through. So no go there. A look at the map showed that there was another Marilyn a few miles away that I had not climbed- Coiliochbhar Hill- so I drove down a few country roads to get to it. I had not researched this hill and knew nothing about it so I hoped that there would not be too many obstacles for Ben to manage. In fact, there were sheep in two fields that we had to initially cross so Ben had to remain on his lead for this section. There were also 3 gates, the first was held closed by a stone, the second by a piece of rope, and with a bit of persuasion, Ben managed to crawl underneath the third.

The starting point was just west of the farm at Upper Minmore. I managed to park on the verge at a corner in the road about 100 yards away. This is a view of the hill from close to the start.....

There was a good track which went through the fields and then after the third gate, entered an area of cleared, but replanted, forest. I was now clear of all livestock so Ben was able to be released from his restraint, much to the relief of us both. The track climbed steadily up through the trees before emerging on heather moorland. This is actually one of the higher sub-2k's in the area and the views really started to open out. They were enhanced by a few old Scots pines that had sprouted out of the moorland, here is one fine speciman  in an easterly view towards a distant Bennachie.....

 

Looking round, the best of the westerly view was across the farm lands to the Corbett of Morven.....

Nearing the top of the hill we reached an older forest.....

The track headed off to the left and downhill so I decided just to make my way through the trees, it was only for a short distance and the going was not too bad underfoot. An old fence headed in the required direction. Once out of the wood, the cairn was in sight, here is the approach with another sub-2k, Tap o'Noth in the distance.....

To the north-west was a Graham, the Buck, which I had hurried up one autumn to avoid stalking.....

As usual, Ben was keen to keep on the move, here he is waiting for the signal to set off down again.....

I really enjoyed this hill, particularly as I had known nothing about it! The Aberdeenshire Marilyns are good value in terms of views as most of them are fairly isolated from their neighbours. And the weather forecast was good for tomorrow when I planned to walk the best known of all the hills in the area.

 

 

 

Drummond Hill

12 September 2012

Participants -  Neil and Ben
Where - Drummond Hill, 460m/1,509', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 51, NN 749454

This was much more like it, the humidity had gone, there was a bit of a breeze to keep the flies away, and the holiday period was over so the roads and villages had been reclaimed by us oldies. It was a really nice drive through Perthshire by way of Crieff, the Sma glen and Aberfeldy to Kenmore, the starting point for Drummond Hill. Some of the sub-2k's seem to be dreadful areas of dense forestry that will never see me set foot on them but I was hoping for a nice forest walk on this one, although I knew that there would be no view from the top. The view of the hill from the shores of Loch Tay at Kenmore were not particularly encouraging though; it looked a bit like a conifer nightmare.....

However, that was not borne out when we left the forestry car park; the trees were in fact a mix of conifer and deciduous and mainly fairly well spaced out.....

An information board at the start gave some of the history of the area. The forest here was first planted by order of Sir Duncan Campbell, the Laird of Breadalbane, in the 16th century. The area was one of the first managed forests in Scotland. The trees were largely removed to help the war effort in 1914-18 and the hill was later replanted with larch, spruce and Douglas fir, as well as some conifers. The wood is apparently the home of capercaille; I don't know how Ben would have reacted if we'd come across one of them!

The forestry path zig-zagged gently upwards; there was obviously work taking place somewhere on the hill and I came to a notice which said that the higher trail was closed. As I was not walking the trail in its entirety and there was no sign of work in progress where I was I continued. Other notices simply warned visitors to be careful of heavy machinery and not to climb on stacks of logs. At its highest point, there was a view (just) north to the Carn Mairg group.....

I had researched this walk in advance and I knew that I had to leave the track at this point, turn left, and follow an old wall along the spine of the hill. Although it was a bit rough and slow going it was generally dry underfoot......

It was just a case of following the wall on whichever side had the least vegetation.  It looked as though people had lived up here at one time.....

Shortly after passing the ruined building, the ground rose more sharply and suddenly there was the cairn in a gap in the wall; blink and you'd miss it.....

No chance of a view here. Although it looked as though some thinning of the trees was going on, this area looks unlikely to be clear felled any time soon although a lot of work seems to be going on on the north side of the hill. It's a pity that the higher areas of this one are forested, it would be a cracking viewpoint otherwise and a great walk along the spine of the hill. But it's not so it was a case of retracing my steps to the track.....

and following it back to the car park. En route I visited the Black Rock viewpoint which provided a grandstand view of Kenmore and Loch Tay.....

So not too bad after all!

Wether Hill

5 September 2012.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Wether Hill, 533m/1,755', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 77, NX 696942

I had been wondering about this one for a while, I couldn't find many reports about it and yet it looked reasonably accessible. I drove down to Thornhill, through the picture postcard village of Moniaive and a couple of miles further on parked at the entrance to the track to the houses at Craiglearan. There was space for a couple of cars on the verge. There is a windfarm on Wether Hill but I wasn't sure where the service road started from. However, the online OS map showed the Craiglearan track joining up with the windfarm road and that looked the shortest route to the top. Ben was on his lead for a lot of the time, there were sheep about and also a herd of cows at one point, although they didn't show any interest in us. There is not a lot to say about the ascent; this is a picture of the original track followed by the windfarm road.....

It was a case of following the track/road all the way to the summit. The ascent was gentle as the road zig-zagged across the hillside; this is looking to the top group of turbines that surround the highest point.....

 If anyone is doing this hill in clag, the cairn is close to turbine no. 7. This is it looking west to Cairnsmore of Carsphairn.....

The view was quite good so we had a wee rest at a stone wall and fence just south of the cairn.....

I wouldn't say that the turbines enhanced the view, however.....

Having said that, the road was useful as the grass was a bit clumpy in places.

The return was by the same route. It had been a pleasant walk.