Needing a winter fix part II
Posted: Thursday, 14 February 2008 |
Tuesdays walk was great, but being a bit out of condition, I was suffering a bit. However, the weather on Wednesday was just as good, so I decided to make the most of it. One of the lower peaks at the southern end of the Cairngorms, beside the River Dee is called Carn Cloiche-mhuillin - the Millstone Hill. I remember reading somewhere that Sir Hugh Munro (he of the Munros fame) wanted to save this for his last "Munro". However he died before this happened.
It isnt a very difficult walk and is relativel easy to get to, just being a slog along the track from Linn of Dee west of Braemar. It is a great viewpoint however - there are really neat views up the River Dee and into the heart of the Cairngorms. Here are a few pictures:
A fairly typical view up the River Dee. Carn Cloiche-mhuillin is the hill furthest on the left.
Here's another:
Another view from further on.
Once you get onto the side of CCM itself, the view up the River Dee becomes much more impressive:
That's the Devils Point again - remember from the other blog?
this was taken from much further uphill - the Lairig Ghru path runs all the way through the middle of the picture.
This sort of country is classic glaciation territory with U shaped valleys, hanging corries, moraines, all the good stuff you get in geography textbooks. There is also a lot of native original pine forest - it really adds to the "feeling" of the area - the Cairngorms arent what Muriel Gray referred to as "pointy" but they make up for a lack of pointiness with a massive grandeur and a great sense of space.
Later in the afternoon I took a trip up Glen Quoich, again near Braemar. There is a lot of native pine forest here as well. Just a couple of pics as the light wasnt so good:
That hill is called Beinn a'Chaorainn - the peak of the rowan - I first went up there in Nov 1975 - as a spotty faced undergraduate!
And this hill is called Beinn a' Bhuird - the "mountain of the table" Its actually well named as it is extremely flat on top. However on the east side of the hill there are massive corries with huge cliffs. I remember reading a story about an old woman known as "Cailleach nan Clach" She used to gather semi precious stones from the hills here. Apparently she had a vision of a huge beryl (or was it a cairngorm?) in one of the corries of Beinn a' Bhuird. She went up the next day and found a massive crystal apparently.
Again, notice the native pine trees in the foreground and also the lack of snow on the hills! I know there is a bit, but this IS February and this is suposed to be "sub-arctic" territory.
Never mind - that was an enjoyable couple of days in the hills
Catch up with you soon
JW (MM)
It isnt a very difficult walk and is relativel easy to get to, just being a slog along the track from Linn of Dee west of Braemar. It is a great viewpoint however - there are really neat views up the River Dee and into the heart of the Cairngorms. Here are a few pictures:
A fairly typical view up the River Dee. Carn Cloiche-mhuillin is the hill furthest on the left.
Here's another:
Another view from further on.
Once you get onto the side of CCM itself, the view up the River Dee becomes much more impressive:
That's the Devils Point again - remember from the other blog?
this was taken from much further uphill - the Lairig Ghru path runs all the way through the middle of the picture.
This sort of country is classic glaciation territory with U shaped valleys, hanging corries, moraines, all the good stuff you get in geography textbooks. There is also a lot of native original pine forest - it really adds to the "feeling" of the area - the Cairngorms arent what Muriel Gray referred to as "pointy" but they make up for a lack of pointiness with a massive grandeur and a great sense of space.
Later in the afternoon I took a trip up Glen Quoich, again near Braemar. There is a lot of native pine forest here as well. Just a couple of pics as the light wasnt so good:
That hill is called Beinn a'Chaorainn - the peak of the rowan - I first went up there in Nov 1975 - as a spotty faced undergraduate!
And this hill is called Beinn a' Bhuird - the "mountain of the table" Its actually well named as it is extremely flat on top. However on the east side of the hill there are massive corries with huge cliffs. I remember reading a story about an old woman known as "Cailleach nan Clach" She used to gather semi precious stones from the hills here. Apparently she had a vision of a huge beryl (or was it a cairngorm?) in one of the corries of Beinn a' Bhuird. She went up the next day and found a massive crystal apparently.
Again, notice the native pine trees in the foreground and also the lack of snow on the hills! I know there is a bit, but this IS February and this is suposed to be "sub-arctic" territory.
Never mind - that was an enjoyable couple of days in the hills
Catch up with you soon
JW (MM)
Comments
MM thanks for the fabulous photos,
island threads from lewis
Two brilliant blogs, MM, what wonderful weather you had for your walks! Super photos, they really show the glaciation effects, straight from the book!
Jill from EK
MM, Great pictures as usual. How long were you walks (time and/or distance)? Thanks
CVBruce from CA, USA
CV Bruce, thanks for the comments - to answer your questions the first days walk was about 18 miles - from about 9:00 am till 5 pm The second days walk,first one was about 10 miles and 4 hours, the second was quite a short one of about 4 miles, but I took my time over it! There was actually a third walk on the second day but that was in the dark!
James (MM) from Tobermory
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
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