Cromdale Hills

Mick and Gayle had been summoned by Ciara for a visit, so I planned menus and walks. In the end, I suggested four walks, but when I mentioned one route was the Cromdale Hills, Gayle declared they’d not been there, so the decision was made and that was where we headed on Saturday morning.

It was the perfect walking day, slightly overcast, but with good views and a very slight breeze. Could have done with slightly more breeze really, to keep the flies off, but it was good on the top.

We parked the car at the car park over the bridge and faffed a while. Boots were selected and donned, mid-morning snack was had and noses powdered before eventually we decided we really did need to set off. It’s a straightforward stroll, mainly uphill to start with, passing through a field of cows (I neatly placed the rest of the group between me and the cows, they’re all better runners than me, I needed a head start…) and through a ford. A steady pace was maintained and I only needed one or two pauses to get me to the top and one of those was a navigation check.

We have no idea what ritual this was

Posing on the bealach

Views. I can’t remember which way I was looking, but it’s probably west…

Once at the bealach it’s relatively easy to follow a vague and occasionally wet path along the ridge line, stopping at the jubilee cairn for lunch. The cairn bears a plaque dedicating it to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. in 1902. It would have provided us good shelter from the cool breeze had we been first there, but the group of four young people got there first. However, it was nice to see a group of young, relatively well equipped people out on the hills of their own volition and not DofE.

Lunch stop

Gayle, practicing her gurning…

We took photographs and ate lunch, I almost created a third sandwich for Mick as the crumbs from my rolls were blown into his lap. We were soon on our way again as it was getting a tad chilly sitting there, even with the extra layers. The boys fair sprinted along the ridge to the cairn on Creagan a’ Chaise, along with the trig. The group of young people passed us on their way back, they’d obviously chosen to do an out and back from Cromdale rather than a circular route like ours. We were also passed by a lady and her bouncy spaniel that showed us surprisingly little interest. Having admired the views, we took a line off relatively similar to the last time David and I were up here, but from memory rather than actually taking the map and compass out. It was good.

The boys at the trig with the cairn behind

The boys did manage to drift right a bit and a little low for the path we were aiming for, but as we girls were behind them, taking a higher, more direct line and too far away to attract their attention, we decided they would eventually notice and right themselves. We may have become a little competitive (which may have just been me…) and speeded along slightly in order to hit the path first, which I did, but not before turning my ankle and ending up in a bed of heather. At least it wasn’t a boggy hole this time! I bounced back up before the boys even noticed, phew.

Another ford, and then we hit the road. I seem to remember this road went on forever last time, but in actual fact, it is a very short walk from Milton back to the car at Mains of Inverourie. What a fab day out!!

Approximately 10.1 miles and roughly 2048 ft of ascent.

Thinking Ahead

People take the mick out of my planning and mock my spread sheets, but I like to be organised. Whilst out on my regular strolls, I’ve been musing this years Challenge and have already started to organise my gear for next year, if only in my head so far.

I thoroughly enjoyed this years Challenge. I had a ball. It was very sociable, meeting up with many old friends and making a few new ones along the way. I didn’t manage to catch up with all my friends, which was a shame, but there’s always next time.

So, to next time.

On the whole, I’m very happy with the gear I carried. Everything performed well and mostly did what I wanted it to. I changed very little from what I’d carried the previous year, which was why I didn’t post a kit list. The main changes were reverting to my Screepants because Paramo didn’t return my repaired Quito trousers in time (a God send in the end, but they weren’t to know that and I was annoyed at the time!) and I carried my Rab Lunar top instead of a fleece layer.

Since the Challenge, my Quitos were returned to me beautifully repaired, but I have lost a substantial amount of weight (over two and a half stone, and counting) so the trousers were ridiculously huge on me. After a bit of a chat, I decided to investigate the Paramo Recycling scheme and after more discussion realised the best option was to recycle the Quito trousers for a new pair. Laura and I spent a pleasant morning in Aviemore, touching and trying on new trousers (…and other gear…) and after a little while I settled on a pair of Cascada II trousers. The fabric is a little tougher, so heavier, than that used in the Quito or Velez trousers, but as I found the Quitos easy to damage, the Cascadas should suit my purposes better. I will be Challenging in them next time.

This leads to decisions, of course. I like to have something to wear for ‘social’ occasions, and also as an extra layer in bed, I do so hate to feel cold. Usually, I carry Ronhills which are a great extra layer, but I feel scruffy in public. Obviously, I wouldn’t need to carry my Berghaus Paclites, and dropping their combined weight will allow my to take my new Marmot Screepants, (replacements for the old pair that are now a) waaaay to big and b) have a dirty big hole in the knee!) which are comfy over my merino baselayer and smart to wear in public.

I then turned my thoughts to my Rab Lunar top. I really had not utilised this top to its full potential. Having worn it a lot since, I’ve realised I need to wear it for walking in, rather than as a warm layer, social top. It is incredibly light and comfy to wear when walking and works really well under my new Paramo Velez light jacket. It also allows me to take my Paramo off, which as the light version I’m happy to stash in my pack, and still have long sleeves covering my arms as protection from sun and light winds. Perfect. So, if I’m wearing that, I now have pack space for a warm layer, my new Smartwool zip top, which I much prefer to a fleece layer as it’s less bulky to wear and carry.

This will give me a base weight (without food and water) of 9,585g, so just over 9.5kg, or 21.13lbs. I’m happy enough with that.

The route I have planned for next time (see how careful I am? Next time, not next year, just in case…) is going to be covering lots of new ground for me, in fact, mostly new ground and I suspect I will have four days food with me on a couple of occasions, but I shall soon eat my way through it. I hope.

Yep, I’m well on my way to being organised. I’m happy.

New for Me, Return Visit for Laura

Ben Aigan has been on my To Do list for a long time and Laura had managed to nip up it without me, but it was her suggestion to do it yesterday, when an opportunity arose fairly last minute to bag another trig. So, I abandoned my car at Laura’s at a reasonable time of day and we went off in the van to the car park at the foot of Ben Aigan.

We were both a little shocked to find an abandoned caravan in the car park, complete with a couple of lawnmowers, boots, shoes, bedding and a flat screen TV. Some wag had been there before us.

Abandoned

Views on the way up

Laura at the trig

Views

Not my choice of pose

Mast on the way back

A little faffing later and we were off. There may have been a map and couple of compasses between us, but we were on a straightforward and obvious track all the way. Wonderful views were had, flowers, mushrooms and butterflies were admired and a good lunch break was taken at the trigpoint. It was a really lovely outing in fact!

We saw no one else until we were making our way back, a solo lady walker (always makes us feel quite chuffed), an older gentleman with his dog and another chap in jeans. As usual, we felt over-prepared.

Roughly 7.5 miles and an amount of up.

Another Day, Another Trig

I’ve been up this particular hill, Ben Rinnes, twice before, two different routes, but Laura has been gazing at it longingly from her window for nearly a year, so it was time to get her up there!

As luck would have it, a window of opportunity fell on a day of wonderful weather, so I drove out to pick Laura up from her road end and we continued on along windy, narrow lanes to the car park, which was already (we thought) quite busy. The car was neatly abandoned, faffing completed and the walking began.

Seemingly busy car park

Upwards

The walk starts at the bottom of the hill and goes up. In fact, it does very little than go up. So, up we went and we continued up virtually all the way. That’s what hills do. We met one or two people as we went up. A local lady and her dog, and a group of young boys/men doing some sort of training (dressed for running, but most definitely walking until after they left the trig…) and probably a few others I’ve forgotten.

View towards the Cairngorms on the way up

Happy Laura!

Views

…more views

…few more views

…more

…yep

Dark clouds gathering

Oo! Me

Sigh

Some of the tors at the summit

Fabulous views were had, as expected, from the top, but we didn’t hang around as, although it was nice day, there was a chilly breeze at the top and I began to lose my fingers. We decided to drop back down the hill a bit to find some shelter to enjoy lunch. We dropped down a fair bit before we found somewhere suitable to sit, out of the wind and with a bit of a view, although by this time the track had become a bit of a motorway. I have never seen so many people on one hill! Some were friendly and cheerily said hello, some were decidedly unwilling to make eye contact and speak. I think they were tourists. It struck me we were quite overdressed by comparison, most were wearing trainers and jeans, one small lad had found his boots sore (probably too small) and was walking in his socks. An older lady was trailing up behind her family (presumably) complete with jaunty little hat and a huge handbag.

Lunch view 1

Lunch view 2

Lots of cars

By the time we returned to the roadside, the car park (which takes about seven cars) had completely overflowed and cars were carefully parked along the verge for quite some distance along the road, which is luckily quite quiet. I was impressed to find that no one was particularly badly parked.

So, Laura has climbed Ben Rinnes (I’ve done it three times) and we have ticked another trigpoint. Brilliant day! Thanks again Laura.

Just over four miles and a bit of up.

Ls Belles, Yet More Trigpointing

On the chosen day, I nipped over to Laura’s and abandoned the car, then hopped into Laura’s van and we drove to chosen hill, The Scalp. We positioned the van very carefully so as to not block a field entrance or cause an obstruction on the road and I managed not to fall in to the ditch.

Off we set uphill (why, why is it always uphill?) and followed excellent tracks all the way, with only some minor dampness underfoot and a few squawking gulls to avoid. It didn’t long to gain the ridge line, after passing a very sad and sorry looking shooting hut, then in no time we were at the trig. With a little careful positioning, we were able to gain shelter from the strong wind and eat a picnic lunch, enjoying the rather splendid views.

Fabulous sky

Uphill, but not the top

Good tracks

Sad shooting hut (we didn’t try to go inside…)

Laura at the trig, the Moray Coastline behind

Looking west to Ben Rinnes

Coastline again, I think…

A distant pimple, can’t remember what we decided it was

East

Me, Ben Rinnes and the trig

…and Ben Rinnes

Auchindoun Castle, fantastic view from our vantage point

My huge Bourbon biscuit

Orchid!

We eventually made out the inscription on this monument, it was to Dr Grant

After returning to the van, we decided a cup of tea/coffee was in order, so popped into the distillery cafe at Craigellachie. It was rather pleasant. On the way back to Laura’s, her shepherding neighbour asked us to help with some sheep, we had to block their escape up the road so he could herd them into a field. A break away group ran up the hill, looked at us, baa-ed, then turned tail and ran away again. They returned with the mail flock, but turned at the gateway just in time and were successfully persuaded into the field. It was quite fun!

And so was the walk. Cheers Laura!

Laura, investigating what the tourists had been photographing (…lots of whisky barrels. Exciting stuff…)

Fabulous old delivery van

…they’re coming…

….getting closer…

Phew!!

Oh! And there was yet another accidental Geocache. These are becoming habitual.