Welcome to the fortnightly blog.
Welcome to the fortnightly blog. Been a busy couple of weeks again dealing with potential and confirmed bookings – there seems to be a theme that the guys I invest most time in helping design a route, end up pulling out! Hey, ho.
On the theme of staying in the hirer’s shoes, I took Bilbo on another couple of road trips and went without a hitch. First off I explored the Winter Corrie in Glen Doll – it’s hanging off a Munro I’ve done a few times and wanted to see if it was accessible via a pretty impressive (and steep!) glacial feature. Was never that into geography at school but I get pretty excited these days unpicking the past via landscapes….!
Following this, it was up to Aberdeen for me for a meeting. My family are all from there and my sister studied there too. A lot had changed but there were still some of the familiar features. I stayed over off grid just outside the city and had a decent night, thanks to the new mattress.
Next morning saw me along royal Deeside – one of my favourite parts of the world. Whenever I drive there I’m taken back to my mum talking about her weekend trips along there for picnics in the summer. I find it hard to believe that she did this on the back of her dad’s BSA, my grandmother in the sidecar – something out of Tintin!
Next stop was Glen Muick. A favourite haunt of Queen Victoria and walking distance from Balmoral. Half expected to meet King Charles! I’ve been to this area many times but this time was to tackle the mighty Lochnagar. It’s a lovely mountain but has that sense of drama with the cliffs, snow still very much present. It was tough going (partly due to minus 8 up top!) and thought about doing another day but I remember reading about Queen Victoria walking it so just cracked on! On the Glen Muick point, there’s ample parking these days which does attract a charge. I paid £10 to park, however noticed my ticket ran to midnight the following day – a good stopover point for the future with red deer roaming right next to you. Also spotted an Osprey above the loch which was a cracking sight. On the subject of wildlife, loads up there. Lost count of the number of hares I spotted – many still in their winter coats (not good news as a number of raptors about). Ground nesting birds were also plentiful – grouse, ptarmigan and partridge.
After the mighty Lochnagar it was back to base and get the van prepped again.
The Easter holiday presented a gap in the weather (or so I thought!) so it was up to just south of Glencoe to pick off a couple of Munros (Munro = mountain over 3000ft in Scotland) I’d never done. On a positive, these two mountains took my Munro count to 110 (there are 282 in all) and also provided great opportunity to test my waterproof kit! Rained the whole way, slipped on a descent through a river, boggy underfoot and could hardly see my hand in front of my face on top! Still very enjoyable and alc free beer and nachos in Tyndrum on the way home! Once again, average speed under 40mph which really helps with planning.
Next? Hoping slip away for a cheeky overnight this weekend in Glencoe. Couple of mountains up there still to do and oh yeah, the best pub in Scotland – Clachaig Inn!
Until next time!
