Mar Lodge Bunkhouse Weekend Meet
Fifteen folk made their way to Braemar for this meet: eleven staying in the Mar Lodge bunkhouse; two camping on top of their car; and two staying at the Rucksacks Hostel. The last two were Chris and his son Tom. The highlight of their weekend was going to Lochnagar on Saturday. But it was the other Lochnagar - the Royal Lochnagar Distillery. I suspect that Chris and Tom made the wise choice on Saturday.
Most people seemed to get wet, misdirected, or turned back by impassible streams. Despite this, a large group of seven made the ascent of the Munro, Beinn Breac; Peter, Marion and Michael climbed the subsidiary summits of Creag a' Chleirich and Carn Allt na Beinne respectively. The Marilyn baggers between them added eight Marilyns to their tallies over the weekend and Jan got her Sunday run up the delightful Glen Quoich.
Jim writes -
The club meet to Mar Lodge provided a great opportunity to make inroads into the Aberdeenshire Marilyns. With a good forecast for the Friday, I headed off early for Lord Arthur’s Hill, the highest of the heather clad Correen Hills to the north west of Alford. I parked off the A994 near Littlewood Park, walked back along the road to the house entrance and from there followed the track to the summit. In the afternoon, I drove back along the Don to Newton farm from where I climbed Coiilochbhar Hill. Saturday’s forecast was poor but I only got slightly damp ascending Meall Alvie from the Invercauld Estate car park at Keiloch.
On Sunday morning I drove down Deeside towards Banchory for an ascent of the Hill of Fare. This hill is long and ridge shaped in an area of rough moorland and gave good views to the other Aberdeenshire Hills. On my way home, I managed my fifth Marilyn of the weekend, Benaquhallie, the highest summit of the Corrennie Moor between the middle parts of Strathdon and Deeside.
Peter writes -
On Saturday Marion and I went up Creag a' Chleirich 650m, a South Eastern outlier of Carn na Drochaide, the big lump of a hill to the east of Glen Quioch. We followed the Walkhighlands route description for the latter hill, but missed a (not very obvious) grassy track taking us up the hill. Retracing our steps we found the track starting off in a big zig in the wrong direction, and shortcut up heather slopes to find and join it higher up. Now we were on our way, and followed the reasonable track until it petered out at about 600m. Guided by a big rock on the skyline in what seemed to be the right direction, a moderate climb over long then shorter heather saw us at the summit cairn. We were clear of the cloud, but it was swirling around the neighbouring hills and Carn na Drochaide was completely obscured. After a bite to eat and confirming our intention not to go any further we set off down the way we had come, soon picking up the path.
On the Sunday we were joined by Michael for a circuit of Morrone Birkwood in much better weather. We had lunch by the duckpond, and cream teas at Ross & Goodbrand on the way home.
Calum writes -
Federica and I arrived on Friday evening and set up camp for the night at Linn of Dee carpark. Cold night (around 2C) but perfectly cosy in the roof tent.
On Saturday morning, we rendezvoused with the club at the Mar Lodge Bunkhouse, and joined Marcus, Richard, Jan, Andrew and Arthur to ascend Beinn Bhreac. We set off at around 9 am and ascended almost directly from Mar Lodge to the shoulder of Creag Bhalg, down into Glen Quoich, then into the Dubh-Gleann, past the tiny lochan of Poll Bhat (plenty of heather bashing, but minimal bog-snorkling), and onto Beinn Bhreac itself. A short and chilly lunch-stop followed at the clagged-in top before taking the path down into Glen Derry. From there it was a simple affair of following the well-made track on the east side of the Lui Water until it reached the tarmac road close to Mar Lodge. We arrived back at the bunkhouse at about 16:30, having enjoyed lengthy discussions about flood defence planning, tree conservation, and slime mould.
On Saturday evening we enjoyed the company of the club at the bunkhouse, before retreating once more to Linn of Dee carpark for the night. After a relaxed breakfast in Braemar on Sunday morning, we made our way back to Forres across the Lecht, catching some spectacular views of a lightly frosted Lochnagar on the drive out.
Steve writes -
I drove up via Banchory and was able to fit in the short ascent of the Marilyn Carn-mon-earn which turned out to be a splendid viewpoint. Saturday saw me attempt to tick the errant Munro top of Craig an Dail Mhor. After cycling 9km along a rough track into Glen Quoich followed by a further 2 km on foot I was thwarted 3km short of my target by too risky a river crossing. I was therefore obliged to return empty handed, but on the way back through the pine woods was rewarded for my efforts by the ‘jip jip’ of a pair of Scottish Cross Bills.
I broke my journey home on Sunday with a stroll up Hill of Persie (Marilyn) near Bridge of Cally. It benefitted from being clear of cloud and had rocky ravines that made the ascent more interesting than expected. It also afforded cracking views to the south.
Arthur writes -
I had two fairly modest objectives for the weekend. The first was to climb The Hill of Wirren, the most easterly Graham in the country and one which has eluded me because of the long drive. From Bridgend I followed one of the many hill tracks in this part of the world over the Shank of Ledmanie and then worked my way through the peat hags to pick up a fence taking me to the summit. I knew the Hill of Wirren had up to six crashed aircraft on it, being close to a wartime training base and also being the first significant hills heading north from Leuchars. Without searching, I came across two pieces of wreckage in the peat hags. Impending darkness prevented any further exploration.
My second objective for the weekend was to climb Lord Arthur’s Hill, as Jim had done earlier in the weekend. Robin, Andrew and I took a detour on the way home to walk the Correen Hills round, including Lord Arthur’s Hill. The few points of interest on the Correen Hills round are - the origins of Lord Arthur’s Hill name (the body of Lord Arthur Forbes was carried over it after he was killed in the battle of Tillyangus in 1571); Terpersie Castle - one of the first Z-plan tower houses in Scotland; and the old workings of Correen Quarry. Otherwise it is a fairly modest round of rolling heather moorland on wet tracks.
Taking part: Steve, Jan, Jim, Robin, Michael, Richard, Andrew, Marion, Peter, Arthur, Marcus, Chris and guest Tom, and prospective members Federica and Callum.
(Welcome to Federica and Callum who have subsequently become members of the club.)
Words: Steve, Jim, Peter, Arthur and Callum
Photos; Steve, Jan, Jim, Arthur and Callum