After a blustery walk along Loch Muick we reached Glas-allt Shiel, built in 1869 by Queen Victoria. It is a lovely spot, the pines providing shelter for the Lodge - and us today. Thankfully no signs point the way to Lochnagar; no invitations to 'marvel here' at the falls or anything else; no large information boards. For such a popular area it is remarkably free of such clutter.

We followed the zig-zags by the Glas Allt passing the waterfall and so to the start of the path which heads across Monelpie Moss. From its high point the way to Little Pap climbs slopes of deep heather. The wind, never remotely as ferocious as on our aborted Lochnagar day, was still strong enough to make us extra careful on the summit boulder field. After a quick photograph of Lynne at the cairn (holding on her mountain cap!) more boulder-hopping brought us down to the col below Cuidhe Crom. It was cold and the wind tore at us with enough strength to make for a brief exhilarating struggle south to the path. But it lacked any real hostility. Rain swept across the hill and we wondered if there would be flurries of snow on the higher summits.

Winter around the corner. An exciting prospect.

"It will be no hardship to return for Little Pap", I wrote in the previous post. Well it wasn't. How could a day in such a place be a hardship?









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