Countless times we've studied this craggy, tree-covered hill which overlooks the village of Ballater, but for some unfathomable reason its ascent has never been on the day's agenda.
However, this morning dawned wet and windy so a short climb in wooded shelter seemed like a sound idea. And so it was.
The path, steep in places and lined with heather, blaeberry and cranberry bushes, threaded its way through the beautiful oak wood (the biggest in Deeside) later giving way to birch and some Scots pine. A massive memorial cairn and an information board appeared near the top, the former seeming oddly out of place. Further on a viewpoint indicator marked the summit and a seat provided the ideal place for some tea, although even at the modest height of 402m I needed my insulated jacket on while we sat there admiring the view. Lochnagar and Broad Cairn were clear of cloud as was our hill of yesterday, Morrone.
Our descent route took us through even denser woodland then along the base of this mound of granite, once buried under 500m of ice. Not surprisingly wood ants were hard at work as evidenced by large ant hills. It reminded of days in Rothiemurchus.
It took a moment or two to realise that we were back at our starting point; the disorientating effect of being in thick woodland we supposed. A complete circuit of the base of the hill can be made, and if the present wet weather continues no doubt we will return.
Note: I've just noticed that the lens on the BlackBerry's camera needs cleaned; the photograph is therefore even poorer than usual. I'll post a couple from the iPad which won't allow me to send a full post to Blogger at present.
Sent from my BlackBerry®
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