TGOC 2014 - Day 10: Braemar to Gelder Shiel

Sunday 18th May 2014

A mainly low level afternoon heading east from Braemar 

Distance: 16.5km; Ascent: 530m; Warm and dry; Solo

See tracked route in new window

I had a restful morning in Braemar this morning as I was in no great hurry to reach Gelder Shiel.  Some of the morning was taken up by performing an improvised repair to my tent's flysheet :(.  After a good lunch of fish & chips for lunch in The Old Bakery, I picked up a few supplies and set off walking in shorts and t-shirt at around 2:30pm.  Many of the other challengers I'd chatted to this morning were heading for Loch Callater, but I quite fancied going a different way from my previous three crossings.  Therefore I headed into the woods to the east of town on this warm afternoon, heading for the nearby hill of Creag Choinnich.

Clunie Water in Braemar

In the Creag Choinnich woods

Around half an hour after leaving Braemar, I reached the summit of Creag Choinnich (HuMP, Highland Five).  There were excellent views from up here considering its somewhat modest height.  Beinn a'Bhuird and Ben Avon could be made out to the NNW and Morrone to the SW, as well as good views down to Braemar and up Glen Dee.

Summit of Creag Choinnich

Beinn a'Bhuird and Ben Avon from Creag Choinnich

Braemar and Glen Dee from Creag Choinnich

Glen Clunie and Morrone from Creag Choinnich

After admiring the views, I set about my descent with the intention of cutting down to the Queen's Drive.  However my pathless route of descent was not particularly pleasant, with minor crags to avoid and forest to pick a route through down to the path.  In hindsight, it would probably have been better to reverse my ascent route!  However I soon reached a better path, which led me to the Queen's Drive.

Joining the Queen's Drive

The Lion's Face

I headed along the track below the crag known as The Lion's Face, before dropping down towards the road.  However to reach the road, I had to cross a old rickety stile!

A somewhat dilapidated stile!

Stile crossing completed without incident, I headed ESE along the A93 for a couple of kilometres to reach Invercauld Bridge, where I left the road to follow an estate road on the south side of the river.  I stopped for a break at the old Bridge of Dee a short distance away from Invercauld Bridge.

The River Dee at Bridge of Dee

Bridge of Dee

From here I followed a succession of vehicle tracks through the pleasant Ballochbuie Forest, past Connachat Cottage to reach open country.

Log pile in Ballochbuie Forest

The Garbh Allt

In Ballochbuie Forest

I left the woods at around quarter to seven and continued my now evening walk along a vehicle track across the windy moorland.  Approximately half and hour later I crossed the Gelder Burn, from where there were good views up to Lochnagar.

Looking NW towards Beinn a'Bhuird and Ben Avon

Looking up the Gelder Burn towards Lochnagar

At about half past seven I finally reached Gelder Shiel, where it was beginning to get a bit windy.  There were already plenty of challengers here and I spotted around fifteen tents nearby.  There weren't many pitching options left that provided a degree of shelter from the wind!  I settled on a spot next to Laura and Louise and soon had my tent pitched.  I wandered round chatting to other challengers and found Russ, Markus and Philipp were also here.  However the weather soon put pay to any more socialising as it started to rain.  I retreated into my tent for dinner and a good night's sleep in preparation for a long day tomorrow.

My pitch at Gelder Shiel

More tents at Gelder Shiel

Along Derwent Edge

Thursday 5th March 2015 

A four hour circuit along Derwent Edge, returning via the east side of Ladybower Reservoir 

Distance: 14km; Ascent: 450m; Dry with a bitter westerly wind; Solo

See tracked route in new window

I had taken the day off today with the aim of getting out for my first hill walk of the year.  The forecast suggested that the eastern Peak District would have the best weather out of my nearby hills so I planned an ascent of Back Tor from the south via Derwent Edge.  It had been almost three years since I last climbed Back Tor, but many more years since I had walked along Derwent Edge so it would be nice to return there.

After parking the car up between the two road viaducts, I set off walking shortly before half-past ten and ascended up through the woods and out onto the moorland.  Twenty minutes or so of ascent brought me up to Whinstone Lee Tor, from where there were good views down to Ladybower Reservoir and up the upper Derwent valley.

Ladybower Reservoir from just below Whinstone Lee Tor

Things had changed up here since my last visit some years ago, with ongoing path improvement work clearly taking place.  However there didn't appear to be any work taking place on the path on this windy morning, although there were plenty of bags of rocks and soil around that had clearly been dropped by helicopter.  I also spotted lots of little signs, which presumably indicated the planned route of the path.

Path work on Derwent Edge

Lots of markings for the path work on Derwent Edge

Continuing northwards along the new path along the edge, there were good views down to Ladybower Reservoir and over towards Bleaklow in the distance.  At a path junction I came across an informative sign advising me that the footpath work was taking place over the couple of kilometres of path from Whinstone Lee Tor to the Salt Cellar.

Ladybower Reservoir from Derwent Edge

By now I was getting a little cold due to being exposed to the full force of the bitter wind whilst walking along Derwent Edge.  Therefore I stopped in the lee of the Wheel Stones to don a hat and an extra layer!

The Wheel Stones

I continued to follow the improved path NW along the edge past White Tor, before detouring to ensure that I didn't miss the impressive gritstone rock known as the Salt Cellar.

The Salt Cellar

Holey rock on Derwent Edge

I continued on past Dovestone Tor and the Cakes of Bread to reach the summit of Back Tor (Dewey) soon after midday.  After having a quick lunch in the lee of the tor, I took a quick scramble up to the windy trigpoint on the top of the gritstone tor.  There were good views from up here today and there was even a glimpse of blue sky out to the east!

Summit of Back Tor

Summit of Back Tor

Once I was suitably refreshed I headed NW along the slabbed path towards Lost Lad, with good views back towards the impressive gritstone tors.

Back Tor

I followed a succession of grassy paths W, SW and S to eventually pick up a reasonable track below Pike Low near a small forest plantation.

Looking east across the moorland to Derwent Edge

Derwent Edge from the track below Pike Low

There were good views down to Ladybower Reservoir as I followed the track downhill.  Once past a lone house, the path became a sunken track lined with some lovely gnarled trees.

Ladybower Reservoir

Trees along the sunken path

Eventually I reached the road along the NE bank of the reservoir near its end close to the lost village of Derwent.  The road soon turned into a vehicle track, which I followed SSE past plenty of snowdrops and through some pleasant woodland.

Snowdrops

Woodland track alongside Ladybower Reservoir

Near the end of my walk I came across a robin sat on a old fencepost, which I enjoyed watching for a few minutes before it flew into the nearby trees.

A robin by Ladybower Reservoir

A robin by Ladybower Reservoir

Shortly after 2pm I returned to the A57 and my car after a pleasant few hours out in the hills.  I was looking forward to my next walk already, which would be the TGOC Spring Gathering walk around the northern parts of Kinder Scout in just a couple of days time :-).

The Winter Garden at Dunham Massey

Saturday 7th February 2015

This morning we had a wander around the winter garden at Dunham Massey, and here are a few photos of the snowdrops, daffodils and irises.

posted from Bloggeroid

Snow on the Trans Pennine Trail

Thursday 29th January 2015

A few photos from a snowy walk along the Stockport to Didsbury section of the Trans Pennine Trail.

Heading down Gorsey Bank Road towards the footbridge

Looking up the Mersey from Gorsey Bank footbridge

Between the M60 and Vale Road

Near Green Pastures

posted from Bloggeroid

TGOC 2014 - Day 9: Glen Dee to Braemar

Saturday 17th May 2014

A low level walk down Glen Dee to Braemar, via Linn of Dee and the Morrone Birkwood 

Distance: 21.5km; Ascent: 330m; Dry with rain later; mainly with Andrew W and others

See tracked route in new window

After yesterday's wonderful long day on the hills, I opted to have a leisurely start this morning unlike Sue who was up early to head over more hills.  However I was due into Braemar this afternoon, which meant that I had a reasonably easy day's walk down Glen Dee :-).  I had a lovely view up the glen towards The Devil's Point and Carn a'Mhaim from the tent whilst I enjoyed breakfast and a cup of coffee.

What a view to wake up to on a Saturday morning!  (The Devil's Point and Carn a'Mhaim)

Looking up Glen Dee towards the Lairig Ghru

The sky had mainly clouded over by the time I had packed up and set off walking at around 9am.  The path on the west bank of the Dee made for reasonably easy walking, with pleasant views up and down the glen.  Today being a Saturday, it wasn't long before I met some other walkers - the first of many groups, who were presumably heading up the Munros of Monadh Mor and Beinn Bhrotain for the day.

Looking back up Glen Dee to The Devil's Point

Looking down Glen Dee towards White Bridge

Looking back up Glen Dee towards Beinn Bhrotain

At around twenty past ten I reached White Bridge, where I joined the main track that comes down Glen Geldie.  Here I joined one of my previous TGOC routes, as I had followed the Feshie-Geldie route back in 2008 with Lynsey.  It seemed to be incredibly busy at White Bridge this morning, with getting on for 50 walkers from a couple of different groups all stopped for a break when I arrived!

The River Dee at White Bridge

I pushed on past White Bridge wondering when I'd bump into my first challenger of the day.  Soon my wondering was answered as I spotted Andy a few hundred metres ahead of me, still with a yellow balloon attached to his rucksack from the cheese and wine party several days earlier!

Looking back up towards the Feshie-Geldie watershed

Picking up my pace I soon caught up with Andy, who was currently walking with David Brown.  I tagged along with them and enjoyed chatting to them both as we headed along the vehicle track to reach the Linn of Dee.  It was quite a warm day so we stopped for a leisurely break at the Linn of Dee and spent time looking at the waterfalls, which I'd not done before having previously just viewed them from the road bridge.

The Linn of Dee

Linn of Dee Bridge

The Linn of Dee

After a relaxing break and a bite to eat we set off walking along a path through the woods on the north bank of the Dee to see how much road walking we might manage to avoid.  The answer was little more than 500 metres, but it was still a pleasant woodland stroll!

A Walker in the Woods

Heading back uphill towards the road

The pleasant woodland alternative to the road

As we left the woodland path and rejoined the road, who should appear but Alan and Phil who'd walked down the road from Linn of Dee.  We walked with the for a couple of kilometres down the road to reach a welcome sign at the start of the access track to Mar Lodge :-).  I'd walked past Mar Lodge on a couple of previous challenges but hadn't stopped before, so I decided to rectify this today and dropped in for a break.  There were a number of other challengers here and it was good to stop to chat to them all over a cup of tea :-)

A welcome sign :-)

Mar Lodge

The inside of the Mar Lodge ballroom

The inside of the Mar Lodge ballroom

We spent the best part of an hour at Mar Lodge, including taking a look inside the ballroom whose interior decoration was not really to my taste!  We crossed Victoria Bridge to reach the road, which we followed for a couple of kilometres.  Here I opted to deviate from my planned route and ascended up a forest track in the rain, heading for the Morrone Birkwood (a route that had previously been recommended to me by Mr Grumpy back in 2008).

Crossing Victoria Bridge

Andy and David were also heading this way, and we walked together up the muddy track past a small lochan to reach the edge of the Morrone Birkwoods National Nature Reserve, from where our onward route was along the signposted circular walk.

Small lochan on the way to the Morrone Birkwood

Entering the Morrone Birkwoods

Challengers in the Morrone Birkwoods

After a pleasant wander through the Morrone Birkwoods we reached a viewpoint indicator above Braemar, from where there were good views under the somewhat hazy and cloudy sky this afternoon.

Viewpoint indicator above Braemar

Challengers looking at the views ;)

From here it was all downhill to Braemar, which we reached at around 3pm and headed straight for the Fife Arms, where I had decided to stay this year.  I checked in, picked up my parcel, unpacked and enjoyed an afternoon and evening of relaxing and catching up with lots of other challengers over a few beers :-)