TGOC 2014 - Day 11: Gelder Shiel to Queen's Well

Monday 19th May 2014

A long day walking in the hills of the eastern Mounth, including Conachcraig & Mount Keen 

Distance: 31km; Ascent: 1300m; Warm & sunny, but misty on the tops; Mostly solo

See tracked route in new window

The weather was forecasted to be good today, which was promising as it was due to be my penultimate day up in the hills on this year's crossing.  I had a reasonably leisurely start to the day and found that half the tents had already gone by the time I got up!  And by the time I set off walking just after 9am, there were only a couple of tents remaining.

Just a couple of tents remaining as I set off walking

I followed the riverside path along the Gelder Burn for a few hundred metres before it petered out into the heather.  Therefore I opted to head directly across the rough ground to an area of recently burnt heather and on up to the vehicle track.  Perhaps I should I just taken the slightly longer way round via vehicle tracks instead from the bothy!

Lochnagar from near Gelder Shiel

Last views back to the Cairngorms on the way up Conachcraig

I ascended along the vehicle track for a couple of kilometres, past Little Conachcraig, before deciding that it was time to begin my ascent up to my first hill of the day: Conachcraig.  The ascent was up some pretty steep rough, rocky and heathery ground, so it took a while to pick my way through.  I saw a couple of ptarmigan on my ascent up into the mist; the cloud base was at around 800m so the tops were only just cloud covered!

Eventually I reached the summit of the subsidiary top of Caisteal na Caillich (Corbett Top) at around quarter past eleven.  A reasonably pleasant misty walk over the plateau, punctuated with granite outcrops brought me to the higher summit of Conachcraig (Corbett, Marilyn) around thirty minutes later.

On the summit of Conachcraig

After a quick break I descended SW by way of a path back down to the vehicle track; clearly this was the most popular way to ascend this Corbett!  My pace increased noticeably as I followed the reasonable track down towards Glen Muick.

Heading down the track into Glen Muick

Soon I caught sight of another couple of backpackers ahead of me; I wondered if they were probably challengers too.  I didn't have to wonder too long as I had soon caught up with them and discovered that they were Laura & Louise, who thought I was slightly crazy to have nipped up Conachcraig on route from Gelder Shiel!

In the Glen Muick woods

Louise & Laura approaching Allt-na-giubhsaich

I walked down through the woods with them and past a shuttered up building near Allt-na-giubhsaich to reach the floor of the glen.  A pleasant flat kilometre or so led across the glen and over the River Muick.

Crossing the River Muick

Soon we reached the visitor centre at the Spittal of Glen Muick, where we stopped for lunch on a handy bench outside in the warm sunshine :-).

After a reasonably long and restful break in the sunshine, I decided that I'd better get going again as I still had to get over to the Water of Mark if I was going to fit Mount Keen into my day tomorrow.  Therefore at around 2pm I set off walking up alongside the pleasant Allt Darrarie.  Lynsey and I had previously walked this way back in 2008, during the only few hours of rain of our entire crossing!

The Allt Darrarie

Bridge over the Allt Darrarie

Higher up the path ends around a stream confluence, and I followed the left hand branch of the Burn of Mohamed up onto the peaty and heathery moorland above.  Back in 2008 we'd headed towards the Shielin of Mark, but this time I opted to bypass it and instead aim to pick up the Water of Mark further downstream.

The Burn of Mohamed

The upper part of the Burn of Mohamed

After reaching the headwaters of the Burn of Mohamed, I crossed the peat hags for a few hundred metres before picking up another burn heading SE towards the Water of Mark.  This made for a reasonably pleasant route and I was soon walking downstream along the Water of Mark.

For the first couple of kilometres along the river, I was able to cross at will to pick the easiest line although this was only possible due to the low water level.  As I got further downstream the glen became more well defined with steeper sides, meaning that I was sometimes down at water level and other times picking a way across the heather slopes high up above the burn.

The Water of Mark a couple of km downstream from Shielin of Mark

Looking down Glen Mark

The Water of Mark near Craig Michael, with Mount Keen in the distance

After a lovely couple of hours walking down Glen Mark, I reached my planned halt for the day around the northernmost point of the Water of Mark at 5pm.  However it seemed too early to stop walking on such a wonderful afternoon, and with the tops of the hills forecast to be in cloud tomorrow I decided to press on and climb Mount Keen this evening!

My original plan had been to follow one of the side streams up onto the moorland, but I'd noticed that the slopes of Little Hill seemed to offer a grassy alternative ascent.  This turned out to be quite pleasant initially, but soon turned into rough heathery moorland.  However there were lots of mountain hares bounding around on the moor this evening, which were entertaining to watch :-).

Looking East towards Mount Keen

A hazy view down into Glen Tanar from the NW slopes of Mount Keen

I picked a route across the peaty moorland for a few kilometres to reach the Mounth Road track, which I crossed and ascended to join the track heading up the NW slopes of Mount Keen.  At around half-past seven I reached the trigpoint and summit rocks of Mount Keen (Munro, Marilyn), just as the mist started to descend!  However there were still hazy views down towards Glen Tanar when the mist thinned.

The summit rocks of Mount Keen

On the misty summit of Mount Keen

I had a pleasant rest, savouring my last mountain summit of this year's crossing.  However eventually I decided that perhaps I'd better actually descend off this rocky and windy hill top and actually find somewhere to camp!  A good path led south, past a boundary stone, towards Glen Mark.  A while later this turned into a vehicle track, which I followed down to the Ladder Burn.

Boundary stone on Mount Keen

The track alongside the Ladder Burn

I had wondered whether there might be anywhere to camp alongside this burn, but it all looked to be unpleasantly heathery so I opted to continue my descent towards Glen Mark.  Soon after 9pm I reached Glenmark cottage and headed towards the Queen's Well in search of somewhere to camp.

Looking back to Glenmark cottage at dusk

Looking up Glen Mark at dusk

After deciding that the Queen's Well wasn't really an inviting spot to camp, I finally pitched the tent down near the Water of Mark.  It was now almost 9:30pm and I'd had been walking for over twelve hours so I was now pretty tired!  However it did mean that I was only around 9km away from Tarfside, which would mean for a short day tomorrow :-).

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 :-).