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Mountain Ranges:
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Walks in the Glen Shee Hills
Index to Walks in this Section
An Socach6 January 2008
I had neglected this area during the past few years for mountains further west so it was nice to return to Glen Cluanie, which was just under ninety minutes drive from my home, to re-ascend a hill I first climbed many years ago. In fact I wasn't certain where in Glens Cluanie or Shee I was going as I was waiting till I arrived in the area to check out the snow conditions. They were in fact variable with some bare patches, icy crusts which wouldn't hold my weight, some drifts, fresh cornices and a thin covering of wind blown snow on the plateau. I parked beside the small forest plantation on the A93 Braemar to Perth road at the entrance to the road leading to the unoccupied property at Baddoch. I walked along this vehicle track, avoiding some drifting snow to this old building and crossed the Baddoch Burn by a bridge, which was a bit unstable. This was a new route for me as I would normally go further up the Baddoch Burn before climbing onto An Socach but this route looked rather inviting from the A93, due to the snow. I set off up the north-east ridge of Sgur Mor with traces of a path winding its way through the heather. Visibility was good at this time and other walkers in front had made a route through sections of snow. Height was gained fairly rapidly with views back down to Baddoch and across the A93 to Creag nan Gabhar. I reached the summit of Sgor Mor, classed as a Corbett Top, where it was cold and windy with some low cloud floating around so I descended to the bealach with the 855 point before climbing to its small cairn. From here I had a view into Glen Ey but the low swirling cloud curtailed views of the hills further west. A short descent followed before I climbed through some drifting snow to An Socach's East Top, where the views were now restricted by cloud. I continued along An Socach's windswept ridge through some spin drift before reaching its highest point. I still had no views and it was cold and windy so I returned to the East Top with the sun trying to break through the cloud giving an orange glare. At the East Top I descended its east ridge, through some deep snow and spotted a herd of deer. I reached the large cairn at Socach Mor and beyond that it was rather icy in places with evidence of deer foraging for food.
Once down at the Baddoch Burn I followed the vehicle track, with its
covering of ice and snow, back to the start on the A93.
Beinn Iutharn Mhor23 May 2006
I met my clients in Braemar and we drove to Inverey where an unscheduled stop delayed us for nearly two hours. If it wasn't for the kind assistance of the local gamekeeper this walk would have had to be cancelled. We set off for the long walk up Glen Ey, past The Colonel's Bed, to the Altanour Lodge, which is a ruin. This walk took around two hours on a good vehicle track and could easily be cycled . However one of my clients doesn't like cycling hence the walk in. Beyond the ruined lodge the track deteriorated considerably with various paths, some obviously animal tracks, heading across the heather clad hillside making walking rather awkward after the easy walk up the Glen. On reaching the north-east ridge of Beinn Iutharn Mhor we headed up this ridge where it was initially sheltered from the cold wind. However we were still subjected to the hail and snow showers. The ridge had plenty of wild life including a hare, several ptarmigan and a pipit. One of my clients spotted a lightening flash on the Cairngorms, which was a bit of a concern but thunder and lightening was forecast for the area. Higher up the wind was strong again with more hail and snow showers but we eventually reached the summit cairn which was large enough to shelter behind for a very late lunch. The views of the surrounding mountains including the Cairngorms were very clear and the clarity made it easy to identify them. After lunch we retraced our route, with the wind now on our backs, finding traces of a path down the north-east ridge of Beinn Iutharn Mhor but it later vanished into the heather. We headed closer to the Allt Beinn Iutharn and followed it back to the ruined lodge. The paths here were more boggy and wet but obviously used more by walkers and at one point there was a small bridge to assist a stream crossing which we missed on the upward route. The return down Glen Ey was uneventful although we did disturb several large herds of deer before eventually reaching the car park at Inverey. For statistical details see here.
Creag nan Gabhar4 April 2006
The start of this walk was the A93 Braemar to Perth road just south of Auchallater Farm. We followed the track up Glen Callater for a short distance before climbing onto the south ridge of Creag nan Gabhar. The map shows a path but it is actually a vehicle track and this can be followed almost to the summit. It was sunny and warm lower down but immediately we ventured onto the ridge we were met by a cold blast but at least the views of the surrounding mountains were clear. There was also a light covering of snow in particular higher up. From the summit cairn we descended steeply south, avoiding areas of rock, to the stalker's path that led back to the A93 beside the trees near Baddoch where we had left a car. For statistical details see here.
Ben Gulabin23 October 2005
Driving west through Deeside, the hills had a covering of snow, the first this winter, and at the Cairnwell Ski Centre it was snowing with the snow lying to just above the car parks. Skiers don't get excited as there wasn't enough snow for you to get your skies out just yet. The start of this walk was just north of the Spittal of Glenshee where a vehicle track gives easy access to this hill. On the gate was a notice about stalking but it appeared that there was no restrictions as long as walkers didn't go beyond Beinn Gulabin. The board also contained the dates they were stalking, the last date being the 22nd, which was the first day of the hind stalking season. However it was Sunday so there were no restrictions. The track gave easy access to the north side of the hill to an old ski building. Here I watched a large herd of deer traverse the snow covered Ben Gulabin with the stags roaring and darting back and forth. This was followed by a smaller group of deer with a lone tired looking stag at the back. After watching these deer till they disappeared over to the south side of the hill I climbed Ben Gulabin following an all terrain vehicle track which had churned up the heather. On reaching the south-east ridge the deer were further down the ridge and I headed to the summit cairn. I just arrived at the summit before a couple who came up from Gleann Taitneach. They told me that they were responsible for disturbing the deer who had been sheltering in the glen. The return to the start was by the ascent route and was fairly rapid and uneventful other than listening to the roar of the stags on the opposite side of the road.
Carn Bhac30 January 2005The previous day I had guided Frances on a long day out on the Cairngorms so this was to be a shorter day. Shona, Laila and Fraser, who had seen this walk advertised on my 'Programme Page', had decided to join Frances. The start of the walk was beside the bridge over the Ey Burn, which is easily located as it is beside the telephone kiosk at Inverey. From here we walked along a track past the house at Loin-a-veaich, along the edge of a forest and out onto the open hillside. Once out in the open it was a lot cooler due to the wind that was blowing down the glen. The track continued almost to the col south of Carn Liath where we avoided some patches of snow. From this point we were able to look north across to the Cairngorms which were covered in cloud. We headed south following traces of a path over a couple of hillocks to Geal Charn. At this point we changed direction and descended slightly before climbing to Carn Bhac's South-West Top, which is classed as a Munro Top. Earlier I had seen two individuals standing at this summit before descending its north-east ridge. I hope they didn't think they were on the Munro summit as older Ordnance Survey maps show this point as Carn Bhac. Well I will never know as they were off down the ridge before we could meet up. From the Munro Top we headed to the true summit of Carn Bhac. Here the wind began to pick up and it was a bit of a fight against the strong wind to reach the summit cairn. As it was now very windy everyone was happy to descend Carn Bhac's north-east ridge and get away from the strongest of the winds. This descent was fairly steep trying to avoid some snow patches. It was obviously a popular area with the hares, which stood out in their white fur against the bare landscape. Lower down we crossed the Allt Coire Bhearnaist and followed traces of a path down the west side of the Allt Connie before crossing the Allt Cristie Mor by a bridge and rejoining the track we used earlier that day. A short walk took us back to the start at the Ey Burn.
Braemar18 September 2004It was a windy day when we set off from the car park in Chapel Brae, Braemar and followed the track to the landmark indicator which is allegedly located lower than its original proposed position. This is probably true as several of the landmarks indicated cannot be viewed from this point. The path steepened from here across the heather moorland. We stopped several times to look back at Braemar and the rainbows that arced across this village as frequent rain squalls passed through the area. On reaching the summit, which is covered in ugly buildings, some for telecommunications use, we took shelter behind one of these buildings as the wind was very strong and noisy here as it battered against the buildings. Once we ate lunch we returned to Braemar by our ascent route.
Glen Shee21 November 2003This day, accompanied by three ladies from Edinburgh I headed for Glas Tulaichean and Carn an Righ. We started from the Spittal of Glenshee and followed the track that goes almost to the summit of the first Munro. On approaching the summit trig point in the mist, we saw two walkers. I recognised one as a fellow Aberdonian Andy Nisbet, who maintains the records for all new climbs in Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Mountaineering Club. Andy was my guide the first time I did the Cuillin Munros in Skye. He was also my instructor on my mountain leader training course at Glenmore Lodge. After a brief chat we headed off in separate directions for Carn an Righ. As we ascended Carn an Righ the cloud base lowered and we encountered a couple of snow showers. On reaching the summit we stopped briefly to congratulate Laila who had now completed 142 Munros and was half way to completing all the Munros. Congratulations Laila. We then made our way over to Gleann Taitneach, where the weather was a lot better, and the long walk back down the glen to the start. En-route various herds of deer watched us carefully as we headed south. Once again we made it back to the start just as it was getting totally dark.
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