After discovering I had a free Sunday at relatively short notice, I contacted my climbing buddy Steg and we made plans to head for Spittal of Glenshee to climb two out-of-the-way Munros.
It's summer, so the days are nice and long, much like the distance involved in this walk. It was Steg's turn to drive so he picked me up at 7:30am at my place and as ever, I had a mug of tea waiting for him. I piled my stuff into the back seat of his wee Fiesta and off we went, headed to Perth and then Blairgowrie on a dry and sunny Sunday morning.
We arrived at Spittal of Glenshee about 9:30am then drove up the 2km road to the Dalmunzie Hotel, an Overlook style hotel set in a very remote location. We nipped into reception to pay our £2.50 for parking in the hotel grounds, had some flapjack for energy and then made our way up the trail towards the first Munro about 10:00am.
The first part of the walk was interesting - there is an old railway line which was built to link the Dalmunzie Hotel to Glenlochsie Lodge. There are still quite a few remnants of that around.
Old Sleepers
Looking back to Glenshee
It was warm enough for a t-shirt, but just as we approached the remains of the Glenlochsie Lodge at 11:00am, a shower came on, so we dived into the old ruin to get some shelter and to put on our waterproofs.
Glenlochsie Lodge
The remains of the lodge
The rain soon cleared and we were on our way again, but sweltering under the layers of waterproofs, so it was back down to t-shirts as we wandered up the bulldozed path to the summit of Glas Tulaichean.
We reached the summit at 12:20pm and got some great views. We could see the showers around, and it got cold very quickly, so it was waterproofs on again and we headed north to join the Carn An Righ path which runs alongside Mam Nan Carn. Waterproofs were on and off a lot as we headed for the bealach just below Carn An Righ.
Steg on Glas Tulaichean
Carn An Righ looks steep, far and rocky from Glas Tulaichean, but it's not too bad overall and we made the summit in good time at 1:55pm. Views were fantastic, with some great dark clouds on the horizon, as well as white fluffy ones.
Stormclouds
Steg on Carn an Righ
Looking over to the Blair Atholl Munros
We played in a snow patch for a while and I threw a snowball - not everyone gets to say that in July in Scotland! Steg was perfectly safe since I can't throw things very well.
Snow in July!
We headed off from the summit and made for Loch Nan Eun, retracing some of our steps. It started to get darker and there were a few spots of rain. Very quickly, it was waterproofs on again as we experienced a tremendous hailstorm. It sounded incredible as it was hitting off the loch, then came a couple of peals of thunder which just added to the day.
Weather turning nasty
We reached the edge of the loch, where it turns into Gleann Taitneach and the weather let loose, there was spray from the waterfall, visibility had dropped rapidly and the hail had turned to heavy rain.
Once we dropped a bit of height, it all cleared and the sun came out. The land was wet and clouds edged their way up the high cliffs, adding to the drama. On the ridges above a herd of deer were in outline against the sky.
Heading out of Gleann Taitneach
We made our way along the flat glen, over the next couple of hours and made it back to the car just after 5pm. We nipped into the very plush Dalmunzie hotel for a pint. The staff were eager for a chat, the fire was on, and the beer was fantastic!
Dalmunzie - very nice
Comfy chairs
Steg's new mate
All in, a really great, long day, about 27km in total.
Comments