An Sgarsoch and Carn An Fhidleir, 11th May 2016
I was changing jobs again, after 5 years, so I had planned myself a great week, with the main event being a jaunt up two of Scotland's more remote Munros - An Sgarsoch and Carn An Fhidleir.
The day before, I'd done some mountain biking around Mugdock and the West Highland Way which was tremendous fun in the sunshine, but was tempered by the fact that I had a cold. It was just a head thing however, so I only had to occasionally stop to wipe my nose.
The morning of the hike, I woke up and felt that the cold was still there. I considered giving it a miss, but I thought I'd go for it anyway. I left the house at 7am and headed up the expressway to the M8, then onto the M80 towards Stirling where I hit traffic. I sat there for an hour, barely moving, wasting time that would have been better spent on the hills.
I eventually got to Linn o'Dee at 11am, and I was starting to think that this is how accidents happen - you start late, with a cold, and things just go from bad to worse, but I was proven wrong. I got the bike out the car, slapped on some sun tan lotion and headed west, out of Linn o' Dee and towards the two Munros for the day.
I stopped to take this picture about 11:40am - it was already pretty windy, but I hadn't noticed that the wind was coming from behind me. I was making great progress and I didn't realise that my map had just disappeared.....
I had to work out my walking route now - I could do more walking than cycling and perhaps do a horseshoe, or I could cycle to a further point and do a loop, so I decided to go for the latter. The landrover track became a single-person track but it was pretty good underneath. So I stopped at point before I had to make a steep descent and noted on the map where that was. I hid the bike amongst the heather and got ready to walk. First up was Carn An Fhidleir. I crossed the valley (yet another river to cross), and headed up the steep, heathery slopes towards the summit ridge.
The wind was getting pretty strong and despite the strong sun, I could feel a bit of a chill in the air and my cold wasn't really letting up so I put another layer on. I made the summit of Carn An Fhidleir at 2:30, 3 and half hours after starting. I knew I had plenty of daylight, but I was starting to worry a wee bit about whether I had enough food to stop me from being exhausted.
I dropped down, out of the wind for a bit which was nice and then up onto the ridge to An Sgarsoch. I made the summit of that hill at 3:50. This was starting to become a very long day.
The view from the summit was great, I could see all over Scotland - this was the view up the Lairig Ghru.
From the summit back to the bike location looked like a great big gentle slope, so I took a bearing and headed on it, knowing that I would hit the path, and the bike would be just there. When I hit the path, I found I was only a few metres away from the bike. I got back in the saddle at 4:30 and started the long cycle back to the car.
Munro total sits at 114 now.
The day before, I'd done some mountain biking around Mugdock and the West Highland Way which was tremendous fun in the sunshine, but was tempered by the fact that I had a cold. It was just a head thing however, so I only had to occasionally stop to wipe my nose.
The morning of the hike, I woke up and felt that the cold was still there. I considered giving it a miss, but I thought I'd go for it anyway. I left the house at 7am and headed up the expressway to the M8, then onto the M80 towards Stirling where I hit traffic. I sat there for an hour, barely moving, wasting time that would have been better spent on the hills.
I eventually got to Linn o'Dee at 11am, and I was starting to think that this is how accidents happen - you start late, with a cold, and things just go from bad to worse, but I was proven wrong. I got the bike out the car, slapped on some sun tan lotion and headed west, out of Linn o' Dee and towards the two Munros for the day.
 |
| The road west. |
I stopped to take this picture about 11:40am - it was already pretty windy, but I hadn't noticed that the wind was coming from behind me. I was making great progress and I didn't realise that my map had just disappeared.....
By the time I came upon this old ruin, I realised I had dropped my little 1:50k that I had printed off, so I was pretty much "off the map" as it were. I soon worked out that I was almost onto the larger 1:25k map that I had in my rucksack so that was a disaster averted. I pressed on up the path with my next stop looking like Geldie Lodge with a couple of river crossings. The river at this point is quite deep, but further up it wasn't too bad. I put my gaiters on and used the bike for support, but the air in the tyres and the light weight of the bike meant it felt like it was getting dragged away from me. Made it over with only a slightly damp right foot though.
Then it was a couple of hundred metres on to Geldie Lodge, I got there at 12:35.
I had to work out my walking route now - I could do more walking than cycling and perhaps do a horseshoe, or I could cycle to a further point and do a loop, so I decided to go for the latter. The landrover track became a single-person track but it was pretty good underneath. So I stopped at point before I had to make a steep descent and noted on the map where that was. I hid the bike amongst the heather and got ready to walk. First up was Carn An Fhidleir. I crossed the valley (yet another river to cross), and headed up the steep, heathery slopes towards the summit ridge.
The wind was getting pretty strong and despite the strong sun, I could feel a bit of a chill in the air and my cold wasn't really letting up so I put another layer on. I made the summit of Carn An Fhidleir at 2:30, 3 and half hours after starting. I knew I had plenty of daylight, but I was starting to worry a wee bit about whether I had enough food to stop me from being exhausted.
I dropped down, out of the wind for a bit which was nice and then up onto the ridge to An Sgarsoch. I made the summit of that hill at 3:50. This was starting to become a very long day.
The view from the summit was great, I could see all over Scotland - this was the view up the Lairig Ghru.
From the summit back to the bike location looked like a great big gentle slope, so I took a bearing and headed on it, knowing that I would hit the path, and the bike would be just there. When I hit the path, I found I was only a few metres away from the bike. I got back in the saddle at 4:30 and started the long cycle back to the car.
After Geldie Lodge, I realised that the wind that had been a big help was really slowing me on the return trip. It was tough going, and the river crossings were a lot harder because I was tired.
As I approached Linn o' Dee, I spotted something flapping in the wind by the side of the road, it was my missing map! Some kind person had found it (must have dropped out my pocket) and had wedged it between two rocks. I was over the moon to see it again, because I really liked that wee map case.
I made it back to the car park at 6:45, and the light was starting to become really lovely. I took a few snaps, then headed back to Braemar for some chips.
I headed back home and didn't get there till about 10pm, later than I'd hoped, but I still had a great day.
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