Seven of us made the long journey to Kennacraig pierhead in Argyll to be greeted with the sight of a shiny new CalMac ferry, The Isle of Islay. A very well appointed and finished boat that looked splendid against the sunny blue skies. Boarding at Kennacraig Port Charlotte hostel was quiet; we had two rooms and there was plenty of space in the common areas to relax comfortably. We awoke to another great day and all of us headed off to catch the ferry to Jura, a small boat that

March 27th – 29th saw DHC heading to Strathconon, a beautiful, long, steep sided valley , the tops of which include 3 Corbetts and 3 Grahams. At this time of year, it was great not to have to drive all the way to the west coast and to take advantage of the incredible dinner, bed and breakfast deal on offer at the Ben Wyvis hotel in Strathpeffer. The hotel although dated, was comfortable, even in places luxurious and the service and food were great. The area abounds with beaut

Glen Lochsie/Spittal of Glenshee Saturday 7th March 2026 Shortly before 09.30 on Saturday 7th, eleven Deeside Hillwalkers ( Gail, Susan, Alison, Ken, Sandra, Ruth, Graham, Moira, Anna, Roddy and Alan) met up in the Walkers Car Park at the Spittal of Glenshee. Our target was a little-walked ridge of Corbett-sized tops stretching northwest from Spittal to Glen Lochsie. We followed the nearby signpost up the steep Cateran Trail to the bealach at An Lairig where we left the Trail

Bluebird Lochnagar 14th February 2026 Following a period of Biblical rain in Aberdeenshire, a hill-walking “weather window” finally appeared February 14th. Nine DHC valentines (Alison, Gail, Ruth, Susan, Graham, Gordon, James, Ken and Iain) headed-out to climb Lochnagar via the popular Glas Alt circuit. SAIS forecast icy conditions and considered the avalanche risk to be “high” on west-facing slopes, which were avoided. The most-dangerous part of the day was probably the dr

Cnapan Nathraichian walk 31 Jan 2026 In the end we had 9 intrepid souls who were prepared to brave the weather and attempt this walk – myself, Chris, Gary, Irene, Gail, Ruth, Ken, Susan, and Graham who met us at the Keiloch car park – although in truth the weather turned out to be far better than forecast. The plan was to attempt Cnapan Nathraichean from the west via various tracks and some heather bashing near the top. Despite being amply provided with pdf maps, and even GPX

Route Map The Graham’s Book describes this hill as: Commanding a fine position between the straths of the River Dee and the River Gairn, Geallaig Hill is a large and bulky Graham. With its open, featureless higher slopes, it appears to hold few secrets for the walker, but its lower slopes were once heavily farmed and supported a far great population than today. There was plenty of room for parking opposite Braenaloin a small farm on the B976. It was 12 degrees when we left