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

Saturday 29th November 2025 The Walk Highlands description of this walk is "This superb circular walk takes in Loch Lee before climbing steeply past the Falls of Unich and the Falls of Damff to cross open moorland, before descending the track on the Shank of Inchgrundle with panoramic views over the loch".   This is spot on and we were lucky to have good weather with excellent visibility. Morning Break in the Sunshine There were nine of us on the walk - Gary, Hannah, Bob, Jan

This meeting was initially planned for the weekend of 5-7 September and based at Ratagan Youth Hostel on Glen Shiel.  However, private dorms were fully booked for that weekend and the next, and in mid-week. It was a similar scenario at the nearby Torridon YH and the Kinlochewe Bunkhouse. To secure a private dorm in that area in high season would appear to need a booking about 6-7 months in advance!  However, we did get a booking at Morag’s Lodge Hostel in Fort Augustus for th

With a good weather forecast and a new electric car to try out, Chris visited John’s house in the north of the Lake District to sample some of the local hills and local culture. An early start on Wednesday 15th got John and Chris onto the 77a bus from Keswick to Buttermere, 50 minutes for a 15 mile ride on single track roads barely a few inches of tarmac wider than the bus, very few passing places and a 25% climb over Honister pass. Great views including Fleetwith Pike and Ha

Prologue This weekend had been a long time in the making – in fact just over 52 years! When I first climbed Ben Nevis in early September 1973 I had never even heard of Sir Hugh Munro, let alone a list of Scottish Mountains over 3000 ft – (we used imperial units in those days). I had hitch-hiked up from Whitley Bay with my Venture Scout mate Trev, with the sole objective of climbing the highest mountain in the UK. Our route north took us across the Ballachulish ferry, as there

2-4th July 2025 After receiving initial interest from 5 people this gradually waned to 3 stalwarts when the challenge of the route and...

Sunday 27th July 2025 Only three DHCers were able to make this summer outing. Gillie, Moira and Sandy were rewarded with a fine day and...

4-6 June 2025 An interesting few days with Robert, John, Ken and Stuart had some interesting times on the hills! A very wet and blustery...