Braemar Day walk
Do most DHC members have an inbuilt long term weather forecast, or just and antipathy towards Braemar? Last year's response to the proposed walk in the Braemar area was poor even before the Beast from the East turned up. This year's response was just as poor, and another beast duly appeared, but at least this beast carried no snow and subsided long enough to let four of us have a pleasant walk down the east ridge of Glen Clunie.
Gillie, Gail, Chris and Alan met at Auchallater at the - late for DHC - time of 10.30 to assess the strength of the wind and decide the best route to the (Bothy in Braemar) top. (Unfortunately) Luckily, the wind seemed bearable so (warmth, coffee and cake were postponed for a few hours) we set out joyfully.
Leaving one car at Auchallater we took the other south to Alltamhait. From there we followed the Allt a Mhaide burn east then turned north west up the steep climb to the top of Creag nan Gabhar. After a brief refuelling stop huddled in the lee of the cairn
....we set off along the wide ridge north via Sron nan Gabhar. With the wind behind us and a good path we enjoyed the gradual descent to Auchallater.
The high-level walk gave exhilarating, sometimes atmospheric, views over Glen Clunie, Deeside, Braemar and the partially visible snowy Cairngorms.
At around three hours it was probably one of the shortest DHC walks, but we still deserved coffee and cake at the Bothy.
Alan
