Glen Lochsie/Spittal of Glenshee 7th March 2026

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 and headed north-west for the steeper slopes of Craig an Dubh Schluic and Ben Earb. After a short coffee break, before tackling Ben Earb, we split into a fast group of eight and a marginally slower group of three. The fit’n'fast eight left nothing but footprints in the snow as they stormed over Ben Earb, charged up Lairig Charnach and vanished over Meall a’ Choire Bhuidhe. Meantime the steady threesome made a tactical turn at the 854m unnamed top shortly south-east of Lairig Charnach, and took a short cut downhill toward the hotel golf course and the road back to the Walkers Car Park. Meanwhile the eightsome had reeled on toward Glen Lochsie Lodge but had been unable to cross the swollen Lochsie burn as planned. They opted instead for the alternative Landrover/Forestry trail back to Spittal arriving about 15 minutes after the threesome. Very satisfactory timing.

The weather report had forecast mist and fog down to ground level, and sub-zero ‘feels like’ temperatures with gusts of 20+ mph on the tops. The gusts felt more like constant wind and it was very cold on ground exposed to the south easterly wind. However, the mass of foggy cloud lifted on the south east side and broke up elsewhere to show blue patches and a surrounding of snow-topped mountains. Down in Glen Lochsie the temperature reached +9. A nice finish to an enjoyable day out. The following photos give a good idea of the walk and weather.

Alan