Creag Bhalg

En route to taking my father to see Mac Floyd in Aberdeen, I had planned an overnighter in Braemar and would take in the Graham, Creag Bhalg and the Corbetts, Carn Liath and Culardoch. The plan was to get to Linn of Dee for 1600-ish and while this was admittedly a late start for a venture up and down a hill, I felt comfortable knowing that it was at worst an hour to the summit. However, it has occurred to me in the last week or so that I have perhaps been too intent on getting to the top of a hill rather than actually enjoying the whole experience of it. With new camera in hand, I was spotting some fantastic fauna, which prevails in Autumn - namely the fungi kingdom. Basidomycetes galore! Creag Bhalg is such a lovely wee walk from the road between Linn of Dee and Linn of Quoich and the gentle ascent brings you out at a deer stile, where a lone tree stands proud. From here, the path to the summit allowed for expansive views across to the Cairngorm massif, where a trace of snow was already present. Winter will not be long in coming. At the summit, I sat and listened to the roar of the stags, vying for supremacy. I gazed across at the summit paraphernalia on Morrone and felt incredibly small.

An affa fyne day on Stob an Eas

A new camera; a new compadre for the hills. I had recently extolled the virtues to my sister-in-law's bf of hill-walking and he had managed to find a day off. I had also decided to upgrade my existing camera to something which can take photos of close-up beasties and fauna as well as zoom for those classic Stag shots. I was not to be disappointed on both accounts. While the forecast wasn't to be balmy and sunny as in the previous weekend when I was on call (typical), we decided to take in a wee Graham with the prospect of lunch in Loch Fyne being a rather decadent way to enjoy a well-earned luncheon. The clag was down the whole way, which was unfortunate because I'm pretty sure it would have made for a great wee hill for views. However. we battered along the land rover track and took to the hill proper in good time. It does get pretty steep further up (hands needed) and there were a couple of nice crags, with the odd wee one-man cave if required. We were at the top within 2 hours and back via a dirretisima route to the car through the forestry within 4 hours. I will definitely come back and do this hill on a good day as the summit nestled airily on a rather pointy drop to the East. The camera worked wonders on picking up the fantastic detail of a dew-covered caterpillar and the chat was affa fine - the merits of positive thinking, the power of language which appears to be dying out amongst the text aficionados and the respect for seriously good food, which we were about to embark upon. Once changed and back at the car, it was a 10-miutes drive to the Loch Fyne Oyster bar, whereupon we dined on oysters, mussels and seriously tasty langoustines. I shed my public health hat and thought of Scotland. An affa fine day.