Jen and I are just back from a couple of days based near Blairgowrie. With good weather on both Saturday and Sunday we took the opportunity to head up a couple of less frequently visited hills. On Saturday we walked from near Fergus in Glen Isla up Craig Lair and Badandun Hill. This gave great views southwards, but also to the higher hills around Glen Shee, Glen Isla and Glen Clova.
On Sunday we headed East to the West Water near Stonyford and did a circuit up West Craig, West Wirren and Hill of Wirren before descending via East Craig to Auchowrie. Despite more cloud on Sunday there were excellent views across Glen Esk to Lochnagar, Mount Keen, Mount Battock and Clachnaben.
Freezing levels were above the summits on both days and snow was receding fast on the higher hills. However, the ground was still largely frozen and there were icy patches particularly near the summits of these circa 700m hills and on North facing slopes. This was very helpful on the Hill of Wirren where access to the summit would be through boggy peat hags in wet conditions. Both these areas have significant networks of tracks that aren’t on the Ordnance Survey maps of the area and these made for easier walking than expected.
