22A - GLENSHEE EAST
Greame's descent route from Driesh. Photo https://big-gorse-bush.blogspot.com/
18.1 miles 1400 metres
Start Saturday 06.12
Creag Leacach 06.42
Glas Maol 07.06
Cairn of Claise 07.27
Cairn an Tuirc 07.45
Tolmount 08.32
Tom Buidhe 08.40
Mayar 09.21
Driesh 09.45
Finish 10.04
Squares: green - start, yellow - changeover, red, finish of previous leg. Circles summits: green - this leg, red - done. Map Colin Matheson
Time: Estimated 3.36 Actual 3.52
Graeme writes:
A vague normality has been reappearing with me getting to sleep at night and then running in the morning. It does make a difference. An early morning rise today to await Eddie at the Glenshee ski area. I couldn't believe the weather. Fog down to road level being whipped along by a strong cold north east wind. All that was missing was some snow on the ground.
Out of this blur hurtled Eddie, spotted in minute water droplets gathered from the mizzle of higher altitudes. We flew down the south road to the lay-by at 138756, my ears popping quickly and I went on my way up the burnside path to the scree covered slopes of Creag Leacach.
Once on top the view was patchy through the high speed mist patches being whipped along by a tremendous wind. I couldn't see any hills though, just varied cloud banks. The air was still quite dry hear but turned damper heading onto the grassy slopes of Glas Maol and into a fierce headwind.
I'd followed the stone dyke as far as the marked cairn. I picked up the track heading to Cairn of Claise and would have missed it had I not been paying attention for the track meandered past on the eastern side of the top. A stone dyke also kept me right having remembered reading about it in a guidebook.
A spongy run then continued to the western cairn of Cairn an Tuirc having first found its large eastern one. I was going great guns with my confidence high, feeling comfortable and the hill tops simply jumping out at me from the drizzly mist. Iwas soon shot down however when trying to locate Tolmount. There seemed to be a lot of ups and downs before finally finding it, and looking at the map I thought it would be one of the easier tops to locate.
It wasn't all bad news though since I probably rested myself a little before the mad compass bearing dash of 8 mins 39 sec to the top of Tom Buidhe. (This easily won the informal challenge for the fastest time between Munros.)
A little luck then shone on me with the mist lifting a little and the sun peeping through for the long squelchy run to Mayar latching onto the tributary of the Burn of Fialzioch along the way. The wind too was slightly more favourable in my direction.
Mayar had the added attraction of being one of my almost non existent number of Munros where I haad a view from, although patchy, enough to see the clear path heading to Driesh. This spurred me on, running strongly till I became entangled in the rusty wire from the fence line beside the path, a dangerous hazard. A slight wobbly when clinging to the path a bit too long on the Shank of Drumfollow so contoured back to the col before Driesh to be blasted sideways by a horrendous wind funelling up from the Burn of Kilbo.
Driesh lived up to its miserable sounding name seeming to be a real murk pot compared to its now brighter surroundings. A nice soft run to the top of the Scorrie which itself was dangerously steep with a high injury risk factor but I thankfully survived.
Following the forestry fence I soon found the style and forest ride which seemed to lead to somebody's back garden, through the river on line of the non existent bridge, through the farm and there I was with Ross and Eddie to greet me. I had enjoyed that run and felt pleased with myself.
A friendly chap in his DIY mobile home then made us some hot tea. The weather brightened up to a beautiful day for the long leisurely van trip back through Glenshee and Braemar to meet the others at Linn of Dee. Time for tea.
Peaks done 139 Hours elapsed 147 Peaks to do 138
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