Tom Buidhe (957m), Tolmount (958m), Cairn Bannoch (1012m), Broad Cairn (998m), Angus
- Highlands within reach of Dundee
- Walking along Jock's Road
- Previous walk - and some photos
- Crossing the burn, then a long drag up to Tom Buidhe
- Next stop Tolmount
- Around the head of Glen Callater to Cairn Bannoch and Broad Cairn
- A sudden view from Broad Cairn, and a rocky descent
- A long walk down the glen - and a paddle - to finish
- Alternative routes in the vicinity
Highlands within reach of Dundee
If you're setting out for the Highlands from Dundee, there are several possibilities within an hour and a half. This brings Ben Chonzie near Crieff and Ben Vorlich above Loch Earn within reach. Ben Vrackie (not quite a munro) can be tackled from Pitlochry. The Glenshee hills are just within range, extending either side of the A93. But the easiest to reach are above Glen Clova (once again just below munro height) and further up via Glendoll.
Dreish and Mayar provide a relatively short circuit from the Forestry Commission car park in Glendoll, and this can also be the starting point for a longer round of munros in the wide area of upland moors to the north-west. These are reached by Jock's Road, one of the historic drove roads used to bring Highland cattle over the hills to the markets on the edge of the lowlands. It doesn't look much like a road in modern terms, but it provides a very attractive hiking route from Glen Doll over to Braemar via Glen Callater. One of these days I'd love to do the full route, and maybe come back on one of the others.
Dermot and I were looking for a reasonably challenging hike for a Sunday in February, and after considering the merits of Glenshee we decided on the most accessible option, the hills above Glendoll. We set out from Broughty Ferry at 8.15 a.m. on a sunny but very frosty morning, and reached the car park at Glendoll (via Glamis and Kirriemuir) around 9.30. The crags of The Scorrie (an outlier of Driesh) and Craig Mellon towered above the glen, lit up by the morning sun. After paying our £1.50 parking fee we set out at 9.40.
As previously documented in the story of Mayar and Driesh, the best features of the munros around here are in the glens used in climbing up to the plateau and back down again. Unfortunately the first couple of miles along Jock's Road are shaded by plantation forestry, but it's a pretty good track underfoot and at least the summit crags can be seen above the treetops, luring the walker onwards and upwards.
We made a steady pace through the woods, past the turnings to the left giving access to Driesh and Mayar, then along a narrower passage between the trees until we reached the north-western edge. It's marked by a fence and a splendid wooden style. After the shelter of the forest, there's a sudden transformation of scenery and climatic conditions! We immediately felt the cold of the wind, but it was OK as we kept moving.
The next stretch of the route is one of my favourites, climbing steadily but comfortably up Jock's Road on a well-maintained track towards the crags of the trough end (left by the glacier at the head of the glen). It doesn't take much effort before there is a splendid view back down over the forest and beyond to Glen Clova, with steep rocky slopes stretching up on either side.
Just beyond the crags at the head of the glen, we passed a series of lively cascades in the burn to our left. Shortly afterwards the gradient eased, and we reached an unusual triangular basin overlooked ahead of us by a prominent crag. The track runs to the right of the boggy ground and climbs up the side of the crag. From the top, it's possible to take a short detour to the left to the top of the crag, for another great view down the glen. Over to the right a hidden waterfall comes into view - I'm not sure how easy it would be to get closer for a better view.
Just after the detour, the track passes a little red metal door down on the left, which is the way into a shelter built into the bank. The corrugated iron roof could be seen exposed between the heathery hummocks.
Previous walk - and some photos
I had climbed this way 18 months earlier, to get up into the hills for a bit of relaxation and solitude on a sunny September afternoon. A separate Gallery will be added soon with photos from that walk, with sparkling colours and great views, although I only got as far as the summit of Crow Craigies (920m) on the line of Jock's Road. The track runs gradually up the north-east side of the wide glen, onto the rounded ridge leading to Crow Craigies.
Crossing the burn, then a long drag up to Tom Buidhe
This time we had to turn off Jock's Road, to the left, a couple of hundred metres after passing the shelter, to cross the boggy low-lying ground in the direction of Tom Buidhe, a low rounded hill to the west. The frost had firmed up the peatbog, but we still had to get across the wide burn. Getting wet feet on a cold morning wouldn't be much fun. Fortunately it wasn't too deep, and we managed to clamber across several rocks with the aid of walking poles to give some stability.
From there it's a steady climb up the hillside - we stopped halfway up, to have a bite to eat, as we expected to catch a cold wind on the tops. It was a good decision, but we still had numb fingertips as we started walking again around 11.45.
There wasn't much else to report on the remainder of the climb of Tom Buidhe - the first "hilltop" was a false summit, with another half mile to go to the real thing. With no track to follow, we checked the compass to make sure of the direction, but it was really just a matter of heading for the highest point.
As we approached the summit, we gained views to the left towards the Glenshee hills and could just glimpse the higher snowy slopes of Glas Maol beneath a ceiling of cloud.
Tolmount looked a more prominent and distinctive summit, although only a metre higher, and less than a mile away as the crow flies. However there's quite a dip between the two, and we tracked to the left to cross it at a higher point. As we did so, we met another walker, the first of the day, coming in the opposite direction. He was doing a circuit from Glenshee on his own. Looking back, there were two more figures coming down Tom Buidhe. Altogether we saw about 10 other walkers during the day, far less than would be expected on munros further west on a fine Sunday.
Tolmont was a more satisfying peak to reach, and it stayed just clear of the cloud so we could see down into Glen Callater which runs through towards Braemar. It's another impressive feature, with crags all around.
We were there at 12.45, and held a summit meeting to decide whether to continue around the circuit to take in the other two munros, or return to Glendoll and have time for a pint on the way home. We took the healthy option. Once you've done most of the hard work, it's great to make the most of the height you've climbed and take in more summits.
Around the head of Glen Callater to Cairn Bannoch and Broad Cairn
The next one was Cairn Bannoch, and we dropped down a couple of hundred feet to cross the next stretch of boggy ground, now frozen solid. From there we started climbing towards the ridge above Glen Callater, but after checking the map I realised we had to veer right to get onto the Cairn Bannoch ridge. It was another gradual climb up to the lower cairn on Fafernie.
A group of three ptarmigan were hopping around on the rocks ahead of us, their white plumage shining out against the colourful granite stones that littered the moorland. At this time of year they should be camouflaged against a snowy landscape, but global warming threatens to make them much more vulnerable to eagles.
Once we reached the small cairn marking the highest point on the flat summit of Fafernie we headed a little to the right to take us round the head of the next glen to Cairn Bannoch. It was the highest point on the walk, at 1012m, and fittingly it was crowned with some decent rocks to clamber over. These were big grey slabs, standing out from the surrounding moorland.
Now, for the first time since we left Jock's Road, we had a clear track to follow, heading SE along another broad ridge (so broad and flat-topped it could hardly be called a ridge). However, the track seemed to be heading left of the next high point, Cairn of Gowal, so we turned onto rough ground again to reach it. From there we turned left towards Broad Cairn, crossing a narrow neck of high ground where we rejoined the track coming round from Fafernie.
We had been touching the lower edge of the clouds for some time now, but Broad Cairn was definitely shrouded in mist. The final stretch crossed stone slabs, with a small but impressive outcrop just to the right looking rather like a miniature butte carved out of desert rocks by wind driven sand. As we reached it, we could see the summit more clearly, and this too was flanked by layered rock formations giving it the appearance of a Mayan temple!
Another walker beat us to the top, coming up from the other side, and we had a brief chat with him as his female partner struggled up the last 50 metres.
A sudden view from Broad Cairn, and a rocky descent
We didn't hang about in the cold wind, but as we were about to set off again the clouds began to break up like a curtain parting, revealing a large loch down to our left, in an easterly direction. It was an uplifting moment. I was briefly confused, but the guy we'd just met reminded us that this was Loch Muick lying to the east of Lochnagar. The mountain itself was still hidden in cloud, and we never did get to see the top on this walk.
However, the views of the loch improved intermittently, and we could also see the clear track leading east-south-east along the ridge. There was just the small matter of a boulderfield to be negotiated before we reached the track. We soon realised why the female walker looked so tired - she'd just clambered over the jumble of big rocks that we were starting to climb down. It was awkward at times, with the risk of twisting an ankle especially as there were some patches of snow to cross and no clear path to follow.
After 10 minutes it became easier, and we reached the track. Ahead lay a hut, and the map showed the turnoff to the right that we needed to take, just before the hut. However we missed it somehow and tried to find it when we reached the hut. We crossed a fence to the right of the burn, and crossed a big expanse of heathery hummocks, finally reaching the path coming down from the right. It was a well constructed track, and we wondered how we had missed the turning.
At the edge of the steeper slope the path began to take wide zig-zags. Two cyclists caught up with us and went past, but they had to stop several times to carry their bikes down steep sections. As we descended, we could see up the glen to the high tops which we had recently left. In the other direction there was a scene of shattered woodland, with many dead trees and no new growth emerging. Below we could see the wooden bridge over the burn at Bachnagairn, and reached it at 3.30. It was time for a brief rest and a drink - the first proper stop since 11.45! And a chance to remove the hats and gloves now we were back in the shelter of a glen.
From the bridge itself there were good views of the waterfalls crashing down onto the rocks, and these continued out of sight below the bridge.
A long walk down the glen - and a paddle - to finish
I had been down this way once before, and from memory expected to find a decent track back down the glen. But my memory was faulty. It was a rocky and uneven descent for some distance before the track began to improve. Then the rain started - cold rain, on the back of our heads. I'd taken off my waterproof but eventually had to accept that it wasn't a passing shower, and put the jacket back on again. We passed two other walkers doing the same thing.
Walking on, and on, in due course we turned around the crags of The Strone to our right, and saw a rickety wooden footbridge crossing the burn on the left. I mentioned that it seemed to link with a shorter route for walkers, but we thought it looked dodgy and decided to stay on the wider vehicle track. It was a mistake. A kilometre further on we were confronted by the wide burn flowing across the line of the roadway. There was no sign of a bridge, and obvioiusly I'd made a mistake in not spotting this on the map.
So we had to find the shallowest crossing, about 30 metres downstream from the ford, and dash across. This seemed simpler than removing our boots and trying to dry our feet afterwards. And we were fast enough not to let too much water into our boots. So, if you're following the same route down, TAKE THE ROUTE OVER THE FOOTBRIDGE even though it looks as though it's falling apart!
There were still more than 2 km (1.5 miles) to go, past the cottages at Moulzie and then on a better road through forest to join the road from Glen Clova and turn right over the bridge to the car park. The winter light was fading and it had become a matter of just putting one tired foot after the other, trying to get it over with as quickly as possible.
Part of the way through the forest we passed the start of the Capel Mounth road, another old drove road leading over to the east of Loch Muick and down to Ballater in Deeside. If there had been more daylight we might have continued our hike along the hilltops to come down this way, rather than endure the trudge through the glen.
And so we made it back, just, in the available daylight, but we wondered about the couple we had met on the top of Broad Cairn, whether they would be struggling to see their way back on the road through the forest.
If we had gone a week earlier, or a week later, we wouldn't have managed the complete circuit because lying snow would have slowed us down (writing this a week later, there will be a good depth of fresh snow drifting around on the hills). As it was, we were able to maintain a good pace throughout the hike and achieve a satisfying round of the four munros, even if it didn't quite have the appearance of a winter wonderland.
Alternative routes in the vicinity
Cameron McNeish lists Tolmount and Tom Buidhe in a round of 6 munros including Glas Maol, from Glenshee, and Cairn Bannoch and Broad Cairn in another long day's hike taking in Lochnagar and the White Mounth. This offers an alternative circuit from Glendoll. Just a pity about the last stretch!
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