The Angus Glens Walking Festival is still just under a month away, but Philip Murray was one of a group given an early glimpse of some of this year’s hikes.
Dense cloud and minor misfortune rarely make for a happy mix when you’re trying to bag a Munro. But sometimes these unlikeliest of bedfellows can come together to produce a truly memorable and surprisingly enjoyable day on the mountains.
And fortunately my recent taster of this year’s Angus Glens Walking Festival was one such occasion.
After stopping off overnight in the delightful Clova Hotel we made the five-mile journey up to Glen Doll which, despite being one of the Cairngorm National Park’s more isolated corners, still attracts upwards of 70,000 visitors a year.
Heading out from the local rangers base, we briefly followed the route of Jock’s Road an ancient path over the peaks towards Braemar, 15 miles away, that is particularly popular.
But our path soon peeled away from the old right of way. Turning left we entered Glen Doll forest before crossing a burn and beginning the steep climb through deforested lowland areas and on into the heavily-wooded upper slopes.
After an active climb our small party eventually emerged from the woods, and was almost immediately confronted by a thick bank of low-lying cloud that all but blanketed the way ahead.
As one of our company ruefully said, “Hiking in Scotland teaches you to appreciate different shades of grey.”
This was certainly true of the next part of our journey. We climbed steeply up the Shank of Drumfollow on the Kilbo Path an old drovers’ road that winds its way up out of Glen Doll and between the twin Munros of Mayar and Dreish.
With the bowl of Corrie Kilbo hidden from view beneath the clouds, the long climb up the sharp ascent of the Shank quickly took on an epic quality that a visible horizon might have all but erased.
As we travelled deeper and deeper into the cloud deck, and all that could be seen was the steep path leading away into the mists, it didn’t take much for the imagination to play tricks. Swirling mists formed ghostly figures that vanished into the vapour almost as quickly as they appeared.
The thick blanket of fog created such a deafening silence that when the odd sharp sound pierced the cloud, one’s eyes would strain to see what the source could possibly be.
In such situations it didn’t take much of a leap to imagine where ancient stories of ‘grey men’ of the mountains came from.
As we wound our way higher and it began to feel like we were the subjects of an Escher drawing, forever pushing boulders uphill, the climb slowly began to ease.
Unfortunately for one of our number the steep climb had taken its toll, a pulled calf muscle being the problem. After soldiering on for a few more yards the injured party was forced to turn back along with one of the two guides reducing our small group to just four.
It was a sobering reminder that, for all their breathtaking beauty, Scotland’s mountains should never be underestimated.
The final push for the summit took us over an alien plateau, where ancient fence posts suddenly loomed large out of the fog, and the mists merged with the fierce whiteness of scattered snow patches to mask the horizon and disorientate the eyes.
At last we began to climb again and after another 100 metres of vertical ascent, and several ‘false’ horizons, we reached the summit of the Munro a small cairn marking the end of our 928-metre hike up Mayar.
The walk was far from over, though, and we soon began to head north-west towards the still unseen Corrie Fee a stunning alpine amphitheatre that boasts plant species unique in Scotland, and more commonly found in the Alps.
As we descended and found ourselves on the leeward side of the peak, the cloud began to lift and our epic climb began to reward us with a series of arresting views.
The corrie soon stretched out before us, a mass of steep sided cliffs looming over the flat corrie floor broken only by a spectacular grey mare waterfall that hardier mountaineers often climb in the deep-freeze of winter.
Most of the snows had long since gone, but the view was as beautiful as ever. It is moments like that that make hiking such a delight.
After descending a steep zig-zag path into Corrie Fee we were rewarded with further spectacular sights looking back up the mountain a final memento of our day on the peaks.
Philip was enjoying a hike that takes in part of the route of Walk 13 in this year’s festival, which runs June 3-6. For more information, visit www.angusahead.com/walkingfestival