Glas Maol - The Big Green Lump


I took one final trip up to Glenshee for the year, the aim of which was to climb Glas Maol (1068m) and Creag Leacach (987m). I parked at the Glenshee Ski Centre and decided to follow the easier track up amongst the ski paraphernalia which didn’t give much in the way of great views but was a more direct climb to Glas Maol. At around 922m I ascended into the mist and rain which had enveloped the top of the Munro and made the last 150m slightly trickier than it should have been. I made it to the summit in an hour flat. Having checked my bearings I headed in what I thought was the ridge to Creag Leacach, although embarrassingly enough I had in fact wandered in a circle just under the summit of Glas Maol. Undeterred I descended a little to gather my bearings and with Creag Leacach in sight I cut around the side of Glas Maol and followed the old stone wall up, and down and then up again to the summit of this rockier Munro. Only as I ascended Creag Leacach did the sun decide to show itself, and so did the wind as I was almost knocked off the summit because of it. I decided not to stick around much longer on the hills and I rapidly descended to enjoy my lunch in the car.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dechmont Hill

Image
Walking With Kids At last, after a weekend where it barely stopped raining there was a break in the weather, and a chance to get out. Dechmont hill is our closest climb and measures just under 200m, which gives the kids a chance to get to the top. We parked on the road that runs parallel behind Gilbertfield road. The walk started on the track that leads to Dechmont farm and the shooting range. They are now turning this area into housing, so be careful of builders lorries etc. We took a left turn at the road which leads to the farm, and then a right at the Dechmont Range House, now abandoned. The track ends at a small compound, but takes you past the ruins of Gilbertfield Castle. Gilbertfield Castle The compound contains a couple of old houses which acts as a control station for the shooting range. There is no access through it, instead take a left turn before the end of the track and make your way through the grass. There is a path through here but can be obscured by the tall grass sur
Read more

Cort-ma Law

Image
  Cort-ma Law Less than an hours drive from Glasgow, just north of Lennoxtown are the Campsie hills, which allows for a quick days hike.  Starting Point The best place to start is at the Campsie Glen waterfall car park. This can get busy, so it is best to try and get a parking space early. The walk itself starts directly opposite the car park.  Car park location Location of hill Route The track ascends immediately from the carpark travelling east, go past the old shelter covered in graffiti. Shelter Hike up from the car park The track continues upward and the track could be tricky at this point for younger walkers. The first part of the walk ends at a small cairn marker.  First marker cairn From there the hike undulates for 2km as it snakes it's way slightly south of the actual top. Here you will reach a bigger cairn marker.  Second marker cairn From this marker turn north east to the trig point 4.5 km distance. The height of the summit is 526m. We reached the top with 4 kids in 1
Read more

Bike and Hike

Image
"It was a shame that for all the beauty of the scenery that the top of the mountain was covered in mist." Ben Alder and Ben Bheoil  These two Munros stand south of Dalwhinnie in a remote part of Scotland. The best way of getting to them is to cycle out to Culra bothy, some 17km, which, I suppose is one way of warming up before a lengthy hike. These hills were not even on my radar for possible hills to visit but something happened that changed all that. I have had a mountain bike for over 20 years now, for over 15 years it has been covered up, sitting, rusting out the back. A few years ago I did replace the main gear cassette and chain however frustrated at not getting the gears working properly I gave up and left it. That was until the start of the summer. I had decided on not worrying about gears, all I wanted to do is to cycle and to have a bike that would be a low maintenance as possible. With that in mind I took the gear shifters off, pushed the rear mech back and fixed t
Read more