Spittal of Glenmuick, Lochnagar, Glas-allt-Shiel, Loch Muick, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
[21.4 km] Thu 07 Mar 2013

NO 3099 8513

The night was calm and drizzly but being in the car I thankfully didn't have a wet tent to pack away. After breakfast I drove to the empty car park at the Spittal of Glenmuick. It is quite large and even has a coach area. Considering the many miles of single track road to get here it probably gets busy in fine weather. I'd already read about a car parking charge, which usually I object to but not this time. £3 for the day goes to maintaining the paths on the mountain, which is a great way to spend the money. I set off at 7am under a very gloomy sky. The track headed across a flat area to the buildings of Allt-na-giubhsaich.

The buildings were all empty and seemed to be estate buildings. By one was a sign pointing to Lochnagar. I followed it through the trees and on to a snow covered track. Although the temperature was at freezing point the lack of wind meant I soon had to take a layer off. The track had many boot tracks showing from previous days but it was now snowing slightly and the tracks were getting covered up. There was low cloud when I set off and now I was in it. The view ahead was minimal and when I reached the minor path off to the left there was only a small snow covered cairn to mark it. It was the way I needed to go, up to Lochnagar summit. By now there was full snow cover but for the first part the climb wasn't too steep.

My worry was the new snow lying on top of ice and as I only had ice studs on my boots they wouldn't give enough protection. I kept climbing steadily and wasn't having any problems. After a while I checked my position on the GPS and found that I'd passed a memorial I was hoping to check out. I'd walked right past it but in the poor visibility I didn't see it. The gradient began to steepen drastically and I was having problems getting a grip. I had no choice but to find a bit of shelter behind an ice covered boulder and change my ice studs for crampons. It took a while in the cold spindrift as the fixing straps were the original ones with buckles.

Glas-allt-Shiel

The difference was instant and I was able to walk up the frozen snow with ease. It was frustrating not being able to see anything but all that means is that I'll have to return some day in better weather. For a while the gradient eased as I reached the summit plateau at around 1050m altitude. The ground was hard frozen snow but close to my right were the cornices of the cliff edge which plunges down to the loch. Route finding was very difficult in the whiteout conditions and I used my compass to navigate the last part to the Lochnagar summit. Everything was completely coated in ice including the trig post and nearby information plate. I managed a quick photo of the trig post then turned round to retrace my steps as best as I could. Being crampon spike marks in the snow and ice there was nothing visible to see. My descent route was via Glas Allt which is different from my way up.

The first part of the descent was difficult to find as there were no markers. Eventually I saw some steps made from boulders so knew I was on the right track. The descent was diagonally down the steep side of the glen but it wasn’t an obvious line. Occasionally I saw old prints in the snow but most had been snowed over.

It was so nice to reach the flat glen floor and cross the wooden footbridge. Further down the snow began to soften and thin and I was able to take my crampons off and replace them with ice studs again. Then I saw the first walkers of the day, a party of about 6 men coming up. They were heading for the summit and asked about conditions. I told them about hard snow and ice and asked if they all had crampons and ice axes. Nobody had crampons and only 1 ice axe.

I reminded them about knowing when to turn back. Down the path I came to the woods above Glas-allt-Shiel. Down through the woods I came to the granite building which was built by Queen Victoria. It was shuttered up for the winter but I had a look in a building at the rear which is open as a bothy for walkers. I followed the track along Loch Muick then right at the boat house along a path and track back to the car park. I had a quick look in the visitor centre on the way.