Spittal-of-Glenmuick, Capel Mounth, Glen Clova, Loch Muck, Aberdeenshire.
[24.7 km] Fri 28 Jun 2013

OS Grid Ref: NO 30983 85133
Lat/Long: +56.952278, -03.136294

It rained through most of the night and it continued as I drove to the car park at the Spittal of Glenmuick. I happily paid the £3 parking fee as the money is used to repair the paths in the area. Mine was the only car around as I set off just before 7am. I took the first track towards Lock Muick which was also the line of the old 17th C drove road to Glen Clova. Before long a sign said Public Footpath to Glen Clove by Capel Mounth.

It was a good stoned vehicle track but not suitable for a domestic car. The light rain continued and as I got higher then I was into the cloud and lost the misty views. There were plenty of shooting butts around explaining the well maintained track. Once I’d done most of the climbing to about 600m I was wandering along easily with only slight undulations in the gradient. It was difficult to judge the highest point as there seemed to be several along the way.

It was interesting to see the mountain bike tracks and this would probably make good riding. The visibility varied along the way but began to improve on the approach to Gallow Hillock and Capel Mounth. The track ended and a footpath continued. There was a winding descent down to Capel Burn and Glen Clove. The flat bottomed glen appeared below with large pine plantations.

I reached the track at the bottom and turned right to the occupied buildings of Moulzie. I stopped to peer through the fence then a small dog began barking and ran towards me. A man soon emerged to shout at the dog. He looked like an estate worker. I carried on up the glen following a nice grassy path past another pine plantation to a substantial wooden footbridge across the River South Esk. There I met another vehicle track which I followed for a mile and a half. It didn’t go to any buildings and towards its end was in such a bad state I doubt if a Landover could get through without difficulty. The track finished at a brand new wooden footbridge. I crossed it to reach another footbridge which was located over an interesting waterfall on the infant River South Esk.

The bothy

The path then headed steeply up the hillside but the going was easy due to stone steps along parts of the route. Higher up the gradient eased as I came to the tin and wooden bothy that I visited on my last visit when I approached from the opposite side from Loch Muick. I had a look round and briefly though about how I hadn’t seen anyone all day when a couple of walkers suddenly appeared from the west. I followed the track to the east which I knew gave excellent views across Loch Muick. The cloud was still low but I managed some nice views. However, the wind was certainly getting stronger and before long I had to put my jacket on again. The track made quite a perilous descent to the bridge and would certainly make a challenging drive. On foot it was no problem. At the bridge the track was level and pleasant and I followed it above the shore of the loch for a while before leaving it for the final length back to the Spittal of Glenmuick.