On Sunday Ann and John, already jaded by too many weekends stuck on the East Coast hills, came up with something a little different. We took the long cycle from Linn of Dee up to Geldie Lodge to tackle the remote peak of An Sgarsoch. The cycle in was quite pleasant with only a slight headwind, although we did make the mistake of bothering to take the bikes across the Geldie Burn ford for very little gain. Once on foot we soon had a test of faith as a very heavy and prolonged shower hit. Luckily we stuck at it and had a bit of a slog through boggy heather to get onto the grassy northern slopes of the hill. This gave quite easy going to the summit.
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| Back down the Geldie Burn from the start of the ascent |
On the way we spotted a group of 20+ ptarmigan, almost perfectly camouflaged on one of the rocky outcrops. Sheltering from the biting wind behind the cairn we had a tasty first lunch of Wensleydale and beetroot chutney rolls. Then we headed off eastwards to the deleted Munro Top and from there it was an easy descent of the NE ridge back to the bikes. The cycle out was uneventful (save for a stop for second lunch) but fast thanks to the now strong tail wind.
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| The summit of An Sgarsoch from the East top |
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The Cairgorms from the summit (Macdui over Ann's head) |
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