FINALLY!!!!
I'm so thrilled to be writing this post because I feel like I've been waiting so long to do it! The need to get back out into the hills has been eating away at me for weeks. I've been so caught up in stuff lately, it has been too hot, there's been too many things on at the weekends - there's so many excuses as to why 2 months have gone by since my last Munro. I can't believe it has been 2 months, I just don't know where the time has gone!
Now it's August. And Edinburgh in August is enough to make anyone flee to the hills. Finally the opportunity arose for a Munro or two on Sunday 18th.
I was really keen to bag more than one Munro, just to build my confidence back up and to feel like I was progressing. I was so in need of fresh air and to be out in the hills - I have felt so stifled by things lately, so contained and claustophic. I've lost touch with what's going on outside of my own four walls. I miss nature, the outdoors, the freedom of being out there.
When a plan started coming together for two Munros in Glen Isla / Glenshee I was so excited. It was Mum's idea to head for Glen Isla, an area she knows well from golf-related jaunts. She picked Glas Maol and Creag Leacach from Monega Hill, two I'd never heard of before, so it was nice to feel like we were going slightly off the more beaten track.
Mum and Dad picked me up from Edinburgh around 7.45am on Sunday morning. It already looked like a nice day, although the forecast suggested there would be scattered showers later. We made our way to Blairgowrie, where we met up with Alun, Tim and Moira, and our group for the day was complete.
After breakfast in Blairgowrie (and hopefully no regrets from those who enjoyed the £3.19 full Scottish...) we continued into Glen Isla, to the parking area at Auchavan.
It was dry - but just a tad windy!
We left the cars at 10.45am, and made our way to the very good track alongside the River Isla. This was a good start to the day, as the decent path was a good way to warm up for the ascent ahead.
We stopped for a breather outside Tulcan Lodge, which had this very interesting coat of arms on its gateway:
From there, there was only one way to go:
We began the first ascent of the day, of Monega Hill. It was fairly gradual, although the wind was really making things challenging. The higher we got, the windier it got. I would have roughly guessed around 50/60mph, but thankfully Alun was on hand to play down my wild estimations.
Thanks to a clever little piece of kit, we knew it was 28mph at one point on the hill. Then we got slightly higher and it became more difficult to stay standing. It was 45mph!
It was wild...but it was the wild fresh air I needed. It literally felt as if the cobwebs of the weeks prior were being blown away - and quickly. Leaning back into the wind, I felt calmer than I've felt for a long time!
Monega Hill looked like a straightforward hill, but actually involved a series of false summits. I took this photo of Dad ahead, thinking he was about to reach the summit. He wasn't.
However, it wasn't too much further. Once we'd reached the summit, we carried on a wee bit further, and peaked over the edge of the hill - WOW! The views opened up of the glen and were tremendous! It reminded me a wee bit of the amphitheatre of Glen Clova, but this was different too. More spacious, almost hard to get the perspective on how big it was.
It had taken us a good few hours to get up here, and it was such a beautiful spot, so we decided to stop and have lunch. We found a great spot to perch, and soak up the incredible views around us.
Much of the hilarity that followed can only be described as a series of "you had to be there" moments, beginning with something green and hoppy joining Moira for lunch - or perhaps getting a bit too close!
We'd disrupted a toad, and he probably wasn't thrilled about that. Neither was Dad - thanks to a Hide-and-Seek incident involving getting a bit too close and personal with a monster toad (not a recent incident I should add).
Then there was the moment where Mum thought she saw a herd of deer. Don't be daft, mother, that's obviously a forest. Back to watching the toad. Turning round again...the forest had moved. Clever trees those. Deer or no deer?
We later saw hundreds of deer, that we were quite sure weren't trees, so perhaps Mum had been right all along.
There was also something to do with a vulture-toupe-parrot-rock, but I think they'd lost the plot by this point!
It was tough to drag ourselves away from this stunning view, but it was after 2pm, and we still hadn't bagged a Munro yet! Time to go - via a 'top', Little Glas Maol.
Alun pointed out that there was an additional Munro not too far from Glas Maol, that may be worth a detour. Cairn of Claise and its rocky summit glinted at us - so close. After a quick discussion, it was decided that Alun, Tim and I would bag this additional summit, and Mum, Dad and Moira would continue to Glas Maol then Creag Leacach, and we'd catch up with them somewhere before Blairgowrie, hopefully.
It was five to 3 when we parted ways (after the crucial transfer of an Eccles cake, of course) and off we all went to bag a Munro, or two, or three.
Alun, Tim and I set off pretty quickly and kept the pace all the way to the summit of Cairn of Claise. It took us around 45 minutes to get there, and on the way we passed some ptarmigan, another addition to the varied wildlife of the day.
We followed the dyke all the way to the summit of Cairn of Claise, the path disappearing under rocks as we clambered to the top.
Finally, we made it to the summit, and I bagged my 16th Munro!
We took a wee break at the summit, for water and chocolate brownies, before heading back towards Glas Maol. The views back to our lunch spot were fantastic!
Glenshee was to our right, and I could just recognise Carn Aosda, which looked completely different from the day up there in the snow!
As we looked to the chair lift ahead of us, a herd of deer appeared, majestic in the distance. We'd also seen quite a number of mountain hares - truly a day of being at one with nature and the wildlife!
Alun, Tim and I marched our way across to the summit of Glas Maol, which seemed to come quickly, although my legs were starting to feel quite sore.
The views and clouds from Glas Maol were stunning!
I was thrilled to reach the summit of Glas Maol, my 17th Munro! We didn't stay long at the summit, just time for more water and brownies, and then it was time for peak number three.
Off we went. We couldn't see the others, although we knew they were at the summit from text updates!
It became quite rocky on the way to the summit of Creag Leacach, and it was also very windy. I did struggle quite a bit here, the wind was so strong and my legs felt weak. Thankfully, it didn't take too long to get to the summit!
We managed to find shelter behind the dyke that ran all the way to the summit and beyond. Here we had a few more snacks and recovered from the strong winds! Dad phoned to say they were on their way down, and we could just see Mum's green jacket in the distance. By this point it was almost 6pm - time had marched on with us.
The plan was to descend via Monamenach, a Corbett. We made our way down from Creag Leacach, and eventually caught up with the others.
It was getting late in the day, and legs were tired all round. We decided to skip the Corbett and make a bee-line for the stream in the glen below. Here we'd pick up the track back to Tulcan Lodge and eventually to the cars.
We were all a bit puggled, but there was a wee jump across the river ahead of us. I just caught Mum making the jump:
To add to that, the sky was beautiful and there was almost a full moon.
I'm so thrilled to be writing this post because I feel like I've been waiting so long to do it! The need to get back out into the hills has been eating away at me for weeks. I've been so caught up in stuff lately, it has been too hot, there's been too many things on at the weekends - there's so many excuses as to why 2 months have gone by since my last Munro. I can't believe it has been 2 months, I just don't know where the time has gone!
Now it's August. And Edinburgh in August is enough to make anyone flee to the hills. Finally the opportunity arose for a Munro or two on Sunday 18th.
I was really keen to bag more than one Munro, just to build my confidence back up and to feel like I was progressing. I was so in need of fresh air and to be out in the hills - I have felt so stifled by things lately, so contained and claustophic. I've lost touch with what's going on outside of my own four walls. I miss nature, the outdoors, the freedom of being out there.
When a plan started coming together for two Munros in Glen Isla / Glenshee I was so excited. It was Mum's idea to head for Glen Isla, an area she knows well from golf-related jaunts. She picked Glas Maol and Creag Leacach from Monega Hill, two I'd never heard of before, so it was nice to feel like we were going slightly off the more beaten track.
Mum and Dad picked me up from Edinburgh around 7.45am on Sunday morning. It already looked like a nice day, although the forecast suggested there would be scattered showers later. We made our way to Blairgowrie, where we met up with Alun, Tim and Moira, and our group for the day was complete.
After breakfast in Blairgowrie (and hopefully no regrets from those who enjoyed the £3.19 full Scottish...) we continued into Glen Isla, to the parking area at Auchavan.
It was dry - but just a tad windy!
 |
| (photo courtesy of Alun) |
We stopped for a breather outside Tulcan Lodge, which had this very interesting coat of arms on its gateway:
 |
| Monega Hill on the left |
 |
| then Moira plonked her bag down on a gnome! |
We began the first ascent of the day, of Monega Hill. It was fairly gradual, although the wind was really making things challenging. The higher we got, the windier it got. I would have roughly guessed around 50/60mph, but thankfully Alun was on hand to play down my wild estimations.
Thanks to a clever little piece of kit, we knew it was 28mph at one point on the hill. Then we got slightly higher and it became more difficult to stay standing. It was 45mph!
Monega Hill looked like a straightforward hill, but actually involved a series of false summits. I took this photo of Dad ahead, thinking he was about to reach the summit. He wasn't.
 |
| Don't do it!! |
It had taken us a good few hours to get up here, and it was such a beautiful spot, so we decided to stop and have lunch. We found a great spot to perch, and soak up the incredible views around us.
Much of the hilarity that followed can only be described as a series of "you had to be there" moments, beginning with something green and hoppy joining Moira for lunch - or perhaps getting a bit too close!
We'd disrupted a toad, and he probably wasn't thrilled about that. Neither was Dad - thanks to a Hide-and-Seek incident involving getting a bit too close and personal with a monster toad (not a recent incident I should add).
We later saw hundreds of deer, that we were quite sure weren't trees, so perhaps Mum had been right all along.
There was also something to do with a vulture-toupe-parrot-rock, but I think they'd lost the plot by this point!
It was tough to drag ourselves away from this stunning view, but it was after 2pm, and we still hadn't bagged a Munro yet! Time to go - via a 'top', Little Glas Maol.
Alun pointed out that there was an additional Munro not too far from Glas Maol, that may be worth a detour. Cairn of Claise and its rocky summit glinted at us - so close. After a quick discussion, it was decided that Alun, Tim and I would bag this additional summit, and Mum, Dad and Moira would continue to Glas Maol then Creag Leacach, and we'd catch up with them somewhere before Blairgowrie, hopefully.
It was five to 3 when we parted ways (after the crucial transfer of an Eccles cake, of course) and off we all went to bag a Munro, or two, or three.
Alun, Tim and I set off pretty quickly and kept the pace all the way to the summit of Cairn of Claise. It took us around 45 minutes to get there, and on the way we passed some ptarmigan, another addition to the varied wildlife of the day.
 | ||||
| definitely ptarmigan in this picture somewhere! |
Finally, we made it to the summit, and I bagged my 16th Munro!
 |
| (photo courtesy of Alun) |
 |
| Cairn of Claise, Munro number 16! |
As we looked to the chair lift ahead of us, a herd of deer appeared, majestic in the distance. We'd also seen quite a number of mountain hares - truly a day of being at one with nature and the wildlife!
Alun, Tim and I marched our way across to the summit of Glas Maol, which seemed to come quickly, although my legs were starting to feel quite sore.
The views and clouds from Glas Maol were stunning!
 |
| Munro number 17 - Glas Maol! |
 |
| looking towards Creag Leacach from Glas Maol - I love the clouds! |
It became quite rocky on the way to the summit of Creag Leacach, and it was also very windy. I did struggle quite a bit here, the wind was so strong and my legs felt weak. Thankfully, it didn't take too long to get to the summit!
 |
| Creag Leacach - Munro number 18! |
We managed to find shelter behind the dyke that ran all the way to the summit and beyond. Here we had a few more snacks and recovered from the strong winds! Dad phoned to say they were on their way down, and we could just see Mum's green jacket in the distance. By this point it was almost 6pm - time had marched on with us.
The plan was to descend via Monamenach, a Corbett. We made our way down from Creag Leacach, and eventually caught up with the others.
 |
| looking back to Creag Leacach, a grand hill |
We were all a bit puggled, but there was a wee jump across the river ahead of us. I just caught Mum making the jump:
 |
| Dad |
After one last refreshment break, and (almost) finishing off the chocolate brownies, it was time for a long plod back to the car. I was feeling absolutely shattered by this point, and just wanted to get home.
Finally we made it back to the entrance to Tulcan Lodge, and joined the path back along the River Isla. There were deer everywhere - it was simply amazing! I don't think I've seen so many deer before!
To add to that, the sky was beautiful and there was almost a full moon.
 |
| (Alun's photo so much better than mine!) |
It took us 10 hours, but at 8.45pm we made it back to the cars! Sadly we forgot to take an 'after' photo but we all looked weather-beaten and tired! It had been a fantastic day though, and it hadn't rained once!
It was too late to get something to eat, and actually tiredness took over from hunger. The drive home felt long, and it was way past bedtime.
Mum and Dad dropped me off at the flat around 11pm, and I went straight to bed - no shower and no dinner!
Monday was a real struggle! It was painful to walk, and I was shattered. My face felt weather-beaten and I was sore. However, I also felt a stong sense of freedom, like the constraints of stress and tension had been relieved.
How quick I forget the value of fresh air and being out in the hills. How quick "real life" takes over, with its constraints. How quick the feeling of freedom comes with fresh air. How quick time flies by.
Next week I begin my adventure on my second long-distance trail, the East Highland Way. I'm so excited! I felt encouraged by Sunday's efforts (which turned out to be a 17.5 mile walk!), and I hope I am fit enough.
I'll try to update my blog at some point on the trail, and keep an eye on Twitter (@AnxiousAmbler) for a few photos!
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