Monday 17th July

Panoramic from the summit of Culardoch.

Carn Liath (862m) & Culardoch (900m)

Today was one of those days where the birds were nearly as good as the hills. We were up at 7am and it was only about an hour drive to the Inverclaude Estate which lies around 6 miles east of Braemar. It was also unusual as the weather was stunning with hardly a cloud in the sky, fortunately there was a stiff breeze which help to cool us.

We parked up in the P&D car park at Keloch and within 100 yards had a couple of Scottish Crossbill there were numerous Spotted Flycatchers in the paddocks before the forest started, this wound its way uphill for a couple of miles before we emerged on the hillside. The track ahead of us was good and went up to the Beach Dearg which was the highpoint between the two hills.

We pretty soon saw a couple of Merlin which put on a show for us and enlivened the walk, after another mile or so we left the path and took a direct route towards the summit of Carn Liath and its other tops (all of a roughly similar height. We were at the summit in good time visiting the other tops and, more importantly for me we saw Dotterel and Ptarmigan.

Joy at the summit of Carn Liath

A selfie at the top of Carn Liath, must remember the position of the sun next time.

Me at the summit of Carn Liath

Culardoch from the summit of Carn Liath

The route to Culardoch was straightforward and the climb up was relatively easy and we were there in no time. There was a trig point which gave enough shelter for us to sit down and enjoy our lunch. The visibility was tremendous and we enjoyed really good views. All that was left was a good hike back out follow a good path. In total we walked nearly 38,000 steps by the end of the day!

Joy on Culardock

Carn Liath from Culardoch