We chose the Mona Gowan ridge as we'd be able to use two cars and make a linear walk with the wind at our backs. It's a hill I've climbed previously and enjoyed; this would be a different route for me. At 749m/2457ft, Mona Gowan itself is a Graham and there are a couple of other smaller summits along the ridge.
From the west there are a couple of logical starting points, one on the summit of the old military road (now the A939, but don't expect a "proper" main road!)connecting Donside with Gairnshiel. A long layby on the east side of the road has some granite steps which lead up to a scratch of path climbing to the summit of Scraulac.
The other good starting point from this side of the hill is further along the A939 at Glen Fenzie from where one can take a slightly longer route to Scraulac with a bit more ascent . This starting point could also be used to make a circuit from the south....there's a good circuit from the north too; chacon a son gout!
We were glad of the hill's relative lack of height as the wind was both strong and chilling with a cloudbase just a hundred or so metres overhead. We put our backs to the wind and plodded on up to the ridge.
The weather forecast had indicated the passage of a cold front during the day. We thought we might mange to complete our walk before this crossed the area, but it seemed that we'd be right in the firing line as ominous grey sheets of rain built to the west.
The summit of Scraulac came easily enough and we remained just below the scudding cloudbase. I think this name translates as "scree place", and there's certainly some marble type scree here which is relatively uncommon in the granite dominated local rocks. An estate boundary marker adjoins the cairn - I think it marks the boundary between Candacraig and Invercauld estates.
The walk from Scraulac to the next bump on the ridge, Craignagour Hill, gives great going on clipped heather - it's the type of terrain found on many areas of high ground in the area and can allow really long distances to be reeled off. There's a nice feeling of being on a broad rooftop on this walk as the ridge is separated from higher ground by distance and so gives really spacious views.
Continuing east there's a dip to a peaty bealach before a short climb up to Mona Gowan; a fence gives a useful guide down to this bealach in poor visibility.
The cairn on the 749m summit of Mona Gowan is huge and visible for many miles - it was erected in 1887 to mark the jubilee year of Queen Victoria's reign.
Allan and I ate lunch in the lee of the cairn which gave good shelter from the biting wind. the view to the south east is dominated by Morven (big hill), a prominent landmark across much of this part of Aberdeenshire.
The weather caught up with us as we descended north from Mona Gowan, if anything the wind increased and there was a spell of quite heavy rain. I took no pictures as we hurried down to the shelter of the forest above Culfork on the River Don.
The rain stopped just as we reached the forest track and we sat to have a cup of tea before walking down the pleasant couple of kilometres to Culfork where we'd left a car. Our route was quite short at approximately 10 kilometres but had given a good walk from unpromising weather.
As we recovered a car from the start, the weather was already clearing after the cold front passage....but the wind certainly wasn't any warmer!
A walk like that certainly makes you appreciate the comforts of lower altitudes after it's ended and blasts any lethargy over the horizon. I never mind wind speeds as long as it stays dry.
ReplyDeleteVery true Bob, it was a bracing walk!
ReplyDelete:o)