A touch of autumn in Morrone Birkwood

We spent a pleasant afternoon walking above the village of Braemar last weekend.  To the south west of the village on the lower slopes of Morrone is the Morrone Birkwood ("Birk" is the Scots name for Birch).  Although named for the Downy Birch (Betula pubescens), the wood has been designated as a Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of the good amount of Juniper Juniperus communis) in the understorey of the wood.

Climbing from the village, a road goes up past a duck pond and becomes a track which climbs to a viewpoint. There's a good view back to the village, which sits in a hollow above the River Dee at 340m/1115 ft.  The relatively high site in a bowl between big hills is part of the reason that Braemar has (twice) recorded temperatures of -27.2 degrees Celsius (-16.9 Farenheit) - a record low for the UK.

The viewpoint has an indicator post mapping all the summits which can be seen - near at hand the main Cairngorms massif looms large.

THere's a definite touch of autumn colour on the high ground now; the heather has turned to rich brown and patches of bracken are bright yellow. 

On the birks, the first sprinkle of gold is among the leaves as this lovely tree starts to colour up towards its climax in early October.

On the woodland floor fungi are numerous and some make for patches of vivid colour such as this Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria).

Poisonous and hallucinogenic as it is, the Fly Agaric is quite beautiful in its own way - and an early sign of  the purple of late summer beginning to give way to the reds and golds of autumn.

This short walk is about 5km in distance with 120 metres of ascent and takes a couple of hours.  There are sign boards in the village and some waymarking along the path itself - a good short walk with great interest and super views.

Meall Alvie

Back home after a long spell working away, I scanned the forecast to see if the weather might be suitable for either sea kayaking or hillwalking. A run of very strong winds didn't offer much encouragement for either the sea or the high hills, so I looked for something with a bit of shelter to get back out and about.

Mid March is very much late Winter rather than early Spring in the Highlands, despite the very mild Winter.  The day was pleasant on low ground but with a forecast of severe gales setting in rapidly higher up the hill during the morning.

East of Breamar, the River Dee takes a couple of turns as it squeezes between low but rugged hills on its way from the mountains to the lower ground.  One of these, Meall Alvie, hems in the northern bank of the river and forces both road and river close around its foot.  The summit is only 560m/1837ft which is very low compared to the surrounding mountains and is wooded right to the summit with Scots Pines.

There's a estate car park at the Keiloch with a £2.50 charge.  The charge is per visit rather than per hour or per day, which is sensible given that this is the departure point for many long routes.  The toilet in the car park is decorated with front covers from Scotlands iconic hill "fanzine" - The Angry Corrie; sadly missed by this hillwalker.....

An information board shows the waymarked routes on this part of Invercauld estate, and nearby a Scottish Rights of Way signpost indicates the way to Inver via Glen Felagie and the start of the route.

After about a kilometre the track passes Felagie Cottage, a locked bothy used by Cults Girl Guides from Aberdeen - it's in a fine location sheltered by woods on one side with a view to Craig Leek on the other.  This is the point where I left the track.....

...to look for a drystone dyke indicated on the 1:25K Ordnance Survey map (but not on the 1:50K) which runs right up to the summit and over Meall Alvie.  From here on there's no path through the deep heather, it's steep and surprisingly hard going.  I was lucky to be doing the walk in dry conditions but was still glad I'd put on gaiters; you'd definitely want them in wet weather!

Higher up the heather gives way to blaeberry underfoot which gives easier walking.  The wood seems to be semi-natural, perhaps a plantation which has been thinned and allowed to naturalise.  There's plety of dead standing trees and some fallen so the wood is a rich habitat.  It should have been rich in birdsong at this time of year but the predominant sounds were a marine roar and the creaking of trunks and branche as the wind thrashed the trees above. 

The trees grow smaller as the summit is reached, stunted by exposure to the wind.  A wooded hill summit is not the norm in Scotland, but with a bit of searching some good views can be had - this is looking north-west to the massive plateaux of Ben Avon and Beinn a'Bhuird......

...and a bit of searching for a clearing in the trees gives a good view of Lochnagar to the south. 

The wind was now at full gale and the air had the faint haze often seen in strong wind, particularly noticeable in this view ENE along the River Dee and the A93 road towards Balmoral Castle in the distance. 

The 560m summit of Meall Alvie is hidden among the trees, so it had a bit of shelter.  An hour is sufficient time to reach the top of this small "Marilyn", and most folk seem to turn around and return by the route of ascent.  Wherever possible I prefer to find a different descent route to make a bit of a circuit, and this is possible on Meall Alvie. 

The stone dyke can be followed across the summit area to the south-east, where it runs downhill.  The way down is even steeper and rougher than the ascent route, for a small hill this one takes a bit of getting at!

The wall continues to the top of some crags, but just above these it crosses the end of a grassy forest track which winds pleasantly down through the woods.  Walking quietly here pays dividends, there seem to be plenty of Roe Deer in the wood and I got several good views as they browsed near the track.  Lower down the grassy track joins a new and broad forest road which perhaps indicates that the trees on this side of the hill will be harvested.

This route is about 6km with 240m of ascent - it took around two hours to complete. The whole route is on OS 1:25K sheet 404 (Braemar, Tomintoul and Glen Avon) and is easier to follow at the 1:25K scale as the wall is clearly indicated.

As a bonus, the excellent food and coffee at the Bothy in Braemar is just a few minutes drive away :o)

A good hill for a windy day!

Before the flood

Craigendarroch is Ballater's hill, it sits right above the town on the banks of the River Dee.  The images in this post were taken on a walk in mid November 2015, well before the floods which poured into the town in late December 2015. 

This image is taken from the road bridge over the River Dee at the end of the main street - a street which was inundated by a metre of floodwater in the torrential rains accompanying storm "Frank".  Subsequent prolonged heavy rain in the early part of 2016 has brought further flood risk with the River Dee reaching its highest recorded level since 1928 and in places altering the landscape completely.

The name "Craigendarroch" means Crag of the Oak Wood and that's a very accurate name; Oaks predominate on the lower slopes of a cone of granite mixed with pines higher up.

The modest summit at 402 metres/1319 feet is marked by a trig point, a view indicator and a large pink granite memorial cairn.  The climb from Ballater takes around an hour on a clear though sometime rough path and is well worth the effort......

...for the view down to the Dee and to Ballater itself.  It's sobering to note that the river flooded to nearly half the extent of the view in this image.




The town of Ballater is resilient - it will recover from the flooding.  Help will be needed from the Scottish Government, from Aberdeenshire Council and from continued visits by tourists and outdoor enthusiasts - the lifeblood of a town which prides itself on its Royal patronage and the proximity of Balmoral a few miles along the road.

The village of Braemar is in a much more difficult position.  Flooding here wasn't as newsworthy but the destruction of a section of the main A93 road and significant damage to the bridge at Invercauld will take some months to assess and repair.  In the meantime Braemar is completely cut off from its natural eastward line of communication along the Dee valley to Aberdeen.  The sole remaining road access to Braemar is the the A93 from the south, a long and difficult road from Perth which crosses one of the highest passes in Scotland at the Cairnwell (at the Glenshee Ski Centre).  Concerted efforts are being made by both Aberdeenshire and Perth & Kinross councils to protect this road access, but it's notorious for closures due to drifting snow in late winter.

The effects on the village will be profound - students won't be able to access their high school at Aboyne, access time to hospital will be much longer and subject to the vagaries of the winter weather, as will keeping the village shops stocked.  Many folk will be unable to travel to their work and the lifeblood of the village - tourists, skiers and walkers will be severely restricted in numbers.  Our own access to Braemar, one of our favourite places, a superb example of community and a base for so many fine adventures, normally takes 40 minutes or so - now it will take around 4 hours and a detour of around 150 miles.



I don't think I've featured a direct appeal on this blog before, but I'm going to do so here.  When the worst effects of the flooding are over and the situation has stabilised, please consider visiting Ballater and especially try to visit Braemar to support the businesses and livelihoods which have taken such a big hit.

Here are a few links to both places:

Visit Ballater

Royal Deeside

Welcome to Braemar

Shops and Businesses in Braemar

Where to Stay

Braemar Mountain Sports Facebook page (with updates on the situation)

October's colours

October - it's perhaps the most colourful of months in Scotland and one of the best times to be out and about.

The predominant colour is golden yellow as on these Aspens beside the River Don at Montgarrie near to home, the colour reflecting beautifully onto a deeper stretch of the river.  We saw a Kingfisher here recently, a new arrival on this part of the river - a blue jewel flashing across the gold.

On our regular evening walk in the woods nearby the advance of autumn is really apparent as the sun dips lower, the light gold tinged with soft greens.....

...backed with the warm brown of heather on the hills.  This view is across the River Don towards Bennachie.

The golden colour reached its height on a dull day when the birches and larches along the River Dee at Invercauld were so vibrant that they actually altered the whole quality of light alongside the river.

Not just gold; reds too.  The Rowans (Sorbus accuparia) are aflame with vibrant dark red shades.

Not quite as red as the knitted decorations adorning the bridge over the Clunie Water at Braemar though!  These colourful "wild knitting" creations were a temporary art installation knitted by local people as part of a "wild knitting trail" , and after being on display for a week were sold at a craft event in the village.

The carpets of Beech leaves on the woodland floor are a quintessential part of autumn, kicking through them isn't just for small kids!

The gold theme returns when the Beech leaves are joined by those of Sycamores.  Wet weather intensifies the colours of the leaves which have already fallen.......

......whilst sunshine illuminates those still to fall with beautiful light as the green chlorophyll of summer recedes and allows the hidden shades to emerge.

There's another element to the October palette too - brilliant white.  On the day when clocks in the UK reverted to UTC signalling the end of British Summer Time, the first snow fell on the high ground of Ben Avon, at 1171 metres/3842 feet one of Scotland's highest hills.

During the second half of the month we've seen skeins of geese high overhead, trailing their wild music behind them as they head south from breeding grounds in Svalbard, Greenland and the high Arctic to winter in the comparatively mild climate of the UK.  And this morning, the unmistakable chatter of the first flocks of Fieldfares arriving from Scandinavia.

October is such a great month!