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Mount Keen
Map We were leaving Ballater today to go to Pitlochry for a week but before travelling south I wanted to fit in the ascent of Mount Keen, the most easterly of all the Munros. Trisha dropped me off at the end of the public road which leads to Glen Tanar, and from there I set off on my bike via the very scenic forest track (9.00). It was a bit bone-shaking and slow as I was gently ascending all the way and there was a lot of rolling resistance from the loose wet sand, gravel and stones on the track. It took me until 10.00 to reach the river crossing, just before the land begins to climb up towards Mount Keen. At this point I abandoned the bike by the ruins of an old croft and set off up the trail on foot. It had been very overcast since the start of the day, with moisture hanging in the air and a couple of spots of precipitation, always falling short of true rain. Nevertheless the cloud hung low and obscured the tops leaving no view at all of what lay ahead. I was following 'the Mounth Road', an old right of way or drovers' track. Basically for much of the way this road is as wide as a cart-track and made up of rough stones, gravel and rock, although you can hardly call it 'paved'. A cart would certainly have found it hard going. Incredibly I did see some bike tracks on it but I'd have thought it nearly impossible to ride up, and to ride down would need the brakes to be held on virtually all the time - and would still be dodgy. For me anyway.
The broad track made for easy navigation, however, despite the thin cloud all around me and I made good progress. On the way up I noticed a couple of old wind-shelter constructions, quite well made and semi-sunken, presumably used by the old drovers or travellers whenever the weather was bad. I slogged up the slope and reached the summit at 11.15 - mostly bouldery there with rounded granite stones and slabs. It was very cold and I'd had to don Berghaus, balaclava and gloves by that time. There's a trig point at the top, sitting on a great jumble of stones, but I saw little else because of the cloud.
I turned back at 11.30 and made my way back to the bike (12.10). On the way I met a party of 4 bikers who were riding the Mounth Road from Glen Tanar to Glen Mark - there's a bypass track halfway up which avoids the summit and they were taking this. I then met a short, stocky Scot about my age who was having a week or two backpacking across Scotland. He said he'd started out from Oban the previous Friday, had covered about 80 miles since then, and was now heading for 'Tarfside'. He also mentioned that the bikers had been pushing their bikes when he saw them.
By the time I regained the bike the cloud was lifting a bit and I could see more of Mount Keen but still not the top. The ride back was much quicker with the gradient in my favour this time and I was back at the car park by 12.55. Trisha turned up 45 minutes later. | ||||
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