Glorious glen is walker’s dream
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SOME years ago I was given a book as a Christmas present. The Big Walks, compiled by Ken Wilson and Richard Gilbert, describes a series of "challenging walks and scrambles in the British Isles".
I take it off the shelf now and again for inspiration to plan forays into the great outdoors. Inspirational it surely is, containing a wonderful collection of pictures to tempt any enthusiastic walker.
Though the gear worn by the people in them makes me smile compared to the vastly improved kit available nowadays, the routes themselves are no easier, with many of the gradings including the words "long and arduous".
It was partly as a result of looking at the book that I hit on the idea of walking each of the three long glens that split the Cairngorms in a day. First on the list was Glen Tilt, with the Lairig Ghru and Glen Feshie to come later.
Glen Tilt is arguably the finest of the trio, its scenic beauty greatly enhanced by the presence of the River Tilt, with high mountains rising on either side.
It is 31 miles from Blair Atholl in the west to Linn of Dee in the east, where I had arranged to be picked up around 11 hours after the start.
The walking itself is easy, on good tracks and paths all the way, but once committed there are no escape routes. The only major obstacle is the Geldie Burn towards the end of the walk, which was in spate when I reached it and freezing cold into the bargain.
There was nothing for it but to wade, so I took my socks off, put my boots back on to protect my feet and entered the water, picking my way carefully across. Fortunately there were only another four miles to go because my feet felt like blocks of ice.
The only Munro easily accessed from Glen Tilt is Carn a’ Chlamain, and I had picked possibly the worst week of the year as a holiday to do it and whittle my number left to do down to seven.
Right at the end of the week the forecast improved so I set off for Blair Atholl and the Glen Tilt car park near Old Blair.
The great thing about Glen Tilt for some distance in is that it has an excellent Land Rover track, so speedy progress can be made on a bike. After the initial climb out of Blair Atholl the glen is also fairly flat, putting not too much strain on the legs.
The track starts immediately opposite the car park between two gateposts, with the sign Forest Lodge on one side and one on the other welcoming walkers, cyclists and horse riders to the Atholl Estate.
The Duke of Atholl commands the only legal private army in Europe — the Atholl Highlanders, based at Blair Castle.
As I started my ride into the glen a hare loped down the track towards me, stopped briefly and darted off to the side. Arriving at Marble Lodge, a kilometre away from the start of my hill walk, a woman was standing outside so I stopped to chat and discovered she was from Northumberland and had rented the place out for a week.
She seemed unperturbed at experiencing a week of very wet and windy weather. The peace of the glen was reward enough in itself.
Shortly after the lodge a bridge crosses to the west side of the Tilt, with the huge bulk of Beinn a’ Ghlo rising on the other side, which has three Munro summits on its ridge.
I crossed the Allt Craomidh, rushing down into the Tilt and prepared to ascend the long south ridge of Carn a’ Chlamain. The summit is hidden from below until you reach the 150 metre contour and join a rather unsightly vehicle track which continues right up the ridge.
I took a rest part way up to look back down Glen Tilt and across to Beinn a’ Ghlo, recalling a wonderful wild camp near Loch Loch, on the east side of the mountain, on a cross-Scotland backpack.
Under way again, it was not long before I was heading up the scree-covered summit cone of Carn a’ Chlamain with views from the top towards Braemar and a covering of new snow on the Cairngorms which had fallen in the past day or so.
Not wanting to descend the same way I decided to drop down into the corrie on the west side of the approach ridge and escape the wind, which was picking up and blowing in rain.
I had not long started the descent before I spotted a huge herd of deer below, which must have been close to 100-strong. They took off at speed once they saw me and it was quite a sight seeing so many animals moving in unison like a wave across the hillside.
Back at the bike again the rain was falling steadily so I geared up in waterproofs for the ride out. It was still enjoyable even in the wet, looking at the lush green scenery as I rode and the trees in full leaf.
It had been good to reacquaint myself with Glen Tilt and tuck another new Munro under my belt.
