Misty in Aberdeen as we left but bright and sunny as we drove into Deeside. There were 35 members on the bus, just one free seat. At Easter Balmoral the party split into three groups. The route taking in Lochnagar summit was the most popular, a smaller group did the longer through route. Eight members stayed on the bus to start at the distillery and take the shorter low level route to Loch Muick visitor Centre which was closed. The summit group found the going hard over boulders and heather as the path stopped well short of the top. This combined with the very warm weather meant the walk took longer than expected. As a result the bus left 40 minutes late and the pub stop in Ballater was only 20 minutes. We got back to Aberdeen shortly after 7.30pm. David
