🌧️🥾 A Brilliant Day on the Hills! 🥾🌧️
We had 26 walkers out with us today for our trip up Deeside, including lots of new faces to the club. It was great to welcome walkers with a wide range of experience – from seasoned Munro baggers with impressive totals under their belts to two ladies who successfully bagged their very first Munros. Congratulations to both of them! 🎉
The Munro group was dropped off at Auchallater car park and set off under cloudy skies. The first leg took them to Loch Callater before beginning the climb to Tolmount. The quicker walkers in the group reached the summit and were rewarded with fantastic panoramic views across the surrounding hills.
Unfortunately, the Scottish weather had other ideas! Before long, the clouds rolled in and the rain began, making the journey across to Cairn of Claise even more challenging. With poor visibility and no clear track in places, a couple of walkers narrowly missed the summit before rejoining the main group on the descent.
With visibility virtually non-existent at the tops, there was little reason to hang around. The group made good progress back down to Loch Callater and returned to the bus well ahead of schedule.
Meanwhile, our second group – larger than usual due to the main walk distance involved and the weather forecast – were dropped off further up the road at Baddoch. After a steady climb towards Loch Callater, they made their way down through the heather to the welcome shelter of Callater Bothy for lunch.
As luck would have it, the rain arrived just after they reached the bothy, saving everyone from the usual frantic scramble for waterproofs! ☔ With no improvement in the weather looking likely, the group followed the Land Rover track back to the bus.
Thankfully, everyone returned in one piece – if a little damp and with a few tired muscles! The journey home was filled with plenty of chat, laughter and stories from the day.
To round things off, we enjoyed a well-earned stop in Ballater, where drinks and portions of chips went down a treat before heading back to Aberdeen.
A great day out despite the weather, and a huge well done to everyone – especially our newest Munro baggers! 👏🏔️😊
Wendy