20 attended today for our outing to the Hill of Wirren.
We arrived at Edzell square for a comfort break, only to be greeted by a mass of cars and hundreds of runners awaiting to start a half marathon race around the nearby Glen Lethnot. Fortunately after our short stop the bus left quickly in advance of the runners to travel to our start point near Bridgend.
Meanwhile 3 of our numbers stayed in Edzell to do a shorter walk to Bridge of Gannochy and the lower reaches of the Rocks of Solitude before returning to Edzell via the riverside walk.
The main group headed uphill from Drumcairn Farm and ascended the ridge of the Shank of Ledmanie towards the main top of the Hill of Wirren. The weather remained good on the leeward side of the hill, however we were buffeted by strong gusty of up to 50mph on the tops and these continued along with squally showers as we descended over East Wirren and the Hill of Corathro to reach Gannochy and our eventual return to Ezdell.
Despite the clear and at times sunny weather this was not a day for lingering around nor to practice any navigational skills picked up at our recently held Map & Compass training session.
Everyone returned back safely at around 3.15pm allowing a pub/coffee stop before departing at 4.00 pm and arriving back early to Aberdeen. Despite the weather conditions, all enjoyed a good day.
Frank Kelly
