Carn an Fhidhleir

994m

An Sgarsoch

1006m

date climbed

3/8/2014

time taken

9 hours

distance

25km bike, 13km foot (15.5/8.5 miles)

ascent

960m (3,150 ft)

OS Map

Weather

Fair but heavy showers on the return bike ride

Starting point :  Linn of Dee

The two Munros of Carn an Fhidhleir and An Sgarsoch are summits on this vast area West of the Linn-of-Dee. The terrain is heather clad with relatively gentle slopes. Access was from the Linn of Dee where a track can be cycled, past the White Bridge, to the Geldie Burn and the abandoned Lodge. Scotland always likes to throw something new and unexpected into the pot and this was the case on the day that I cycled to Geldie Burn. Whilst driving through the Dee valley towards the Linn of Dee in the early morning, I was struck by a noise I had not heard before in the week - the sound of rushing water with lots of energy. I knew there had been rain during the night but did not realise how much rain and by how much the rivers and streams would rise. The track was a river in places and then within a mile of the the Geldie Burn I had to cross the Allt Dhaidh Mor tributary of the burn. This was in full spate so I had to leave my bike at this point and cross without it. The Geldie Burn then had to be crossed which was interesting and a little scary. Once over the burn, the boots were off for draining and the socks wrung out.

The route to the two Munros is given on Steve Fallon’s website and was followed with no difficulties. The initial walk in was on a good path and then when the climbing started of Carn an Fhidhleir, boggy and pathless terrain was crossed. After a short but steep section the summit was reached. By this time of my trip I was surrounded by the hills which I had already climbed and it was a great feeling to look at the view from the the summit and pick out the routes from the previous few days walking. The descent to the belach and ascent of An Sgarsoch was quick and painless with no mist to slow things down. The descent taken was slightly west of Steve’s route where I joined the path taken in the morning down to the lodge. The burn’s ferocity had dropped considerably in the time I had taken to climb the Munros and so it was back to the bike and a rainy cycle back to the Linn of Dee in a heavy shower.