Creag Leacach

987m

Glas Maol

1068m

Cairn of Claise

1064m

Tom Buidhe

957m

Tolmount

958m

Carn an Tuirc

1019m

Carn Aosda

917m

Carn a'Gheoidh

975m

The Cairnwell

933m

date climbed

30/7/2014

time taken

11 hours

distance

30km (19 miles)

ascent

1690m (5500ft)

OS Map

Landranger 43

Weather

Fair but some mist in the morning

Starting point :  Devil’s elbow car park

The Steve Fallon route was followed pretty much to the letter on this day. With 9 Munros forming a high-level circuit above Glenshee, this turned out to be a very good way of ticking off a good number of Munros! The route over these Munros generally follows good tracks and paths. With 1,700m of ascent over a distance of 30km and generally gentle climbs on grassy ground, this turned out to be a very enjoyable but not too taxing day of walking.  

The mist lay pretty thickly on the hills as I set off from the Devil’s Elbow car park. The initial ascent of Creag Leacah was straightforward but I was soon getting the compass out to check on progress in the mist and this was needed to find the cairn of the second summit of the day Glas Maol due to the very flat and featureless nature of the terrain. Although not an issue, care was needed again to help guide me to the summit of Cairn of Claise. The mist cleared at this point and it was line of sight navigation to the summit of Tom Buidhe and Tolmount. The route to Carn an Tuirc is not obviously, particularly in the mist so progress was a bit slow at this point to make sure no mistakes were being made. The descent from this peak was steep and bouldery but I was soon having a break by the A93 preparing myself for the slog up Carn Aosda. An boy was it a slog. Very steep at first but lessening off towards the summit. The ski lift appeared and I was then at the summit thankfully. The area around The Cairnwell is covered in big tracks but the path to Carn a’Gheoidh was very pleasant and well maintained. After summit eight, the final Munro of the day beckoned. The wind had really got up by this time and was fairly whistling through the radio masts on the top of The Cairnwell. All that remained was a fairly steep but grassy descent to the road then the walk back to car park. A very satisfying day.