My youngest daughter was keen to add to her Munro tally, still in single figures, so accompanied by her eldest son on his first Munro trip, we headed for Glen Clunie, south of Braemar. I parked in the small car park on the east side of the A93 just prior to the road steepening to the Cairnwell Ski Centre. (NO14768000)
A short descent led to a bridge over the Cairnwell Burn then it was an easy walk along the path on the north side of the Allt a’ Gharbh-choire, passed the waterfall, then across a few tributaries where the ground was a bit wet and boggy.
The route then steepened as we followed the path east. Higher up there were several paths leading through the boulder fields before we reached the cairn on the Munro, Carn an Tuirc. Apparently nearby ground was slightly higher than the cairn.
We then walked east soon turning north-east to avoid any additional loss of height before continuing the descent south-east to the col between Carn an Tuirc and Cairn of Claise. It was then an easy climb to the cairn marking the summit of the Munro, Cairn of Claise. Here we stopped for lunch during a rain shower.
We then followed the path south-west then went round the head of the Garbh-choire and onto the ridge between it and the Glas Choire. More height was lost before reaching the col below Sron na Gaoithe then it was a short climb to the summit of this Sub Simm, an outcrop beside the cairn. It was here back in January 2012 that I tripped, broke my arm and dislocated a shoulder.
It was then a fairly steep descent, avoiding some boulders, before the gradient eased and we headed for the bridge over the Cairnwell Burn, south of it merging with the Allt a’ Gharbh-choire. A short climb then took us back to the car park.
- Time taken – 5 hours 30 minutes.
- Distance – 11.25 kilometres.
- Height climbed – 675 metres.