South-west of Huntly was the Tump, Clashmach Hill. With permission I parked at the end of the unclassified road accessed off the A96 Huntly By-Pass at the local mart. I walked up a fenced off path, lower down bounded by gorse bushes, then later a deer fence on its upper side. Higher up went through a couple of gates in the deer fence and onto the north ridge. It was then a short walk to the summit cairn and trig point.
My next hill was west of Huntly. I parked at the start of the forest track on the north side of the A920 Huntly to Dufftown Road to the south of Dunbennan Hill and walked north-east then north along forest tracks. I later left them and walked through well spaced trees, although it was rough going underfoot, to the reach the summit of this Tump.
I then drove north along the minor road that linked the A920 to the A96 and parked on the north side of this road north-east of Inschtammack. I then walked up an old section of tarred roadway onto some forest tracks which later became overgrown as I headed below the south side of Cuternach North-East Top. I then walked up the side of mature fir trees through an area of long grass where the trees had been harvested a few years previous which made for slow progress. I later entered an area of well spaced mature trees to reach the summit of this Tump although the exact spot wasn’t determined.
The final two hills for the day were accessed from the A920 Huntly to Dufftown Road parking at the side of the vehicle track leading to Cairnborrow Wind Farm. I walked up this track to the wind turbines although took a slight detour by walking up the edge of an adjoining field to avoid cattle. I then entered and crossed a field containing sheep and climbed to the summit of the Tump, Black Hill.
The descent took me to the col with the Tump, Hill of Milleath, where I crossed a barbed wire fence and entered the forest to locate a track through the trees. Initially this track was fine but higher up it was covered in brash. A fallen tree had to be worked round before I reached the summit trig point. I then returned to and re-crossed the barbed wire fence before cutting across a field to rejoin the wind farm track avoiding the cattle.
- Total time – 4.25 hours.
- Total distance – 15.25 kilometres.
- Total height climbed – 545 metres.