Autumn in Glen Doll

Once again Club members received a briefing and a risk assessment about Covid 19 in advance of their walk in Glen Doll. As the car park is popular, walkers arrived early and, after a brief welcome, were quickly underway, their early start rewarded with sunshine, soft autumn colours and red deer stags roaring on the crags. It made a very pleasant walk in via Moulzie to Bachnagairn. Broad Cairn and Jock’s Road in Glen Doll were the main aims for the day which were reached comfortably given excellent walking conditions and good visibility.

After Bachnagairn, the walkers split into two groups with the first heading north over the memorial bridge to climb the munro, Broad Cairn, where two members retraced their outward route and the remaining three intrepid members decided to extend their walk from the summit of Broad Cairn by walking northwest over another munro, Cairn Bannoch, then turning south over Fafernie before meeting “Jock’s Road” at Crow Craigies and the return route to Glen Doll.

After leaving Bachnagairn, the second main group headed north-west over “Glittering Skellies” and passing close to Loch Esk before joining Jock’s Road above the repaired shelter and then making their way on good paths to Glen Doll. In the amphitheatre, they paused to watch a pair of eagles soaring above. Other wildlife “spots” included red grouse a red squirrel and various fungi. Plenty walkers and mountain bikers out enjoying the good conditions on the Munros, although the “Glittering Skellies” group only met occasional pairs of walkers – that changed when reaching the busy car park as many people took advantage of the good conditions to enjoy this magnificent setting.