Glen Shee & Glen Ey
The Glen Shee hills are characteristically heathery and more rounded, but they do have to advantage of ease of access and therefore provide easy day hikes. Their main fault lies in the extensive ski developments that spoil the scenery in the vicinity of Glen Shee. This area really is a mess but given whiteout conditions, it is possible to avoid seeing the man made intrusions. The eastern Glen Shee Hills are covered on the Lochnagar page.

Creag nan Gabhar
This mountain is a small Corbett lying south of Breamar. It has a long broad northern ridge with extensive views back down to Braemar and beyond to Ben Avon. Like other hills around here, the terrain is characteristically heathery. At 834m, the hill offers an easy half day excursion. Cars can be left in a layby at Auchallater and a landrover track can be followed up Glen Callater. 500m beyond a southward turn in the glen, a track branches off right heading up the slopes of Creag nan Gabhar's northern ridge. This diminishes to a good path that is followed up the spine of the ridge to the summit.

Glen Shee Summits seen from Creag nan Gabhar

Looking down the north ridge of Creag nan Gabhar to Braemar

The summit offers a good vantage point to survey the hills surrounding Glen Ey, from Lochnagar to the east to the Cairnwell to the south. For variation, head southeast towards Bealach Buidhe where a landrover track is picked up to take you back to Glen Callater and back to the road.

Looking northweswt from The Cairnwell across to Carn an Stac

The Cairnwell, Carn Aosda & Carn a' Gheoidh
The hills west of Glen Shee include the two most spoiled munros in Scotland. These hills are located on the boundary that encompasses the Glen Shee Ski Basin. With just under 300m ascent from the car park to The Cairnwell (933m) and Carn Aosda (917m), these are the two quickest munros to climb in scotland. When you include the third summit of Carn a' Gheoidh (975m) 3km further back, you have a trio of summits that can easily be traversed in time for lunch back down at the road.

Looking north down into Glen Clunie from Carn a' Gheoidh

Carn an Tuirc and Cairn of Claise seen across the ski road

Like most other summits in the eastern Grampians, these hills are characteristically rounded, with the only craggy ground of note being in the corrie west of The Cairnwell. The Cairnwells summit is occupied by two radio masts and a shed embedded into the summit cairn, while Carn Aosda lies just outside the ski basin boundary fence. The ascent of either summit is most easily followed along the numerous ski tows that exist. In ski season though, it's best to find a less obstructive route up what will probably be a ploughed landrover track.

The summit masts of The Cairnwell

The Cairnwell and eastern Glen Shee summits seen from Carn a' Gheoidh

Beyond the two ski munros, the ground quickly becomes quieter along the ridge heading out towards Carn a' Gheoidh. Soon the only man made intrusions visible are limited to the towers on The Cairnwell. The ground is easy all the way to Carn a' Gheoidh and upon reaching its summit, you a greeted with a good view west across to Glas Tulaichan. The views up here give uninterrupted vistas of all the Cairngorms to the north with the hills of Perthshire and Fife extending down to the south.

Carn a' Gheodidh seen from carn Aosda

Looking west from Carn a' Gheodih to Glas Tulaichean

Glen Ey
There are are few munros accessible from the Dee. Glen Ey branches south of the Dee at Inverey. It's a long track walk before the river splits and you start gaining height. At the watershed you reach a loch called Loch nan Eun. This loch can also be reached from a long glen from the spittal of Glen Shee to the south east. It's a remote place - utterly desolate but it makes a fine high level camp at just under 800m. The hills around this loch ar no more than 250m above you. Up here four munros can be taken in in quick succession.

Looking down the upper reaches of Glen Ey

Looking down from Loch nan Eun to Gleann nan Taitneach

The northeastward view from Beinn Lutharn Mhor

Glas Tulaichean has the most distinctive corrie. Facing east, it's a fine summit to view. From Loch nan Eun though, few features reveal themselves and it's a tough heathery approach. This goes for all the other summits. Carn an Righ and Beinn Lutharn Mhor are very rounded but give views straight up the Lairig Ghru probably making them the finest viewpoints for the Cairngorms. To the south west lies the massive bulk of Beinn a' Ghlo - bigger than it looks from here.

Carn an Righ seen from Glas Tulaichean

Beinn Lutharn Mhor seen from Glas Tulaichean

Beinn Lutharn Mhor seen from then slopes of Carn an Righ

An Socath is the fourth munro to reach from Loch nan Eun. It forms the terminus of a long undulating heather ridge that twists its way from Morrone at the northwest end of the ridge - it's 10km long but feels much longer than that. The going on this ridge is mixed with the cols in deep heather and the heather on the minor tops being nicely cropped. Finally there's the summit of Carn Bhac. This summit is the most featureless of them all and defended by peat hags if approached from the upper reaches of Glen Ey.

On the summit ridge of An Socath

An Socath seen from Carn Bhac

The summit of Carn Bhac

Overall these summits may be rounded and dull to many. But catch them in winter or autumn and you have an adventure with the mountain colours are at their best.

Beinn Lutharn Mhor seen from Carn Bhac

Glas Tulaichean seen from Carn an Righ

Ey Burn and the steep scarp of Creag an Fhuathais

The summit cairn of Ben Gullabin

Ben Gullabin
At 806m, Ben Gullabin is a prominent outlier to the main bulk of the Glen Shee summits. The hill rises steeply above the Spittal of Glen Shee. The views from here are extensive southwards towards the plains of Perthshire as well as offering a unique angle of Glas Tulachean as seen looking up Gleann Taitneach.

The easiest access to this hill is from a track that starts east of the summit that rises to the saddle north of the summit. From the saddle, a new track strikes up the slope nearly all the way to the summit. This isn't shown on existing maps, and it is evident that the track leading to the saddle has been extended much further north towards the Glen Shee munros.