Looking south towards the upper reaches of Glen Isla

The View south down Glen Shee on the way up to Glas Maol

These summits were my intention for this small vacation period. My original aim was to find someone with a car to help climb the awkwardly placed summits for this trip. With a car, the remaining two Glen Lyon Munros could also have been climbed. No one volunteered themselves to driving and so I was left sorting out the trip using the public transport available and a bit of hitch hiking luck. A revised plan was to still climb the Glen Doll and Comrie Munros along with the Corbetts of The Goet (Ben Tirran) and Creag Uchdag. The Corbetts were left out owing to a combination of sleeping in and a hitchhiking nightmare, both occurinh on Sunday

The tickets for the Glasgow coach were bought the week before and the weather forecast was very good. I was looking forward to this trip and I looked forward to climbing the remaining Grampian Munros on my agenda. I got some good sleep on the coach up only waking briefly to admire the moonlit view of the Shap summit. I was in Glasgow feeling uncertainty as to how fast I could get up to Glen Shee. All I knew was that there was an hourly bus to Blairgowrie from Perth. That would get me to a better though not ideal hitchhiking position.

I arrived in Perth at 8.30am and found out that the onward bus leaves at 9am. This was well timed for I could now have the ever excellent all day filling breakfast as Bus' y' Bite. Ooh yummy! After getting puritabs at Blarigowrie, I stationed myself on the Glen Shee road for the usual hitch hiking. It was very lucky that I was only waiting for ½ minute. That lift got me to the Spittal of Glen Shee where a second lift got me all the way to the summit. Right on time for my envisaged 11am start.

I felt full of energy and I whizzed up Glas Maol in 1 hour with my back pack. The views were ever improving with the air very clear. All the big cairngarm summits could be seen to the north. The final but distant summits of Mayar and Driesh beckoned to the east while the summits of Mount Keen and Battock - the most easterly Munro and Corbett respectively - occupied an empty and desolate corner. The lowlands and foothills sprawled across the southern view.

Looking north from Tolmount to the Cairngorms
Braeriach is dead centre on the horizon

Looking across the plateau to Lochnagar

Creag Leacach from Glas Moal

The view west from Glas Maol
to Glas Tuleachan

The walk to the next summit was easy across short grass and the trek to Tolmount proved no different. The place still had numerous groups across the plateaux but compared with a Lakeland weekend, the place was quiet. I imagined what the Lakes and Glen Coe were like this weekend and it would probably be like the high street in Manchester on a Saturday afternoon. The summit of Tom Bhuidie seemd a fitting place for lunch before the long haul out to the final pair of Munros.

Mayar seen from near Jocks Road

This part of the plateaux was empty and quiet, no paths existed and the grass was longer with shallow peat hags. The going was thus slower. The ascent of Driesh saw the clouds bubbling up but only to put me - and nowhere else - in the shade. The breeze picked up and so I felt a bit cold. With these conditions along with now numb hands, the place all of a sudden felt quite bleak and dull rather than bright and pleasant. I longed to get into my tent and get to sleep for it was 6pm on the final summit of Mayar.

Glas Maol and Glen Isla seen on the way up to Driesh

The head of Glen Doll from the bealach between Mayar and Driesh

I dropped into the unnamed corrie south of Winter corrie. The skies were now grey and I wondered whether it would rain. It never did but the cloud made the place less pretty. The midges were coming out but they weren't yet winged I think that the coming summer will be fierce with the beasts. The night was comfortable.

Driesh as seen from
the head of Glen Doll

I slept in until 8.30am due to the very long day yesterday. Ben Tirran was now off the agenda, I now wanted to get to Comrie and station myself ready for the next days' Corbett and Munro. Why I tried to unsuccessfully negotiate my way past the only rocky bluff on the way down I don't know why, but I eventually gave up and reverted to the easier grassy slope to the east.

I eventually reached the single track road ready to catch a lift. People were climbing on nearby crags and plenty of Cars were heading for Glen Doll. After ¼ hour without a single car coming out the glen I realised I could be here for a long wait. Six cars passed until 1 ½ hours later, I got a lift to the Clova Hotel where I waited for another 1 ½ hours for the next car to pick me up. This had got to be the worst place to hitch out of for me. An old couple gave me a lift to Kirriemuir, which was very kind of them. At last I was making progress.

Glen Doll and upper Glen Clova had very much a Lakeland feel to it with the deep U - Shaped valley and smooth sides neighbouring broken Crags. The lower part felt like Yorkshires country and then into the open flatland it felt more like the North Downs of Surrey. These lower sections of Clova didn't feel like my ideal highland trip and the Town of Kirriemuir itself felt like a dull and bleak stone grey Welsh town. What a way to spend a bank holiday! I certainly won't go back into Glen Doll without a car next time. This was munro bagging at its maddest, hitching through urban landscapes. It was a challenging feature of the Munro game I didn't like nor want but was still essential to the campaign. Oh well I suppose no pain no gain!

The same couple eventually came along after ½ hour of hitch hiking and gave me a lift right into the city centre of Dundee. I would have to say they were the most generous people who have given me a lift and I am most grateful to them. I now had a coach to get me to Perth but I would miss the connecting bus to Comrie. The next bus to Comrie would reqiure three hours of waiting. I wasn't having any of that!

I decided it was a long shot but it would be worth trying to hitch to Comrie from Perth. After a long hike through the Perth suburbs, I stationed myself beyond the bypass for more hitchhiking. I waited no more than five minutes before I got a lift to Crieff. Another five minutes waiting in Crieff and I was on my way to Comrie. This was great, it felt such an achievement to get all that travelling done.

It was 7pm in Comrie and I was again feeling tired. I now had to find a place to camp and so I walked up the scenic lower part of Glen Lednock. I was eager to find a place quickly and so was looking out for places low down where potentially angry farmers wouldn't catch me. A farm worker stopped and asked where I was camping, I showed that I intended to camp behind a plantation just before Carroglen farmhouse. 'That was O.K.' he said. He was very polite and I was surprised that he had no problem with campers in their land. 'Just watch out for the lambs and sheep' he continued. It was lambing season up here and so the farmers were reasonable in showing concern.

Camping by a plantation is nice as there is a richer variety of birdsong and this was a pleasant change to the stark silence of the desolate plateaux and glens I've camped beforehand.

On the summit plateau of Ben Chonzie

Early cloud soon shifted to give the hottest day yet this trip. It was breezeless low down and it was very warm work walking up the track to the high ridgy moorland leading to Ben Chonzie. The breeze was better up here and the walking was very pleasant on short grass and a well worn path. Although many regard Ben Chonzie as the dullest Munro, the mountain-scape is certainly nicer than the Pennine areas in England. Deep Glens cut into the wilderness north of Ben Chonzie and Loch Turret shimmered in the haze to the South West. The slopes of Ben Lawers could only just be seen through the haze and it was actually quite pleasant up here.

Looking towards Creagan na Beinne

Summit shot of me

On the descent from Ben Chonzie

The Devils Cauldron

The descent was swift and a round trip from the camping spot this morning took only five hours with all my stuff. I opted for a wooded walk down through the Devil's Caldron to the campsite at Comrie. I intended to camp there but the charge of £5 for the night put me off. I then successfully hitched straight into Centre of Perth not waiting for more than ten minutes. I was then on my way home. It was a reasonable weekend despite the frustrations of Sunday. I saved considerable amounts on money by hitchhiking to and from Comrie and opting to go home that evening meant I had some cash for a nice big meal in Perth. Ooh Yummy!