Get Lost Mountaineering

Creag Bhalg from Claybokie near Linn of Dee

Start/Finish

Verge parking by wall outside Claybokie on road from Linn of Dee to Linn of Quoich. The Linn of Dee is 6 miles west of Braemar village. Claybokie is about 1.5 miles E of the Linn of Dee and on the right hand (river) side of the road. Unfortunately it is not named on the road so be careful in locating it. Some bins outside the entrance may help.

Distance/Time

6 km     About 2 hours

Peaks

Creag Bhalg, 668 m, NO 091 912.     OS sheet 43.

Introduction

This is a lovely short walk on gently inclined tracks and paths which leads to a summit which is a brilliant viewpoint for almost all the local hills including Morrone, Beinn Iutharn Mhor, An Sgarsoch, Carn an Fhidhleir, Cairn Toul, Ben Macdui, Derry Cairngorm, Beinn a' Bhuird, Ben Avon, Carn na Drochaide, Lochnagar and many more. There are no difficult sections, no rock and no crags. It would be a fairly safe route, even for the inexperienced, in winter conditions. Choose a crystal clear day to get the best views.

Route

(1) Almost opposite Claybokie, a good tracks slants back uphill. Follow this until another track can be joined in a reverse right fork. Follow this until another track goes left, uphill. Just past this junction a green path slants right and downhill to the road. Follow the left track out of the scattered trees. Just after a deer fence on the left, a faint path/track goes off right through the heather, heading, on 18/7/15, for a lone dead tree. There appears to be what seems to be a notice further up. Follow the path past the tree to reach the “notice” which is actually a solar panel. Continue on an improving path. Just before a low shelter cairn, a faint path goes off to the right. Take this. It goes directly to a medium cairn, which is the lower top, passing a short wall well over to the right of the path. About 30 m further and to the right of the lower top is a similar sized cairn which is the actual summit of Creag Bhalg, 668 m.

(2) Retrace the outward route. This can be varied slightly by taking the green path referred to above which leads down, with a few wet sections, to the entrance to Mar Lodge. One then walks W along the road back to the start. This variation adds about 1 km.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 18^th July, 2015, and about 15 years earlier.