#driesh

Cairngorms J2

Route: Glen Doll carpark up Corie Fee to Mayar, across to Driesh and down the Kilbo path 

Height: 928m, 947m

Date: 14 May 2017

Time to summit: 2h 40mins, 3h 48mins

Total time: 5h 48mins

With: Dominic, Patricia, and Philip

Weather: Mixed. Initially a bit overcast and showery, but quite sunny towards the end of the day, windy on the tops.

Notes: My parents were visiting for the weekend so we thought it would be nice to get up into the hills, and given how close they are to Dundee we thought it would be good to head, once again, up Mayar and Dreish. We took the route of the duathlon, partly so my parents could see what the run was like. Heading off from the Glen Doll carpark, we made our way easily along the track towards Corie Fee, stopping a few times to take our waterproofs on and off. By the time we got into Corie Fee the weather improved and before it got steep we stopped to eat our lunch on some big boulders.

Contining on, we climbed steeply up on the path to the top of Mayar where there were nice views but it was very windy. After stopping to take some pictures, we continued on our way between the two summits. At the top of Driesh we sheltered by the trig point and had some snacks, before heading down on the Kilbo path. At both where we went into the forest and back in Glen Doll there were Cairngorms Scenic Photo Posts, the idea being that you put your camera on the post and can compare it with other people’s photos from the same spot.

Glen Clova - Driesh and Mayar

Last night I joined up with a few folk from GWC who were on their annual Projects Staff Training weekend. This year the base was the Glen Clova hotel and bunkhouse. Richard G and I had been asked to lead a walk on the Saturday so we drove up late last night in Richard's car.

From reading the conditions blogs on the web, I knew that there had been a lot of snow recently and there was even more still on the ground. With this in mind, we didn't fancy doing anything too serious so a circular route taking in Driesh and Mayar seemed like the easiest and most sensible option. In the morning, it meant that we only had a short drive up the road to the car park at Acharn.

There was a lot of snow on the ground, as we made our way through the Glendoll Forest and into Corrie Fee. It was a fine day with sun and a clear blue sky - a classic high-pressure day. Many of the group hadn't walked in snow before so Richard and I talked about how to use an ice axe for walking. We had crampons but we didn't need them because there wasn't any ice and the snw was deep and soft.

It was a bit of a slog up the gully at the end of Corrie Fee but once at the top the ascent was almost done for the day. At the top of Mayar we had a fantastic view over the Cairngorms and we were able to see just how much snow there had been; the hills were covered and well-rounded. We could also see quite a few large cornices at the top of the crags surrounding Glen Clova.