Another late start for us - we left the car park at Loch Muick at 8.30am. After being told we were 'irresponsible' by a dear old lady (who was a member of a rambling club) for going any further than the toilet block, we set off up the track towards Lochnagar shrouded in low cloud and mist. It was a jolly nice walk, a bit disconcerting that you couldnt actually see your hand in front of your face but we were on a good path and were confident in our nav skills. At the turn off by the Ptarmigan huts (which we couldnt see) en route for Meikle Pap, we stopped for a bite to eat and a check of the map - when all of a sudden, the dear little old lady, who had obviously decided to live dangerously and become irresponsible along with her 50 other chums, came into view. 0.5 of a second later we were on our way! I hate walking in a crowd, and I hate having people breathing down my neck when I'm on the hills so it was a case of 'lets get moving NOW!'. So off we went, up and up and up over some bouldery ground, past a memorial and up onto the head of the col. 'Now somewhere around here should be a bloody great big corrie', we thought to ourselves as we found ourselves on a vast, featureless expanse of broken rock with visibility now down to about 3 inches. Out came the maps, the compasses, the GPS (new toy) and the cigarettes. After much discussion and orientating maps, we decided that we were definitely on the right track (metaphorically - there was no track at all) and just as we were about to set off again we looked up as the clouds lifted and....................... LO AND BLOODY BEHOLD!!

........there she was! I have never been so singularily impressed with anything in my entire life than at that moment. MASSIVE cliffs stretching up and up, the water of the loch as blue as a sapphire and THE most impressive gullies and buttresses. Ok, it may have been something to do with the way the corrie was revealed to me, clouds lifting and all that but try and tell me you're not impressed when you see it, I dare you! Rucksacks were dumped as fast as you could blink and we scrambled for the cameras. Shot after shot was taken as the cloud lifted higher and higher revealing the awesome beauty of the cliffs, accompanied by 'oohs' and 'ahhs' and a quite a few well chosen descriptive expletives (sometimes they are the only things that will accurately describe the awe). We must have stood there for about 20 minutes just gawping and gasping until my stomach rumbled loudly and the need for a mars bar took over. By this time the sun had come out and it was very warm. We sat overlooking the corrie, eating our lunch accompanied by more 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from more walkers 'finding' the corrie.

After about 45 minutes and a natter with some friends on the 2m handheld, we pressed on, up a steep boulder field (you need hands as well as feet for this bit) which was excellent fun, and onto the shoulder above the corrie. A path runs along side the head of the corrie to the summit (Cac Carn Beag 1155m/3789ft) at the far side. I stuck my head over the side and had a look down some of the gullies (Parallel B had already gone) and ventured a wee bit down one of the gullys for a nosey. Then onwards again towards the top. The summit was an experience in itself. I claimed the trig point as mine and defended it quite vigorously as the top suddenly became very crowded. It seemed like as soon as I took my flask and traditional 'summit' Mars Bar out, the mountain came alive with people! I swear they smelt the coffee.......

So all those people were too much for me and we packed up and headed overland, avoiding the path, over another boulder feild towards The Stuic. The Stuic is another minature Lochnagar. A high sided corrie with Loch nan Eun at its foot. If you have a fear of exposed places or even a hint of vertigo, DO NOT stand on the point of the Buttress!

After posing for a few photos, we headed off again towards Carn a' Choire Boidheach 1118m/3668m. Unfortunately, the top has as much charm as a bit o' dried loaf and combined with the fact that visibility was still zero, we only stopped for a minute before heading down towards Allt an Dubh-loch. Its a bit boggy if you go too near the burn so we contoured most of the way down the glen until we hit.........

.......CREAG AN DUBH LOCH! Infamous for its serious rock and ice climbs, I spent the next god knows how long walking with my eyes on the crags (to the left is the equally impressive Eagles Rock). We nicknamed the glen 'Lowes Gully #2, it was so dark and eerie, but really beautiful at the same time - you think you are in the valley that time forgot. By this time we had had enough of walking like haggis round a hill, and dropped down to walk alongside the burn. It seemed to go on forever and ever, and one of our party was having a wee problem with his feet, so we were glad when we got down to the Dubh Loch itself. We followed the dubby path along the side of the loch and up onto the side of the hill before catching sight of Loch Muick.

That seemed to take forever too but if we'd known what the track alongside Loch Muick was like we wouldnt have been in such a hurry I tell you. From the Fishing Lodge the track turns into a veritable autobahn - a hardcored road alongside the water which finished our knees off. Every step jarred our already worn joints and by the time we reached the head of Loch Muick some 2 miles later we were really miffed. We stopped by a jetty and had the last of our coffee and chocolate biccies and stomped off towards the car park. By god, I have never known a car seat to be so close to comfort of the heavenly status but the hour and a quarters drive home was spent just sitting back almost wishing I was doing the whole thing again the next day!