We set off early one sunday morning, not actually sure where Morven was but determined to find it! Its an unassuming thing to look at and I guess you couldnt be blamed for not even noticing it! Our first glimpse of the hill was just out of Tarland and we sighed wishing we had gone to Lochnagar - this was going to be over in no time we thought! Hmmmm, little did we know! After having a wee tour about the area (we were a bit lost), we found a single track road that sort of went in the direction we were trying to go - 'this is great' we thought, and when we reached the end of the road, we spotted two farmworkers heading down the track towards the car. Dad went off to ask them about tracks up the hill and I started of my third cup of coffee. A few minutes later he returned, with the news that there were two ways up it - one we had already spotted which snaked its way up and around the back of the hill and the other, which thankfully (I'll tell you why later) remained out of our scrutinous gaze.

So, after fighting our way through a flock of crazy eyed sheep, we started up the track. Nice little track it was too - sheep sized and not too muddy! Off we went, following it up and around the side of the hill until we reached a col between two hills. Ah Hah, we thought, this must surely swerve back on top of the hill somewhere along here, but no, we walked on and on and on with no perceptible rise in altitude along the glen and onto a plateau. So maps out, wondering how on earth we could have gone wrong, much humming and heying until we decided we were being really stupid, we WERE on the right track according to OS and compass. So off we went again - for about 50 yards - until quite by chance we cast our eyes to the left and spotted a rather high bit of craggy ground about 3/4 of an hour away. Having a time limit on the walk, I crossed my fingers and tried to blot out the fact that yes, the top of Morven on the OS map shows distinctive rock outcrops.

Well there was nothing for it, we had come this far and we practically ran to the bottom of the last (or so we thought) steep climb to the top. It was nearly lunchtime by now and the temperature was getting really far too warm, so we stopped on some boulders and started on the sarnies. Lunch lasted 5 minutes - the black flies spotted us and decided we looked like fair game. Off we went again, up a really steep rise which levelled out again and again, lulling us into a false sense of nearing the top, only to dash our hopes as yet another and another incline appeared before us. But after a while the ground started getting really rocky and scree like (a sure sign you're near the top of something), and after one more rise, there was the 'summit' cairn! Its absolutely huge, almost as big as the one on Cairngorm! The views were absolutely out of this world and I sincerely wish that we had had more time to take them in but time was getting on, so we headed downhill again, spotting almost immediately the path which ran straight up the front of the hill. Ok, this will get us down quicker we thought - what a mistake! Its an absolute nightmare! Its dead steep, really badly eroded, seemingly endless and damn near treacherous! I swear the sheep we passed once we neared the bottom were laughing! We got back to the car and just looked at each other......

Morven is only a 143 ft off of being a Munro - a really good walk, but don't be fooled by its benign appearance - and DON'T EVER come down the face if you value you knees!