Friday, 22
nd July.
Glas Tulaichean -
Green-grey hillocks - 1051m, (Munro) &
Carn an
Righ-
Hill of the King - 1029m, (Munro)
The
Spittal of
Glenshee lies at the head of
Glenshee in the highlands of eastern Perth and
Kinross, where the confluence of many small streams flowing south out of the Grampians form the
Shee Water. The name '
Spittal' originated from the Latin word '
hospitium' meaning 'Apartment for Strangers', or from the Gaelic '
spiddeal' which means 'where the glens meet'. Four glens meet at the '
Spittal';
Glenshee,
Glenbeag, Glen
Lochsie, Glen
Taitneach.
We were in the area for a wedding and decided to head up a little early so that we had time to climb a few hills. We were staying in the wonderful
Carriages cottage, (more mansion than cottage really), behind
Dalmunzie Castle, which was the perfect starting point for these two Munro's. We were joined by the lovely Zoe and Steve and had the most amazing walk - lovely weather, lovely scenery and plenty of curious sightings.........
So we started the walk from the cottage and headed out following a path northwest by the river. This roughly follows the line of an old railway which was built to bring down stone for extensions to
Dalmunzie Castle in 1921. Information and photos can be found in the castle itself. The line remained in use for sporting guests up until the 1970s and there are still some old concrete sleepers along the way as well as bridges over two substantial streams coming down the hillside
After an old railway bridge we then headed straight up the ascend
NNW to the summit of
Creag Bhreac. This was a fair old slog and a tough start to the walk as it was straight up through knee deep heather - a good old scramble required. At the summit we then continued on ridge NW to the summit of
Glas Tuliachan.
J at the summit of
Glas Tuliachan. Really amazing views. On the east and south side a series of ridges radiate out from the summit, whilst the north western side drops steeply down into
Gleann Mòr. On the east side three pronounced ridges enclose two corries,
Glas Choire Bheag and
Glas Choire Mhor, which drop into
Gleann Taitneach. The southern slopes are less steep with grassy ridges descending into Glen
Lochsie
B. at summit No 1. We had our sandwiches at the top but even on such a stunning day it started to get pretty chilly sitting still so we then started our descent NW.
We could see no real path down - so just picked a line for the path at the bottom and headed for it. Lots of peat bogs to be
negotiated. On meeting the path we headed west, before leaving the path and ascending up to summit of
Carn an
Righ.
Summit No.2! Really wonderful views and someone had left their binoculars at the top of this one so we used them to spot deer on the way down, (If anyone would like to claim the binoculars please do so!).
J. at summit No.2.
We retraced our steps to the
bealach and along the stalkers path below Mam nan
Carn. This gradually
petered out so we then headed to the right of Loch nan
Eun. From here there is a good view down the length of
Gleann Taitneach, the route of descent.
We got a little confused at this point and headed up another hill just for the hell of it when we really should have stuck to the left of the stream and followed it down the valley.
Heading down the valley by the stream we passed some spectacular little waterfalls.
We were then buzzed by a Hercules (well maybe not quite buzzed, but it flew so low over us I expected them to land). Eventually the path gave way to a bulldozed track, this fords the
Allt Elrig stream to continue down the glen leading back towards
Dalmunzie castle. We made it back to the cottage after getting ever-so-slightly lost, crossing a river in three places and passing through a field of bemused cows.....
Home to put our feet up and drink copious amounts of gin and
borage - a
truly restorative tonic.... all good preparation for the wedding later that weekend!
Curious sightings:
a million deer (several herds)
half a million frogs, (various sizes)
2 grouse
a kite (hovering and diving)
a caterpillar, (hairy, black with green spots)
a Hercules, (transport plane - very low, very slow, enormous!)
Finds:
One pair of purple gloves
A pair of
Panavision sporty zoom binoculars
Ingredients: Bomba paelle rice, chorizo, bacon, chicken prawns, smoked salmon, onion, garlic, peas, peppers, chillie flakes, lemon, parsley, saffron, pimento picante & pimento dulce, white wine, chicken stock. tinta de calamar.
Bake sliced red peppers in a little olive oil and sea salt
Fry chorizo and bacon in a hot pan until they start to get crisp.
Add finely chopped onion
Stir frequently until onion starts to brown
Lovely inky squid ink
Keep the dish pretty hot, constantly stirring.
Stir, until it is coated with the chorizo juice
Keep cooking the rice until it is a little translucent.
Keep stirring add the dried chili flakes and the pimento
Add a couple of large teaspoons of the ink and mix until the rice is coated
Leave simmering, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes
By this point the rice should be plumper but still pretty al dente
Add the smoked slamon, the more smoky flavours the better
Cook the chicken until it is brown and crispy on the outside
Very quickly cook the prawns in the same pan
Add to the rice
Sprinkle with saffron
Finally add wedges of lemon, flat leaf parsley and decorate with some nasturtium flowers,
