Happy New Year: Lochnagar

Having had our charity fundraising day out with Hillgoers / Braemar Mountain Rescue cancelled last week due to Storm Gerrit we’ve been desperate to get out for a hill fix! Watching the forecast it appeared that New Year’s Day was scheduled for a break in what’s been a pretty miserable period so we happily stayed in on Hogmanay, forgoing any celebrations in favour of an early night.

Heading out the road to Ballater on New Year’s Day it was very quiet with next to no traffic. As predicted, Lochnagar was shrouded in mist, hidden from view as we approached Ballater. The temperature was low, hovering around freezing, but with little wind to speak off this was shaping up for an excellent hill day.

Road to Loch Muick

The road to Loch Muick was a wee bit icy in places and appeared not to have been gritted, the middle raised with hard packed snow making for a few interesting scraping sounds from the bumper. Thankfully nothing fell off, or not that we noticed, and before long we were parking up in the icy car park, keeping our fingers crossed that we’d manage to get out at the end of the day. Paying our fiver to park, I figured if karma exists we’d be grand.

Follow the Signs

The path from the car park was in pretty good condition. A few bits of ice could be avoided by walking on the verge. We saw a small herd of deer grazing, not at all bothered by our presence.

The path led us up through the wooded area and then out onto the main path up to Lochnagar. Despite all the rain over the last week the stream was easy to cross and our feet stayed dry.

At this point we’d been keeping our options open and had Meikle Pap, Conachcraig and Lochnagar all on the table. The decent underfoot conditions, relatively firm snow and not too much of it, and clear skies / lack of wind made the decision easy.

At the very least we figured we’d go to the bottom of the ladder to see the loch. The path had become icy in places and as we were going up I made the decision to put my crampons on. For once this was relatively easy, the lack of wind allowing us to comfortably stop without getting freezing cold!

We reached the loch and just had to carry on. There was no reason not to. It’s rare to get such a calm day in winter.

Up the Ladder

We followed the footsteps up the ladder. What little wind there had been tailed off to leave blissfully calm conditions. The earlier mist had cleared and we were blessed with stunning views all around.

With lovely clear skies we had no great need for the cairns across the plateau but with the cornice building they’ll be welcomed by others, I’m sure.

Continuing on, we then had the last wee bit of ascent to the summit cairn.

Here we enjoyed a dram to toast the new year. Cheers! Here’s to happiness in 2024.

Like so many things, whisky tastes even better on top of a hill!

Retracing Our Steps

Conscious that we’d run out of daylight but safe in the knowledge that we had our head torches, we decided just to retrace our steps rather than doing the circular route. This made for a fun descent, far easier than coming up, crampons giving extra traction and confidence.

The light began to drop as we descended and we debated whether we’d make it back to the car without the torches.

In the event, we made it most of the way. The light dropped pretty quickly as we approached the stream crossing and beyond this we were glad of the additional light. On the track back to the car park we were able to make out eyes in the dark, the deer settling down for the evening.

Delighted with our efforts for the day and so glad that we were able to get out. There’s nothing like a day in the hills to refocus and reset. Here’s to happy times ahead!