Clachnaben Circuit

As a change from my Sunday trail running, Bruce having a day off and my uni work finally submitted, we went out for a walk together. Needing to stop off at the outdoor shop in Banchory, I got a lie in and a lazy start to Sunday.

Glen Dye

The car park at Clachnaben was hoaching, cars along the roadside. We’d planned, however, to park at Glen Dye as this gives a good circular route.

Setting off from the car parking area, we followed a track that would lead us to the main Clachnaben route.

Once on the main track, it got slightly busier, walkers and the odd runner enjoying such a fine day. Interestingly, some large trees down on the path have never been cleared, creating an additional sense of adventure and fun for the kids we saw on route. Out of the trees, the path steepened, rocky steps leading the way.

We sheltered out of the wind for a quick snack stop, Bruce kindly sharing his flapjack with me as I hadn’t bothered taking anything other than water with me. From this point onwards I moaned lightheartedly about having missed my lunch.

Plane Wreckage Site

Having chatted to a couple of young lads at the summit, we bumped into them on the descent path towards Charr Bothy and they shared that there was some plane wreckage on the hillside. We wandered over for a look, later searching the internet to learn that the plane crashed way back in 1939, both passenger and pilot miraculously surviving.

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/207331

Down to Charr Bothy

We continued on to Charr Bothy beyond this, heading down a very good path with only a little ascent. As we neared the bothy, the descent became steeper, harder on the knees. We debated whether doing the route in reverse is better; the jury’s still out.

Hunger Pangs

By this point, I was well and truly regretting that I’d both:

A) Not taken any snacks, and

B) Missed my lunch by heading out mid-morning

I therefore spent the remainder of the walk back along the good path grumbling about this, particularly as we were also verging on too late to catch the coffee shop in Banchory. Bruce suggested a stop off at Morrisons instead to pick up something for tea, and I selected the food of endurance athletes to keep me going (a dry buttery and a milkshake 🤣).

Suitably refreshed, we headed for home where I pulled the perfectly good laces out of my very old boots that now have a broken eyelet in addition to leaking, binning the boots and saving the laces for another day.