Hill: Ord Ban (nr. Aviemore)
Date: Sunday 21st March 2010
Company: Myself and Malcolm
Time: 40 Mins

We ascended a couple of short Sub2000ft Marilyns today. The first, Ord Ban, is located just outside Aviemore (next to Loch an Eilein). We parked at the Loch an Eilein car park (where we were charged £3 for the privilege!!)

Loch an Eilein:


We crossed the deer fence using a stile (which is located behind the toilet block). We then ascended through a birch wood. Was a bit sad to see so many trees down with recent winds and so many branches broken off with the recent weight of snow. Despite only taking 20 minutes to reach the summit, during that time we saw a red squirrel, a wood mouse, song thrushes and heard a woodpecker.

Horse hoof fungus:


Ascent up flattened bracken:


Approaching summit trig point:


We didn't spend long at the summit, just enough time for a few photos.

Aviemore from summit:


Looking across to Cairngorm:


We returned to the car via the same route. This short walk could easily be extended to included a circuit of Loch an Eilein. Instead, we opted to head for another Marilyn.

Hill: Beinn Mhor (nr. Grantown on Spey)
Date: Sunday 21st March 2010
Company: Myself and Malcolm
Time: 1Hr 30Mins

This was quite an interesting walk as we decided to "break the rules" by setting off without a map (we didn't have one), compass and GPS. We also opted to not bother taking rucksacks. What made this interesting was the fact that we didn't know the route, we didn't know which top was highest, .... We did however know that we had to go "up". We took the road up Glenbeg and parked just before a bridge with a sign indicating "No cars beyond this point". The fact the sign mentioned "walkers" was a good one.

Glenbeg:


Spawn:


We followed the track past Glenbeg farm before following some quad tracks through a forest. We then passed through a grassy area before reaching a fence and some trees. We headed into the trees to reach open hillside - which we could see beyond the trees.

Beinn Mhor:


On reaching the open hillside we could see three tops - which were apparently Laggan Hill (389m), unnamed 417m top and Beinn Mhor (471m). We realised the 389m top wasn't the highest but wasn't sure about the other two. We opted to head for what turned out to be Beinn Mhor first and it was soon obvious that this was the highest top.

Looking across to Laggan Hill and 417m top:


As we approached the summit we found the trig point.

Malcolm at summit:


Myself on summit:


We then visited a couple of nearby cairns before returning back via the same route.

Ben Rinnes:


Bynack More:


Grantown on Spey:


Confirmed when I got back that the trig point is the summit. Phew!