Date: Monday 18th November 2019
Company: Myself and Ann-Marie
Distance: 7.9km, Ascent: 550m
Time: 3Hrs 40Mins
The weather forecast for Monday was outstanding. While I would have loved to ascend a higher hill alas a stone thrown up by a car had cracked the windscreen of my van. I therefore didn't want to risk travelling far, I wasn't inclined to travel a long way from home, plus my legs were still aching from an ascent of Beinn Fhionnlaidh a few days previous
.An ascent of local Bennachie was therefore ideal. While I have lost count of the number of times I have ascended Bennachie, on this occasion, thanks to making use of two vehicles, I had the option of undertaking a traverse that I had not done previously.
I met Ann-Marie at the Rowantree Car Park where I left my van. We then travelled round to the Donview Car Park in Ann-Marie's car to commence our traverse via Millstone Hill and Mither Tap.
Click here to see a map of the route undertaken
The ascent would be intentionally slow as I was carrying my DSLR with 400mm lens with a view to taking photographs of wildlife along the way. While this idea was good theoretically, in practice I successfully photographed none. While birdsong was plentiful, bird sightings were minimal.
Donview Car Park:
To ascend Millstone Hill, I followed the route I have taken several times previously. Not sure why the fairly good track is not marked on the OS 1:50000 map.
Sunrise during ascent of Millstone Hill:
During the ascent we got good views across to Cairn William and Pitfichie Hill which is a good hill if you are into mountain biking.
View across to Cairn William:
Cairn William:
We stopped several times during the ascent whenever we heard birds. I could hear Goldcrest and could hear and see several Bullfinch as well as numerous Chaffinch.
About to exit the forest:
In the distance I could see Lochnagar which is one of my favourite Munros. It looked plastered in snow. We could also see Clachnaben, Mount Battock, Mount Keen, Morven as well as distant Ben Avon and Beinn a' Bhuird in the Cairngorms.
View across to a snowy Lochnagar and Morven:
We visited the summit cairn and featureless high-point of Millstone Hill before continuing on down to the col between Millstone Hill and Mither Tap. The north-facing descent path was VERY icy.
Long shadows at the summit of Millstone Hill:
We again spent some time hanging around the col looking for birds without success with the exception of spotting a wren.
Mither Tap:
The ascent of Mither Tap, which is by far the finest top of Bennachie didn't take long. While Mither Tap is the finest top, it falls ten metres short of the highest top, Oxencraig.
Ascent towards Mither Tap:
Mither Tap tor:
It was nice to again see the walls of the circa 1500 year-old fort en-route to the top.
Passing between the walls of the ancient fort:
It was bitterly cold at the top so after taking a few photos we dropped down to just below the summit to have a good look round. The views to the north and east from Bennachie are not wonderful as there are now far too many wind turbines in view.
At the summit of Mither Tap:
View from Mither Tap:
From the summit of Mither Tap, we continued North returning to the Rowantree Car Park to complete the traverse. On reaching the van, I drove round to the Donview Car Park to return Ann-Marie to her car.
A good half-day out on the hill.