Carn Aosda

Last updated: 24/05/22

Carn Aosda (almost!)
13 Dec, 2020

The party that assembled at the Glen Shee ski car park at 9:30, after two solid days of rain, and more forecast for Sunday afternoon, was very small but very select, viz. the President and Secretary – though Garry’s enormous sack was an exception, whose contents would probably have kept us alive (or at least dry and warm) in the wild for a week. With a strong wind coming up from the south, and clouds shrouding the upper snowfields, we quickly decided that Glas Maol might not prove a carefree view-filled stroll, and retreated by car down to the Baddoch (the place of the copse), where we started up that hill’s north ridge (Strone Baddoch), noting a very large bird above the Clunie, and the many hut and sheiling ruins on the first grassy flat. Various guides are a bit dismissive of this hill, but they mostly start from the ski slopes, which are indeed a sorry sight without snow hiding the scars. The north ridge is a fine way up, gradually, and with the summit eventually looming over deep glens on left and right.

We followed the grouse butts stretching ahead, and fairly soon encountered patchy snow below Carn Chrionaidh (cairn of the scrub). Further ascent took us over an unnamed bump in the ridge, and finally up to the 903m NW top of Carn Aosda (hill of the inn), with the top of the ski infrastructure below us. With windy gusts now making us stagger, the actual summit (912m) of the Carn did not much appeal, so we turned right to descend to Loch Vrotachan (where the cattle grow fat), which was almost completely ice-covered. A fishing hut at its E end looked like possible shelter for lunch, and in fact when we got there proved to be occupied by another hillwalking pair and their dogs, who (especially the dogs) made us welcome, and pointed out the various amenities including solar-powered (but non-operational) lighting, as well as a sofa-bed, chairs, etc.

After a hasty repast, we ventured out again into the wind, this time accompanied by the forecast rain. Plenty more grouse, and some white hares, around.

We headed north to the Baddoch Glen over the Sron nam Fiadh (point of the deer), with its various cairns, and a rather forlorn-looking Larsen trap (for crows). Down into the glen over grass, we looked for, but failed to find, a bridge over the rather formidable-looking Baddoch Burn, although we did see a Martian spaceship which turned out to be a fancy weather station.

So we headed downstream until we hit a deer fence protecting an area of riparian tree-planting. The fencing at its upper end to cross over to the well-made track on the other side proved a step too far, so we followed the young trees down to the lower end, where the Allt Coire Fhearneasg (alders) comes in from the west, and this time the fencing proved passable, albeit at an angle of 60 degrees leaning backwards, and one’s feet rather more in the water than out of it. Still, better than the moraines all the way down to Baddoch House, now in fairly heavy rain, and reached the cars 10 minutes later, at 3pm.

Two of us, at any rate, felt that we’d made good use of a brief break in very Decemberish weather!

Author - Ken Thomson
Photos - Ken Thomson