A total of 17 members attended this Day Meet to the Ladder Hills. We travelled to Strathdon by minibus and car and assembled in Glen Nochty to begin our hike to the Corbett, Carn Mor.
After a walk of several miles up the glen we emerged from the forest at the ruined settlement of Duffdefiance. From here we started uphill on the old Ladder Road, which crosses the hills from Glen Nochty to Glenlivet. By the time we reached the cairn that marks the highest point of the path, we were in the mist and wind. Our route then took us over the top, Dun Muir, and then through the peat hags before rising for the final kilometer towards the summit of Carn Mor. The peat hags provided shelter from the wind for a lunch stop before the final ascent.
We didn’t linger for long at the trig point, just enough time to check the maps and get a few photos before heading downhill in a SE direction that quickly got us out of the wind and below the mist. Once down in the glen we followed Allt an t-Sluichd Mhoir then the Waters of Nochty which meander down through the hills, and eventually after several tricky river crossings we arrived back at Duffdefiance. The rain started as we walked back down Glen Nochty, but we were glad the day had been mostly dry for this enjoyable circuit in the Ladder Hills.
A fine supper was had in the Haughton in Alford on the way home.