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17 May 2008 - Fintray Walkers - Bennachie Tops

Keeping up the average of 10 walkers per outing we headed off for Bennachie on Saturday. We arrived at the back of Bennachie Car Park in sunshine and apart from a few hailstones, a wee bit of rain and a biting wind it stayed reasonably nice for the 3 ½ hours on the hill.

The initial climb up to Watch Craig was steep but with a steady pace and a slight chin v rock contest (which the chin lost) we arrived to great views of the whole of the northeast of Scotland (see picture opposite).

There seemed to be a bit of debate on the walk to Oxen Craig over which hills were which and a lot of pointing ensued but I think in the end we managed to name them all (see photo below).

The walk across the plateau to Mither Tap was aided by the resurfaced path which brought some comment about motorways and cycle tracks but most enjoyed it. (see picture below)

Lunch was taken below the crags of Mither Tap in a nice sunny hollow. After climbing to the summit we returned to the car park via Craigshannoch and Little Oxen Craig and it’s quarry still covered in half finished granite door/window lintels.

A good walk for a nice day, and we managed back to the pub in time to catch most of a very disappointing FA Cup final.