Monday, November 8, 2010

First snow this winter

Facing the wind (tail still wagging)

 QUESTION
What do you do when 1 third of the family is suffering from a hangover and the penultimate Grand Prix is on the telly
ANSWER
Clear out for the day and climb a couple of hills

Was this wise?  Had to scrape the car windows, thick ice, kinda chilly, but usually that means a nice day later.  Nice low hills near Edzell would do for the day, no geocaches up there, but a couple of trig pillars so at least there is a purpose to the hike. 
A big difference from my last day out in the hills when I could see about 13m in front of me, today I could see for miles and miles and miles, well at least as far as North Berwick Law on the Firth of Forth, and Bennachie I saw poking its summit above the closer hills.

Mutley had his first roll in the snow of the 2010/11 winter season, and had a wee bit fun chasing grouse, thankfully they have wings and can escape easily.

We summitted on 3 hills  East Wirren 637m,  Hill of Corathro 405m & The Crannel 291m, walking about 7 miles with about 1,060' of ascent, an awful lot of ups and downs for an old doggy, just as well I took along some doggy snacks and some chunks of cheese as an extra special treat.  I wonder if that would work for the missing family member today maybe substitute chocolate for doggy snacks.


Our first wee pimple of a hill today and a view of the path to the summit of East Wirren.  The square Breeze block to the right is full of grouse grit, lots of these dotted over the hillside marked by fence posts and sometimes a bit of a track between them, making for easier walking on some of the untracked heathery hillside.






A great day out but Mutley is suffering today (Monday) thankfully it is my day off so dont have to walk today.