Banchory Veterans' Hill-walkers

From Gordon: "Day 5 Falls of Kirkaig, Stewart and Gordon At the cafe stop at Elphin café on the Sunday there was a picture of Falls of Kirkaig, I asked the lady and she said it was about 10 miles North, on the way back I discussed going back the next day with Stewart as it had taken me 57 years to get there so didn't want to miss this opportunity, so the plan was made. The plan was an early breakfast, 8.30 am was earliest available, so we all assembled at 8.30 for the early start but we should have known nothing moves very fast at Aultbea Hotel, also by the time Mr Sharpe arrived after packing his bag it was 10.00 am before we got going. The satnav said it was 1hr 50 mins and sure enough it was correct, a quick stop at Gruinart Bay which we spotted but didn't have time befire, the route ended up going past Stac Pollaidh on a windy single track road for another 20 miles. We set off at 12.00, it said 2 miles walk, it took 1hr 20 mins to get there and after a scramble do...

Ken's report: " West Coast 2016 A group of 6 this year = Ken, Gordon, Stewart, Ian Sharp, John and Colin. Dave with a good excuse (I’ll be in Peru), Ian Stewart less convincing (I’ll be pulling pints at the Aberdeen beer festival) and Andy’s excuse has slipped my mind (might have been too early a start). Day 1 – Thursday An early start with a poor weather forecast –squeezed between rain in the west and fog in the east. Settled on Ben Rinnes in Morayshire as our target for the day. The drive to Dufftown was not promising with low cloud almost to road level on the Cabrach. Playing for time in Dufftown we looked in vain for a coffee shop with tumbleweed blowing down the main street. A passerby pointed us in the direction of Dufftown station where we enjoyed coffee and bacon rolls on the old rolling stock and were given a brief history lesson on the Dufftown to Keith railway line, now being kept open by volunteer enthusiasts. Eventually we bit the bullet and headed ...

Six of us rolled in to the golf club car park at 9 am and then made our way out to the small car park next to Knockburn Loch, which was to be our start point for the walk. Prospects didn't look too good - there was low-lying cloud sitting on the top of the hill - but we hoped that this would lift before we got to the summit. The first part of the walk is a fairly gentle stroll up well-gravelled Land Rover track. Colin claimed the first pee stop as we crossed the first stile: Eventually we took a turn to the right up a narrower, rocky path strewn with leftover snow, with trees either side. The upwards climb really started here. Coming out of the trees, we soon caught sight of the Kerloch wind farm, with the mist sitting on top of the turbines: The final part to the summit was up a narrow trail and in to the low cloud. Just past the cairn at the top there was a wind shelter where we sat and had lunch: The altimeter reading at the top was 1,725 feet. We took a sligh...