Morrone

Friday 15th April brought an opportunity for a bus/walk in the Braemar area. Me, Colin, Jeb and Vicki (plus Ozzie) caught the 11 am bus from Banchory, but already things hadn't quite gone to plan for Jeb and Vicki. They had figured it was too long a bus journey from Culter to Braemar for their young(ish) pup so they decided to take an earlier bus, break the journey at Aboyne, take the dog for a walk and then join the bus Colin and I would be on. Good plan thwarted when the bus they caught from Culter only went to Banchory! In the end, they went for coffee at Tease and then got on the same bus as Colin and I for the longer than planned journey to Braemar. An hour and a quarter is a long time for a young dog to be cooped up - Ozzie howled and whined most of the way and had a thankfully small accident.

Anyway, we got to Braemar on time but we now all fancied a quick coffee so we headed off to the Braemar Highland Games Centre - the Duke of Rothesay Pavilion and the newly-opened Chloe's Kitchen Creations, where we all eventually settled for soup and a scone:

Vicki took Ozzie for a stroll round the park:

Then a masked stranger made a dramatic exit from the Pavilion:

We had decided to do Morrone again. It had been nearly 5 years since we last climbed this Corbett on a steaming hot day in September, 2017 (check out https://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/2017/09/morrone.html). I recall finding the climb quite steep on that previous occasion and five years later it wasn't going to be any easier - and so it proved. I struggled but made it to the top in the end for, I suspect, the last time. There were plenty of "photo opportunities":

Proof, it were needed, that we all got there OK:

It's a circular walk that's a fair bit longer on the way back - down the hill and through the golf course back to the village, where we hot-footed it to the Invercauld Mews for some excellent pints of the local Braemar Brewery's Pale Ale. Once our immediate thirst was sated, we headed over to the brewery where I'd arranged to meet up with owner Dave again and we re-filled my growler with Oatmeal Stout and sampled some of his wares. Soon it was time to catch the "magic bus". One 40-minute stop in Ballater came as a relief to not only Ozzie but also the rest of us as we headed across to the Barrel bar at the Glenaden Hotel. Another excellent day out - and here's the stats: