| Date | 7 Sep 2024 |
| Route | Link to Route |
| Enjoyable | |
| Difficulty | |
| Conditions | Very warm, with light breeze, dry all day |
| Summits | ✔ (C) Conachcraig ✔ (M) Lochnagar - Cac Carn Beag ✔ (T) Meall Coire na Saobhaidhe |
Solo to complete the last top at Lochnagar and a bonus Corbett.
Headed up the normal ascent towards Lochnagar, but at the head of the track, instead of turning left towards the col, headed up to the right to ascend my first Corbett, Conachcraig, reaching the summit 1h30m after starting the hike. Some great views of Lochnagar from this summit.
Returned down, crossing over the road and heading up towards the col. Forgot how much I dislike the small stone path just below the col, this always seems worse to me than the ladder itself, which I headed up without a break.
Once over the ladder, I followed the rocky path up to Cac Càrn Mòr and then to Lochnagar itself, Cac Càrn Beag. Here I had my lunch and a well deserved break!
Now recharged, I headed north west, before descending steeply to the north towards Meall Coire na Saobhaidhe. The bottom part was quite boggy and the paths from here up to the summit were indistinct. The views of Lochnagar from here are really spectacular, and probably not seen by many.
I didn't fancy the very steep climb back up to Lochnagar and also wanted to distance myself from Lock Muick where my daughter was wild camping overnight with her school for her Youth Achievement Award (very jealous of the night sky views she saw). Instead I decided to try to make it a circuit by heading east and south and rejoin the main Lochnagar path.
The heather, occasional boggy parts and some streams hidden by rocks made it slow going at times, but sticking to the 690m contour as much as possible made it easier.
Once back onto the main path, it didn't take too long to return to the car park, however I did run out of water before the last mile, the heat today didn't help. A water filter is definitely the next purchase.
