Saturday 20 April 2024

Andrei’s Munro bagging round, the “Irn Bru Round”, was missing Mount Keen, so what better reason to go than to crack open a can of Scotland’s finest nectar on its lofty summit. Having already bagged Mount Keen, albeit without any carbonated beverages, I hunted around for any other Relative Hills in the area and came across Braid Cairn, a HuMP with 122m prominence. So with those objectives we set off up Glen Mark to the Queen’s Well.

The path from there was a pretty easy plod to the top, where Andrei celebrated with a drink and the rest of us ate lunch, looking over to the snowy Cairngorms. Visibility was good enough to spot East Lomond, Tap o’Noth, Mither Tap and other famous peaks. There was a faint trail across to Braid Cairn, then the ridge had an intriguing collection of standing stones with a large “B” carved into them.

After bagging all the Bs we headed back through peat hags via Pandewen. Fauna bagging included Ptarmigan, Red Deer, Mountain Hare, Eagle, nest of Black Grouse eggs, and the hare remains of an eagle’s lunch. It just goes to show that there’s no such thing as a dull hill 😉

• Report by Andrew