Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The bleak and empty hills stretch far away.
Geldie Lodge is an utter ruin. It once stood in one of the most remote places in Britain, and no doubt in season, in former days, the building was brightly lit, well supplied, and rang to voices and laughter. So I have borrowed the ending of Shelley's "Ozymandias' for its image of fallen grandeur in the midst of desolation.
There is still, however, a 13km gravel track from Linn of Dee, which had got Paul and myself to the ruin in 1.5 hours by MTB. My previous visit to these hills had involved a 2-night trip from Blair Atholl and over Beinn Dhearg,, but bike 'n' hike would 'bag" An Sgorsach and Carn an Fhidleir for Paul in a single day.
From Geldie Lodge we traversed both the summits. These are a contender for the most remote Munro in Britain after A'Mhaighden. In the sunny weather, a vast panorama across the Grampians spread in every direction, with hardly any sight of human activity. On the bealach between, I had halted with Mike Spence to brew up in July 1997 --- 16 years gone by, almost to the day.
As we re-entered Braemar heading for the bunkhouse, I drove at walking pace behind Pipes and Drums marching ahead, rattling out "Scots wha' hae wi' Wallace bled" and "Black Bear" . We at first assumed that this must be to salute our round from Linn of Dee in 8 hours. But apparently it was otherwise. Ach, ......
Next day we repeated the pattern, going this time 8km north from Invercauld Bridge, to traverse the mountains of Cullardoch and Carn Liath. Though slightly hazy, we had grandstand views of Ben Avon -- something rarely seen as it is so hidden away. Plus at the same time, the profile of Lochnagar straddled the horizon southwards.
Carn Liath has a huge stone wall running several km. It reminded me of the wall on Beinn Dhearg near Ullapool running down to Lael, and maybe this too had been a poor relief construction project in some desperate days of the 19th century. No Band greeted us back at the car park, but full of sunshine and satisfaction we started the aircon and pressed the button marked "home".
ANDREW
