Ballater was the venue for the 2022/3 Hogmanay festivities and it certainly delivered. Not everyone could arrive on the Friday, due to other commitments, but those that could were able to make the most of the day. Evelyne decided to enjoy the 7 Bridges of Ballater walk. A lovely walk through woods, fields, the old railway line and along the River Dee. Little did she know that she would be repeating this two days later in very different weather!
Blue sky on Hogmanay enticed many out onto the hills, with Brent, Dianne, Dottie and Justin having a great day on Morrone from Braemar. The path was icy to 650m, and they regretted not putting on crampons earlier. However, when the call was finally made, Dottie was adamant her crampons were on the correct way. It turns out she was attempting to put them on the wrong feet… Calls for the first nomination of the Golden Boot were made!
David and Becka drove up to Ballater, and made a more sensible call with crampons from the car to head up Ben Gulabin. A fabulous day was had, with grand views both south and north. Despite it being Becka’s first time out in crampons, she practiced before and did in fact manage to get them on the correct feet. Anta was spotted on some hills to the east of Glenshee, but unfortunately, she did not manage to write up her adventures in the Big Red Book.
Alan, Jule and Graeme managed a big 15 mile day through soft snow over Broad Cairn and Cairn Bannoch. Jule and Graeme still cannot look Alan in the eyes after “buggering off” leaving Alan to walk alone in the dark along Loch Muick.
Evelyne, Fiona, Yvonne and Shona (plus Tilly the dog) enjoyed the sun on a lovely low level walk along the Cambus O’May Circular. An interesting and varied walk, finishing at the Pictish Stones at the Tullich Church.
Following a fabulous pot luck dinner, games were played, Justin was held at (foam) gun point, everyone was quizzed on their knowledge of paint colours and festivities for Hogmanay continued until the wee small hours.
Most did not stir until later on New Years Day, with all waking up to a winter wonderland outside. However Svetla was keen on heading out at the first sight of snow. She had a magical wander out in the snow just after midnight and felt like she was in Narnia! She felt she had returned to being a child with the excitement of the snow!
Evelyne, Shona, Graeme, Anta, David, Becka, Alan, Fiona D, Bob and Fiona C all went on the 7 Bridges walk, with Evelyne repeating this for the second time this weekend. It was a winter wonderland of monochrome, tracks from birds and hares in the snow, and even a dipper was spotted taking a dip in the Dee. Brent, Dianne, Dottie, Jule and Justin all had fun coming up with new Farrow and Ball paint colours on their walk around Ballater. Under the seagull grey sky, they managed to remember all 20 items of last nights Generation Game. Songs were sung, but no mention in the BRB as to whether Rick Astley made another appearance.
Adrian and Megan got some snowboarding done from Glenshee, with Adrian falling on his derrière on getting out the car! Yvonne and Svetla too headed in the same car and took their dogs for a grand walk in the snow. Pippin, Sox and Minnie had a fabulous time playing!
Some managed a walk on the final day of the meet, with David and Becka stopping off at Balmoral for a walk up to Prince Albert’s Cairn. Back in the pinewoods, they spent a good half an hour watching the long tailed tits with Becka taking photos. Bob and Fiona climbed all 299m of Scolty Hill. They had fabulous views in the sun over to Clachnaben, Mount Battock and the north.
As always, a wonderful weekend was had by all. A grand start to 2023!
