There seems to be a recent theme with my walks: large bodies of water! Loch Kinord last week, Loch Muick this time round. Actually, I planned this walk for a few weeks. I walked along its eastern shore in May 2011, on my way back from climbing the White Mounth range, and the loch really made a great and long-lasting impression in my memory. Today’s forecast had been very favourable, so Loch Muick it was!
I decided to walk clockwise, mainly to have the sun in the ‘ right place’ for most of my walk. By the ‘right place’ I refer to photography – generally speaking, you don’t want the sun shining into your camera’s lens…
The first third of the walk, all the way to the Black Burn, was rather easy along the wide farm-track. The trickiest part was crossing the burn via a bridge – completely covered with ice, without any barriers stopping me from a potentially fatal slip into the burn. Having crossed it rather gingerly I took a turn to the right and downwards. The path here was very narrow, quite rough and slippery. The snow had thawed into slush, then froze over again. Walking along this path really required paying full attention. It took me nearly another hour to cover that stretch – as much as for the first leg of my walk.
Having avoided any hurtful falls I reached the far end of the loch and celebrated by having a nut bar and a drink which was supposed to give me wings – it didn’t, though certainly, it quenched my thirst. The final leg was a pleasant change. After going over a few boardwalks I reached the other shore and from there a broad path led to the Glas-allt Shiel house. From the house, there was a ‘proper’ dirt track. Running at the foot of the exposed hillside it was completely clear of any snow or ice. So, walking along was very easy, albeit a bit boring.
Overall it was one of my best walks in recent times, mainly to the great landscape and beautiful views.
My walk’s details: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4622946837