There is nothing quite like the sensation of sitting at the top of a mountain watching the new day come alive.
It’s a feeling I know well, having caught a sunrise from so many summits over the years. It seems fitting, then, that this first walking column should start with a new dawn.
Mount Keen is the perfect choice for a first night ascent. Scotland’s most easterly Munro has a good track most of the way, then an obvious path for the final approach, so navigation is simple.
Those who have scaled this peak before will discover new joys; those who haven’t will find it a revelation. The walk is best done in clear weather during the long days of summer, when the light vanishes for just a few hours. A good moon helps as well – and don’t forget the head torch.
Leaving the car park at Invermark around 2am in darkness, the first thing I noticed was the silence that wasn’t quite silent. Night walking seems to render the senses more heightened to the slightest sound. There’s the crunch of the boulder on the track underfoot, the whisper of the wind, the gentle swish of the streams. The surrounding land is reduced to silhouette.
The Queen’s Well, that prominent crown-shaped stone monument to a visit by Queen Victoria, was a mere shadow as I passed, but by the time I reached the cottage at Glenmark, the light was rising. I crossed the Easter Burn with dry feet then followed the track through a couple of sharp turns as it rose to the open moorland.
The cairn that marks the turn for the final ascent stood out on the clear horizon, and as I took the path towards the boulder pile at the summit I was treated to the sight of mountain hares running this way and that like shadow puppets and the occasional grouse bursting from beneath my feet with their throaty alarm call.
I had half an hour to wait for the main event, and even in these benign conditions it was a reminder that it doesn’t take long to feel the chill. I layered up and dropped down to sit in the stone shelter cairn just below the summit.
Off to the east, the morning fires were being stoked, multi-coloured layers above the shadowed ground, streaky clouds glowing pink overhead. Behind me, the moon was still standing firm.
Then the star of the show appeared, pushing its way quickly through the skyline, its golden light washing over the boulders, their featureless dark shapes now transformed into glowing copper. Everything around seemed to be emboldened, every contour in every direction in perfect synchronicity.
It’s hard to haul yourself away from such overwhelming beauty, but the walk back down brings fresh delights. The greens seemed more verdant, the purple heather more luminous. You really do get to see everything in a new light.
A night ascent is a treat, but one for special occasions only. The publication of my first book Moonwalker saw the name stick, but despite that most of my walking is now done during “normal” hours. I am close to finishing the Munros for a fourth time and last year completed a Full House of mountain lists, but I still find there’s so much to discover in our wonderful country.
Over the next weeks and months I shall be exploring a variety of walks of all levels, taking in the history and the people, the myths and the legends. I hope you can come along with me.
ROUTE
1 From car park, walk 300m west along road, passing Lochlee Parish Church on right.
2 Just before the bridge, turn right to Mounth Road track, signed Queen’s Well and Mount Keen. Go left when track splits below House of Mark, then through gate.
3 Stay on main track, passing through high metal gate and ignoring tracks branching off right.
4 Keep straight ahead, ignore track dropping left to bridge, and pass Queen’s Well to reach cottage at Glenmark.
5 Beyond the cottage, cross Easter Burn by stepping stones then cross bridge over Ladder Burn and climb Mounth Road to cairn near highest point.
6 Branch right on path to summit passing prominent boundary stone with B carved into it.
7 Return to Invermark by outward route.
Distance: 18km/11 miles
Ascent: 680m/2,230ft
Time: 5-7 hours
Grading: Linear route to Munro summit on good tracks and paths for reasonably fit, well-equipped walkers. Dogs should be kept under close control to protect sheep and ground nesting birds.
Start/finish: Car park at Invermark, six kilometres west of Tarfside, Glen Esk (Grid ref: NO 446804).
Map: Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger Map 44 (Ballater & Glen Clova); Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer sheet 395.
Tourist Information: Dundee iCentre, 16 City Square, Dundee DD1 3BG (Tel 01382 527527)
Public transport: None
You can follow Alan’s regular mountain adventures at munromoonwalker.com or on Facebook (Munro Moonwalker) and Twitter (@munromoonwalker)
