Loch Brandy: Mission accomplished

A beautiful, sunny Spring Day.

We had often visited beautiful Glen Clova in the Angus Glens, but now that I have started walking I decided that we could attempt to walk up from The Hotel to Loch Brandy, which is supposed to be about one and a half miles.

The sun was high in the sky as we set off, but fairly quickly we realised that it was a very steep trail. At several points there were boulders which had been set as staircases which were difficult to climb up. The higher we went the nearer the snow line we got. There were a couple of points when we were tempted to turn back, but several others on the trail kept on encouraging us by saying, 'it isn't far now and the view is beautiful'. 

At the very last part we had to walk through two foot deep snow for a hundred yards or so which was a touch scary. However, on going over the top we saw the view which was truly magnificent. 

After a stop to have some tea and sandwiches, we made our way back down. While it wasn't so strenuous and tiring it was very difficult on the 'staircases' to keep our balance - I would never have made it if I hadn't had walking poles. Finally we made it back to the Hotel for a welcome cup of tea. The walk had taken us two and a half hours, we had reached a height of 1279 feet and we were tired but happy that the 'mission was accomplished'. 

If you would like to see a few photos of the walk have a look at my Flikr Album.