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23/11/07 Dave H. Compare this with Karen's trip below, only 3 weeks earlier. This was also an amazing day for November, but in a very different way. The forecast was for sun and no wind all day, but deteriorating this evening and with no other good days in prospect, so I thought I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't take a day's holiday to run up Ben Avon. The route from the south that Karen took is probably the quickest, but it is more scenic from the north. In fact Ben Avon is a bit of a shapeless lump from the south, but has lots of interesting corries and tors on the other side. I biked in from Corgarff, via Inchrory, and stopped at the bridge over the Avon at 155068. I had intended going another 3km or so to the hut but the track makes a very unappealing 80m climb just over the bridge which didn't seem worth the effort. The path by the river marked on the map doesn't appear to exist, at least not in a form fit for a bike. The ride took 75mins, it is not at all hilly, and the surface is quite good, but there was a lot of snow and ice making it a bit of an effort. I was glad to get off the bike to run. Went up the ridge about 500m west of the bridge, using the deer fence to get across the burn. Lots of heather and snow, neither particularly deep but the combination was hard going. There are some great views to the east of lots of crags and tors (picture). It gets steep and rocky for about 1km for the climb up Stob Bac 
an Fhurain. Not difficult, just hard work. After that it should be easy to the summit but the snow was deep with a breakable crust - the worst kind of snow. I could just about walk without going through, but the extra impact of running was nearly always enough to break through. Got quite tedious, but the sun was shining and there was no wind so I couldn't complain. I thought climbing the summit tor might be impossible, but it turned out to be the easiest part of the day. It was covered with a combination of rime ice and snow, which was so rough and hard I could just walk up it with no trouble at all. It looks very different to Karen's picture. Took 75 mins from the bike. Going back was quicker, but not much because the snow was just the same. I was very glad to reach the bike after 2 hours 15 altogether. Unfortunately the bike was totally frozen up, as were my bike shoes. I got it going, but the front changer wouldn't work properly, the cogs on the rear changer were just immovable blocks of ice, and I couldn't clip my shoes into the pedals. So the ride back was quite hard. Still, who cares after such a great day out? Took 4 hours 40 car to car. It was nice to have a cup of tea when I got home.
23/11/07 Dave H. Compare this with Karen's trip below, only 3 weeks earlier. This was also an amazing day for November, but in a very different way. The forecast was for sun and no wind all day, but deteriorating this evening and with no other good days in prospect, so I thought I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't take a day's holiday to run up Ben Avon. The route from the south that Karen took is probably the quickest, but it is more scenic from the north. In fact Ben Avon is a bit of a shapeless lump from the south, but has lots of interesting corries and tors on the other side. I biked in from Corgarff, via Inchrory, and stopped at the bridge over the Avon at 155068. I had intended going another 3km or so to the hut but the track makes a very unappealing 80m climb just over the bridge which didn't seem worth the effort. The path by the river marked on the map doesn't appear to exist, at least not in a form fit for a bike. The ride took 75mins, it is not at all hilly, and the surface is quite good, but there was a lot of snow and ice making it a bit of an effort. I was glad to get off the bike to run. Went up the ridge about 500m west of the bridge, using the deer fence to get across the burn. Lots of heather and snow, neither particularly deep but the combination was hard going. There are some great views to the east of lots of crags and tors (picture). It gets steep and rocky for about 1km for the climb up Stob Bac 
an Fhurain. Not difficult, just hard work. After that it should be easy to the summit but the snow was deep with a breakable crust - the worst kind of snow. I could just about walk without going through, but the extra impact of running was nearly always enough to break through. Got quite tedious, but the sun was shining and there was no wind so I couldn't complain. I thought climbing the summit tor might be impossible, but it turned out to be the easiest part of the day. It was covered with a combination of rime ice and snow, which was so rough and hard I could just walk up it with no trouble at all. It looks very different to Karen's picture. Took 75 mins from the bike. Going back was quicker, but not much because the snow was just the same. I was very glad to reach the bike after 2 hours 15 altogether. Unfortunately the bike was totally frozen up, as were my bike shoes. I got it going, but the front changer wouldn't work properly, the cogs on the rear changer were just immovable blocks of ice, and I couldn't clip my shoes into the pedals. So the ride back was quite hard. Still, who cares after such a great day out? Took 4 hours 40 car to car. It was nice to have a cup of tea when I got home.1/11/07 Karen and Moira
This was an amazing day for November. 16deg! Setoff on bikes from Invercauld and cycled up Slugain. Left bikes and ran up to the sneck by the clach a cleirig stone and then on to the summit. Took just over 2 hours from car. Came back the same way. Pretty windy on the plateau but pleasantly warm
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