Saturday 1st August 2020

Brechin

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Today we were off to undertake a short and easy enough Munro – Mount Keen.

Mount Keen is a 939 m (3,081 feet) high mountain and the most easterly Munro.

We set off in beautiful conditions (no winds for a change) from the standard ‘tourist route’ of Invermark car park via Glen Esk to the south.

We followed the ‘traditional’ path from Invermark to the Queen’s Well.

Located in Glen Mark, this unusual crown-shaped monument was built over a natural spring in 1861 in honour of Queen Victoria.

It consists of a granite structure, made into an archway.

A plaque commemorates the spot saying she stopped here and enjoyed the refreshing waters on 20th Sept 1861.

Both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had made this journey of 15 miles to this location to meet Lord Dalhousie and after staying at nearby Invermark Lodge, they are said to have stopped here to drink from the fresh spring before travelling back to their home at Balmoral Castle. Today I refrained from drinking from the well as the spring didn’t look that fresh, I guess it was back in the day!

Queen Victoria was famous for her love of the Scottish Highlands, it’s easy to see why. Both her and her husband Prince Albert enjoyed traveling the mountain routes around here and the wider Scottish Highlands. I cannot blame her, they are easy to fall in love with.

From here we continued along a slightly narrower track towards Invermark cottage. This building is beautiful in sublime settings, I believe it can be rented out for personal use.

We crossed the Ladder Burn and followed the zig zag path upwards into the moorland.

The glen was bursting with colour, covered in the most beautiful of purple and pink heather…everywhere!

There was a nice feeling of open space as we walked along enjoying fantastic views back down the mountain into Glen Esk.

The ascent was extremely gradual which allowed for quick progress to the summit. Being a popular mountain in the area work has been done to maintain the land.

We followed fine tracks and well maintained paths to reach Mount Keen.

We were quickly up on the ridge with fine views overlooking some of our previous Munro’s from our last few weeks.

We hit the rocky summit, had a picnic before returning down the glen.

This had been a fairly easy walk, in good weather for a change and in lovely surroundings…result!