Cosmic Mince Pie Championship 2009

Moonlit run - The Beast of Bennachie

10 + 2 dogs (were these the beasts?) set out on Wed evening for the this month's Cosmic Lunar run.  The moon was out at the start, but higher up we were in cloud and mist.  Most took the slippery rocks very carefully, also there were small patches of snow.  The very bright torches carried by some were an obvious advantage - the little lightweight petzls just do not cut it under these conditions (can we have the details, please Matt?).  The run was followed by a good convivial curry at the "Spice of Life" in Inverurie.    Thank you Matt for a great evening. Anita

Clatterin Brig - Sat run

Sat 28th Nov we did a new run from Rob Brooks - coined "Bobbies run" by Matt who did the map.  The route lived up to Rob's promise of a bit of everything - rough, mud, tussocks, heather, bog, rock, even a (very small) bit of path.  We should have remembered that Rob's legs are about a foot longer than most of ours, but he did a good job shepherding everyone on the way! 17 set off west of the road, past the deer dyke, climb up Whitelaw Hill then to Cairn O' Mount, where we met a stray Carnethy - with our map (his friend, a wannabe Cosmic was waiting at the road)!  Across the road, then finally all the rough stuff on the top was rewarded with a spectacular descent through the gorge made by the Slack Burn.  The rocks in the upper part needed care,  lower down there is a fine grassy path, though you seemed to do a lot of paddling crossing and recrossing the stream - a final paddle in the ford ensured clean shoes for once.  Start and finish at the tea room - what's not to like?.  Thank you Rob for a great route.   Note: Going via the A90, Drumlithie, Auchenblae and the Strath Finella road it took no longer to get there than for our normal runs - but driving through the ford just by the tearoom was a little alarming - might not be a good route after a big downpour.   Anita