Tom Buidhe, Tolmount, Cairn Bannoch & Broad Cairn, map 44; 5th March 2015

Route: 18.1 miles, Ascent: 1177m = 3860', Time: 10 hrs.

Route: Excellent paths up Glen Doll to “shelter” at NO234778, good paths along plateau; variable but always fairly good paths/tracks on descent from Broad Cairn to Acharn. Note that the vehicular track down the South Esk valley has a ford, not a bridge, at NO28077809 So walkers are recommended to cross the river using the bridge at NO27727890, or perhaps (once the fallen trees have been removed) continue on an unmade path to the footbridge at the forest edge.
Road Closure: Storm Arwen in late Nov 2021 brought down many trees in the Glen Clova and Glen Doll. As of 1st Jan 2022 much work still needed to be done to clear the paths and some vehicle tracks of fallen trees. Consequently, the road from Clova to Glendoll Lodge and the parking there have been marked as “closed”, perhaps to allow large forestry equipment to move without hindrance from the public. Nevertheless, many private vehicles are still using the road and the parking area without difficulty.
In January 2022 on the outward section I took the vehicle track on the south bank of the White Water in Glen Doll hoping to avoid the fallen trees. However, there were around 50 trees blocking the track which added about 30 minutes to negotiate. On the return, the walk back by the River South Esk is clear only on the vehicular track to Moulzie. The walkers' paths connecting to the footbridge at the forest edge are blocked by hundreds of fallen trees and should certainly be avoided.
Connectivity: If no signal is obtained on the top of Broad Cairn, try again about 500m east of the summit. Tom Buidhe should have a signal, but there may not be one on Tolmount.
Weather: 7°C at car; occasional light rain all day, full cloud cover, mostly in cloud; strong winds. Some patches of snow/ice underfoot but no need for crampons.