O.S. Triangulation Pillar - Cairn Caidloch, Angus..
Posted by: 
creg-ny-baa
N 56° 53.586 W 002° 56.158
30V E 503901 N 6305488
Ordnance Survey trig pillar, constructed in 1952 on high ground south of Loch Lee at the head of Glen Esk in the eastern highlands of Scotland.
Waymark Code: WMTV6N
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/09/2017
Views: 1
This pillar stands on a remote hillside a mile and a half from the end of the public road up Glen Esk in Angus. At 647 metres it has good views of the nearby higher mountains such as Mount Keen and Lochnagar with the Cairngorms in view on a clear day. Loch Lee, a mile to the north however, can't be seen. The base of the pillar is slightly eroded but otherwise is in good condition.
STEEPNESS: After a level route along the northern side of Loch Lee and around the western end the route up past Inchgrundle becomes very steep as it climbs the hillside, but in less than half a mile things level out once the top of the high ground is reached and the final mile to the pillar is along a gently undulating route.
TERRAIN: From the car park at the end of the public road, a good track heads around the loch to Inchgrundle where it becomes rutted and then disappears for a few hundred yards. it then reappears above the crags south of the loch and continues over the high point of Burnt Hill all the way to within a few feet of the pillar.
ACCESSIBILITY: From the end of the public road the pillar is only a mile and a half away but the Water of Lee and crags bar the way up a direct route so a four mile walk around Loch Lee and up past the house at Inchgrundle is the best route. There is also a way up in an anti-clockwise direction walking back down the public and heading up Glen Effock where the track heads up to the pillar from the east. This is around the same distance and less steep but also less scenic than the route around the loch, it is probably better coming down this way turning it into an eight mile round trip.
NAVIGATION: Keep to the path in mist as losing it leads to all kinds of difficulties up on the high ground. Above Inchgrundle when the track disappears, bear east up the hillside where it re-emerges. the pillar is off the track a few yards to the north.
DANGER: None if keeping to the path which avoids all difficulties.
NB: Avoid this walk during the grouse shooting season August - November, Monday - Saturday.