Carnferg

Rising above the Deeside town of Aboyne, this prominent Mounth outlier offers a straightforward ascent through the Birse estate. Its heather-clad slopes are capped by a massive summit cairn, providing a grandstand view across the Dee Valley toward the high granite plateaus of the Cairngorms and nearby Mount Keen.

• •The name derives from the Gaelic Càrn Fearg, which translates literally as the 'Cairn of Anger'. While the exact origin is unconfirmed, it likely refers to the fierce winds that whip across this exposed shoulder of the eastern Mounth.
• •The summit is dominated by an exceptionally large, neatly constructed conical cairn that stands significantly taller than a person, making the hill's profile easily recognisable from the valley floor.
• •The hill is flanked by two historic rights of way: the Fungle Road and the Firmounth Road. These ancient tracks were once vital arteries for drovers and traders travelling between Deeside and the Angus Glens.
• •From the summit, there is a clear, uninterrupted view of Mount Keen, Scotland’s most easterly Munro, which rises to the southwest beyond the remote Forest of Birse.
• •Given the enormous scale of the summit stonework, one suspects the local builders were determined to make the hill feel like a much higher peak, even if the surveyors disagreed.