I had a week at the end of March and made the journey up from Liverpool, after I'd attended a charity game at Anfield with Jac and Ronnie. On the drive up, I turned off at M74 at Moffat and did a Corbett, Hart Fell. It felt a bit wintery on top, and after I'd done the hill and was driving up the M74, snow was settling on the ground and then I had to trudge through rush hour traffic on the M8 going through Glasgow. Arrived that evening at Crianlarich hostel, where I would be staying a few days. Any hopes of getting up any hills were dashed by the wild weather, one day I did a low-level walk along the West Highland Way to Tyndrum, had fish and chips from the Real Food Café (neglecting the cheese sandwiches I'd made in my pack), then took the the train back to Crianlarich.
The next day, despite the poor weather, I thought I'd have a go at Beinn Mhanach, a Munro around the back of the Bridge of Orchy hills. It was a short-lived effort, I didn't get much further beyond the viaduct on the Auch Gleann track when soaked through, I decided to turn back.
The forecast for the next day was much better, I left Crianlarich and drove along the road past Killin to Loch Tay, parked up at the Lawer's hotel and set off up to Meall Greigh, the eastern most of the Lawers group.
Ben Lawers from Killin
The hills were plastered in fresh snow, but it was easy walking over this one and the next Munro, Meall Garbh.
Meall Greigh
This was where I knew the difficulties lay, in the form of the steep east face of An Stuc. I stopped to put my crampons on and survey the possibilities of the route ahead. I managed to pick out a route avoiding the crags, that would bring me out on the summit and it was simply a matter of trusting my crampons and plunging the shaft of my ice-axe in. It was quite exhilarating, but quite a relief to make the summit, where all the hard work was done and much easier ground lay ahead.
From An Stuc, the easiest way to get back down was to continue on to the summit of Ben Lawers and then descend south-east then east, down the ridge that drops down to the Lawers burn. From there, I could follow the path down to where I'd started from.
Felt good to be back on the hill and have some good weather after a few rough days, unfortunately the next 2 days would not be so good. I'd booked in at Pitlochry SYHA and the next day I did a bike ride from Pitlochry around Loch Tummel and back. The day after was a low-level walk from Blair Atholl that I have little recollection of.
summit of An Stuc, looking towards Ben Lawers
summit of An Stuc, looking towards Meall Greigh
on An Stuc summit
An Stuc west face
From An Stuc, the easiest way to get back down was to continue on to the summit of Ben Lawers and then descend south-east then east, down the ridge that drops down to the Lawers burn. From there, I could follow the path down to where I'd started from.
the way up to Ben Lawers
view from Ben Lawers summit, looking back the way I'd came
Beinn Ghlas and the Tarmachan ridge from Ben Lawers
south-east ridge of Ben Lawers
looking back to the summit of Ben Lawers
on descent from Ben Lawers
looking back to Ben Lawers summit
An Stuc and Meall Garbh
Felt good to be back on the hill and have some good weather after a few rough days, unfortunately the next 2 days would not be so good. I'd booked in at Pitlochry SYHA and the next day I did a bike ride from Pitlochry around Loch Tummel and back. The day after was a low-level walk from Blair Atholl that I have little recollection of.
Continuing on foot, I still had a long way to go to reach the summit. Met a few more people on the top, some guys had used the cycle approach from Glen Bruar. Great views from the top, really clear skies.
Ben Alder and Drumochter hills
Schiehallion
Beinn Dearg summit
Beinn Dearg, looking away from the summit
on Beinn Dearg summit
Beinn a' Ghlo
Drove to Jac's place in Kirriemuir, where we cooked a roast chicken dinner. Had a few drinks and enjoyed a convivial evening.
Had to drive home on the Monday, but the weather was too good to pass up on and I had to fit a hill in on the way home.
Drove through Perth to Comrie then parked up at Glen Lednock, and followed the track alongside Invergeldie Burn that leads to Ben Chonzie. When the track petered out, I just followed the old fence posts that lead the way to the summit.
Glen Lednock
Ben Chonzie
looking towards Ben Vorlich (Loch Earn)
Ben Lawers hills, Schiehallion far right
Ben Lawers hills
on Ben Chonzie
Ben Chonzie summit
An unbelievable Autumn week
My week off at the end of September and I had the usual notion of driving up, doing a few Munros in the Southern Highlands and seeing where it leads. However, seeing the advance weather forecast, it called for something more ambitious to be done. I'd thought for a while about going further north and getting some big, remote hills done, on a back-packing trip. This was a perfect opportunity to do so.
The Glen Affric hills
I drove up on a Sunday, all the way past Inverness to the car park at the end of the Glen Affric road. The idea was, to camp out here and make a start on the hills in the morning. Stepping out of the car into the worst midge-fest I had ever seen soon put paid to that idea. Handily, there was a hostel just down the road, so I fled to there hoping there would be a room. Luckily there was, bit pricey at £30 but I took it to get away from the midges.
Drove back down the road to Glen Affric in the morning, packed my camping gear and enough food for 3 days and set off for the hills. Any approach to the these hills would involve a long walk (or cycle ride) in, and of course out again, so I decided to take them all in on a 3 day back-packing trip with 2 nights wild-camping.
Starting with the hills to the north of the Glen, from the track in Gleann nam Fiadh I made my way up Toll Creagach, then after a short rest headed westwards to the next Munro, Tom a' Choinich.
north Glen Affric hills, Sgurr na Lapaich (left) Tom a' Choinich (right)
looking west from Toll Creagach
looking back to Toll Creagach
It was fine walking along the high ground over many subsidiary tops to Carn Eige, the highest mountain north of the Great Glen. I left my pack here for an out-and-back walk to Mam Sodhail, only slightly lower than Carn Eige and with not much loss of height.
ridge to Carn Eige from Tom a' Choinich
Mam Sodhail and Carn Eige
looking back to Tom a' Choinich
Retrieving my pack, I now had the outlying Munro, Beinn Fhionnlaidh in my sights. It was 6pm by the time I got to the top, and I knew it would be pushing it to get down into the glen to camp before it got dark, so I decided to have a summit camp and enjoy the magnificent views, particularly of the vibrant sunset colours out west over the Isle of Skye. The only drawback was, the strong wind that broke one of my tent poles, so I had to just use the tent inner as a makeshift bivvy bag.
Carn Eige
Carn Eige pano
Loch Mullardoch pano
Carn Eige and Mam Sodhail
Sunset views from Beinn Fhionnlaidh
you can see the Skye cuillins
Managed to get some sleep and woke next morning to see stunning backlit clouds before the sun came up, packed the tent away and made my way downhill to cross the stream at the shore of Loch Mullardoch.
view from Beinn Fhionnlaidh at sunrise
the hills I'd be climbing today
A pair of crocs I was carrying came in handy for this. After making the crossing it was hard work walking up the pathless ground to gain the north eastern spur of Mullach na Dheiragain. When I gained some height the walking became easier and it was a good walk along the ridge heading towards Sgurr nam Ceathreamhnan, this is a big mountain and it was quite a pull to get up to the summit, but the views were commanding, and getting late in the afternoon the light and shade on the hills looked superb, as it often does at this time of year.
Carn na Con Dhu, Sgurr nan Ceathreamnan from Mullach na Dheiragain
Mullach na Dheiragain
Sgurr nan Ceathreamnan
view from Sgurr nan Ceathreamnan, looking towards Cluanie hills, Ben Nevis in distance
After eating a late lunch of tinned mackerel and rye bread, I made my way down the east ridge until I reached the saddle below An Socach, dropping my pack here for a quick and easy ascent to my third Munro of the day. Returning to the saddle, I followed the stalker's path into Glen Affric that leads all the way to the Alltbeithe youth hostel, noticing a window was open and being a bit nosey, I popped my head through the door to see there was a guy there on his own. Had a chat with him, and his story was he was doing a continuous round of the Munros over the summer, with only a few left to do. It was approaching nightfall, and I probably ought to have stayed here for the night, especially as my tent was pretty much unusable. However, I pressed on along the track hoping to find the bothy at Athnamulloch. I found the bothy alright - to be locked, should've checked beforehand to see if it was a private bothy. Anyhow, I had to cook some food and then bivvy out again.
Glen Affric at sunset
I awoke to the chill of a cool autumn morning, with a heavy dew covering the outer of the tent fabric I'd draped over me.
Mullach Fraoch-choire, Glen Affric
Mullach Fraoch-choire
Mullach Fraoch-choire north-east ridge
Loch Affric from Mullach Fraoch-choire north-east ridge
Mullach Fraoch-choire
Mullach Fraoch-choire and ridge to A' Chralaig
Kintail mountains and Skye cuillin from Mullach Fraoch-choire
Sgurr nan Ceathreamnan from Mullach Fraoch-choire
Loch Affric from Mullach Fraoch-choire
Mullach Fraoch-choire south ridge
Sgurr nan Conbhairean (left) A' Chralaig (right)
looking back to Mullach Fraoch-choire
pano from A' Chralaig
Sgurr nan Conbhairean from A' Chralaig
A' Chralaig, Mullach Fraoch-choire from Drochaid an Tuill Easaich
Sgurr nan Conbhairean and Carn Ghluasaid from Drochaid and Tuill Easaich
Loch Lochy Munros
After my exertions on the Glen Affric hills, the two Munros overlooking Loch Lochy would provide me with a much easier day (not to mention only needing to carry a light day pack). So I drove down the A82 past Loch Ness to Kilfinnan, just to the south of Invergarry. It was one of those misty Autumn mornings, but I knew the Sun would be on my side again today. It was a gentle start to the day's walk, along the forest track but on leaving the track it soon became a steep climb above a waterfall. Emerging from the woods on to the open hillside the gradient eased as I followed the path that divides these two hills. Making my way up to Meall na Teanga, I met another walker on his way up. Soon got chatting with him, a chap named Geoff, who was staying with his wife and their dog in a cottage by Laggan Locks. Good views from the narrow summit, looking across to the Nevis range, bathed in sunlight above a thin layer of mist.
Nevis range from Meall na Teanga
Nevis range from Meall na Teanga
Descended to the Glen and then took the path up to Sron a' Choire Ghairbh, from where I could look northwards to the hills I'd been on the previous few days.
Sron a' Choire Ghairbh
looking north from Sron a' Choire Ghairbh
looking over Meall na Teanga to the Nevis range from Sron a' Choire Ghairbh
After finishing these hills we went for a drink at the Eagle on the water, a pub on a barge by Laggan Locks. Had a nice pint of Dark Island, then had to drive to Tulloch station, where I would be staying the next few nights.
I drove a short way up the road from Tulloch and parked at the Creag Meaghaidh nature reserve car park and took the path to Coire Ardair. From the Lochan a' Choire I could see that cloud had socked in at 'the window' but above that, the mountain was in bright sunshine, so I knew what kind of conditions I would encounter high up.
Following the path up through the window, I emerged above the cloud onto the broad summit plateau of Creag Meaghaidh in bright sunshine. Returning from the summit cairn I saw Brocken Spectres on my way back down to the Window. Made my way up to Stob Poite Coire Ardair and Carn Liath, 2 Munros I'd not been on before (having previously been on Creag Meaghaidh in 2010.) then descending southwards towards Na Cnapanan and rejoining the path in the glen to the car park. Drove back to Tulloch Station, where I would stay 1 more night.
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| Creag Meaghaidh |
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| nature reserve |
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| cloud socking in The Window |
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| Lochan a' Choire |
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| Creag Meaghaidh summit plateau |
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| Creag Meaghaidh summit plateau |
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| Brocken Spectre |
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| Stob Poite Coire Ardair and Carn Liath |
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| looking back to Creag Meaghaidh |
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| descent from Carn Liath |
By contrast to the rest of the week, this was an overcast cloudy day with not much in the way of views from the tops. I set off from the car park up the broad track to Lochan na h-Earba, then up to Bealach Lamain. From the bealach I picked my way through the crags to the long summit ridge of Beinn a' Chlachair. In mist at the summit, I made my way back to the bealach, trying to remember my way down through the crags. Up to Gael Charn (many hills in this area are named the same), the mist seemed to be even thicker here with a distinct chill in the Autumn air. On descent I made my way to the col between Gael Charn and Creag Pitridh and then finding a path that wound it's way up to the summit. Being lower than the other two Munros, I was out of the mist and had some views from the top. Returned to the col and then down to the bealach Lamain path I'd walked up in the morning and the long walk out back to my car, a bike would come in handy for these hills, as it was I had to cover the ground on foot.
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| Lochan na h-Earba |
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| Beinn a' Chlachair |
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| Creag Pitridh |
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| Gael Charn |
After doing these hills, I drove along to Newtonmore, staying the night in the hostel. The forecast was good for the following day (Sunday), so I thought I'd make the most of it and do an easy hill on the way home.
The Munros close to the A9 come in handy for a day when your time is limited. The one I chose was Meall Chuaich. Starting off on the track up to the loch then up the path on the south flank of the hill. The visibility was suberb.
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| walk in to Meall Chuaich |
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| looking towards the Cairngorms |
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| Loch Ericht and Ben Alder |
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| looking towards Creag Meagaidh |
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| Ben Alder |
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| Meall Chuaich |
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| Meall Chuaich |
It had turned out to be a very productive week, I'd added 20 Munros to my tally. The most pleasing aspect of the week was getting all the Glen Affric Munros done in one visit (even though it was 3 long tough days), the weather certainly made it happen.
My total now stood at 188, and over the winter I would spend many evenings working out ways to tackle the remaining hills on my list.
