Schiehallion From the Queen's View
Blistering temperatures, stifling heat and blue, blue skies – very strange conditions indeed for the Scottish Highlands, particularly as they continued day after day. That said, anyone who knows this country well knows that such days do exist and the trick is to make sure they coincide with your visit! Jennifer’s quest for Munro glory continues with 3 well-chosen weeks in the Grampians, on Skye and finally Kintail.
We started in the rolling grass & heather-clad lumps of the southern Grampians. Based near Pitlochry, we set out each day to conquer some well-chosen hills that would not only provide entertainment and achievement, but also avoid us succumbing to heat exhaustion!
Schiehallion
Schiehallion From the East
We started with the Fairy Hill of the Caledonians, the fine, distinctive wedge that is Schiehallion. Close to the geographical centre of Scotland, this popular peak provides a straightforward day with wide expansive views across the Central Highlands if you choose your day well. We did! The new path climbs easily up to the defining ridge of the mountain and the majority of your time will be spent traversing this over quartzite boulders that will be slippery when wet. No such problems today though as we trooped along to the summit cairn escorted by a couple of ptarmigan for some of the way.
View From the Summit
If there’s a bit of a breeze on top of a mountain, don’t do what everybody else does and perch next to the cairn to eat your lunch trying to ignore the discomfort. Assess which way the wind is blowing and find a sheltered spot downwind nearby and enjoy your lunch, the view and the warmth of the sun without the need for any costume changes! We returned the same way and bathed our roasting feet in the sublime waters of the wee burn next to the car park. This was to become a daily – and much-treasured - ritual.
The West Drumochter Hills
Sgairneach Mhor
Thanks to that mastermind of Highland road engineering, General Wade, the Drumochter Pass (462m) carries the A9 through the Grampians north to Speyside and Inverness. It also takes the main railway line, assorted pylons, a Sustrans cycle route and mobile telephone transmissions! Either side of this strategic conduit, lie a number of Munros whose ascent is significantly aided by a 400m start. We started with the western group – a clutch of 4 unassuming hills that can be climbed in a combination of ones, twos or threes or, as we did, altogether in a long, but rewarding day.
Coire Creagach
The best starting point, by some margin, is lay-by No 79 on the A9. This enables a circular route to be followed with minimum exposure to the traffic thundering by on the main road. Various combinations of difficult fences, razor wire and obstacles are an effective deterrent to trying to cross the railway so take the track under the line instead and follow it up Coire Dhomhain. Fifteen minutes later, a new bridge low down on your left provides access to the grass and heather slopes on the south side of the glen and these are climbed steadily to the skyline.
Today it was hot work and we could have done with yesterday’s breeze to improve the comfort level. The occasional red grouse was put up by our approach and we glimpsed the first of several mountain hares we were to see during the week. A couple of ptarmigan were about too, their distinctive clicking song giving away their presence. Soon, the impressive sweep of Coire Creagach came into view, still dotted with numerous snow patches and we followed its wide rim to the summit of our first peak: Sgairneach Mhor (991m; big scree). It was a relief to be on top!
Climbing Beinn Udlamain at the Head of Coire Dhomhain
Geal-charn From A' Mharconaich
A' Mharconaich
Weary legs now took us back to the 740m col before one final climb up the grassy slopes and along the level summit ridge of A’ Mharconaich (975m; place of horses). It’s worth walking a few yards beyond the cairn to gaze over the rim of the impressive NE corrie of the mountain, the one that is so conspicuous to drivers on the A9 approaching Drumochter from the north. We descended SE down easy slopes back into Coire Dhomhain, pausing to admire a sizeable snow patch that still had a depth of over 15’ on the downhill side! Picking up our inbound track we returned to the car after stopping for the ritual bathing of feet!
The East Drumochter Hills
East Drumochter Hills
What should have been an easier and shorter day by way of a respite turned out to be a near ordeal-by-fire for us! Another high start and a convenient access track all the way to the skyline should have been beneficial. However, the sun was hot and a complete lack of a breeze made for a punishing climb. Our problems were compounded by the sun’s heat being reflected off the surface of the track and it was a quiet climb as we grimly plodded to the plateau.
There were 2 Munros to be climbed today. Undistinguished humps on the wide grassy plateau to the east of the A9 they may be, but they offer an invigorating day out at 3000’ above sea level and provide a good opportunity to stretch your legs! They can be a bit of a navigation nightmare in cloud, but today we could see both summits from the point where we reached the plateau. This is close to a disused marble quarry at a tiny knoll at 902m.
We elected to head south first and followed a clear track over fairly flat terrain for 1km to a white cairn just before the summit of A’Bhuidheanach (879m; yellow place). From the cairn, turn sharp left and pick up another track that leads initially downhill to a small burn at the head of Coire Chuirn. Someone had placed helpful arrows made from quartz stones to lead the way to the second track. From the burn, climb up a sketchy path on easy grassy slopes with occasional fence posts marking the way. After ½km, bear right (use a compass in cloud) and just after passing some churned-up peat tussocks, the summit trig point of the Munro should loom into view: A’Bhuidheanach (936m; little yellow place). We could see some deer in the distance and heard the plaintive weep of an unseen golden plover. Otherwise, all was quiet.
Meall Cruach From Carn na Caim
We retraced our steps to the 902m knoll and continued north along the plateau track. After 1½km, it’s important to bear right along the line of fence posts and pick up the path that leads after a further 1km to the summit of Carn na Caim (941m; hill of the curve). We had the hill, the plateau and the day to ourselves. We trudged back to the marble quarry and descended down the furnace track to the waiting car pausing of course to soak our poor feet in the cool waters of the convenient burn!
Glen Lyon
Early Morning Cloud Clearing From the Glen Lyon Hills
Following our gruelling desert-like ordeal on the previous day, I suggested we try the somewhat softer tones of Glen Lyon. Some say that this is Scotland’s most beautiful glen and in late-May, Mother Nature certainly pulls out all the stops to make it so! The longest enclosed glen in Scotland, this 34-mile channel of river, woodland and mountain is encircled by Munros, many of them showing their better side to the glen.
Ben Lawers From Carn Gorm
Five miles W of delightful Fortingall, the hamlet of Invervar provides the ideal start point for a group of 4 Munros arranged in a convenient horseshoe on the N side of the glen. Mercifully, some early morning valley cloud and a light breeze helped keep the temperature down and this, coupled with the stunning scenery of the Invervar Burn crashing through the woods and the green mountain slopes ahead, provided a welcome distraction as we quickly gained height. Just before leaving the last of the trees, we crossed a small bridge on the left and followed the far bank for about 15 mins before striking up the open grassy slopes aiming for the skyline ahead.
Carn Gorm
The cloud disappeared, it’s job done, and we gained the clear path that leads up the SE ridge to the summit of Carn Gorm (1029m; blue hill). From here on, we enjoyed fabulous views across all of the Central Highlands from Ben Nevis & Glen Coe to the Cairngorms. We must have been in sight of 100 Munros and the air just got clearer as the day progressed!
An Sgorr & Meall Garbh
We moved on, steeply down at first, to traverse around the back of shapely An Sgorr before climbing quickly and easily to our 2nd Munro of the day: Meall Garbh (968m; rough hill). For the 3rd day running, we started following disused fence posts! Three golden plovers got quite close before darting off in flight, a rare sight as they are generally content to watch you from afar.
Cairn Mairg
Next came the climb up to the flat-topped Meall a’Bharr which is really just the westerly spur of Munro No 3: Cairn Mairg (1041m; hill of rust). This is an odd-shaped mountain with a flattish top and a large exposed flank of shattered rock on its SW ridge. Schiehallion looks – and is – quite close from here, Cairn Mairg being its closest neighbour.
Schiehallion From Meall nan Aighean
Descending from Cairn Mairg, it is better to head east initially thus avoiding most of the boulder field that girdles the southern flank of the mountain. A gentle drop, a grassy col and then it was up quickly to our last top of the day: Meall nan Aighean (981m; hill of the hinds). This has a little rocky tor of a summit and gives commanding views of Glen Lyon far below.
Buoyed by our success, we descended the easy W ridge of the mountain with the river and green fields of Glen Lyon looking radiant in bright sunshine as the Ben Lawers group and our hills of today looked down from on high. Before
too long we were back in the cool forest beside the cascading burn with our heads full of great memories of a truly magical hill day!
Glen Lyon
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