Glen Tilt
Matt’s last week in Scotland this year began with a
few days making a start on clearing up the easternmost Munros. He almost got there as well - just 2
hill-days to go and he won’t need to venture east of the A9 for a while!
Beinn Dearg
Beinn Dearg
Day 1 began with a half cycle/half walk from Blair
Atholl up into Glen Banvie to the Allt Sheicheachan bothy. We left the bikes 2 Km past the bothy and
headed up the excellent stalker’s path on foot.
We didn’t enter cloud until above 900m which was good enough for
today. In less than an hour from the
bikes, we reached the summit granite boulder field and trig point on top of
Beinn Dearg (1008m; red hill).
Returning to the bikes, we opted for the alternative
way back descending beside the Allt Slanaidh, down into Glen Tilt and back to
Blair Atholl.
Beinn Dearg is an isolated hill and this is a long
circuit - almost 30 Km. It is well worth
taking a bike - we were away for 6hrs and were on our feet for less than 2!
Carn a’
Chlamain
Cycling up beautiful Glen Tilt always reminds me of
that line from A Bridge Too Far - “it’s all a matter of bridges’. Starting from Bridge of Tilt, the route winds
its way up the Glen over Old Bridge of Tilt and Cumhann-leum Bridge, past Gilbert’s
Bridge, and on over Gaw’s Bridge and the Allt Craoinidh Bridge. I told you it was all a matter of bridges!
We left the bikes beside the Allt Craoinidh and
climbed up the broad SW shoulder of our hill .
The path soon intercepts a vehicle track that climbs all the way to the
summit (and beyond). However, it is
better to leave the track (left) at a small cairn at about the 700m contour and
cut the corner. The summit plateau (and
track) are intercepted just below the summit where a quartzite boulder field covers
the top of the mountain: Carn a’
Chlamain (963m; hill of the kite).
We didn’t see much wildlife but the sight of a
shepherd on a quad bike working his dogs and a lone pick-up truck parked on top
of the mountain probably helped explain the lack of fauna!
Light, wispy cloud covered the top 100m of the
mountain and a light shower heralded the start of our descent. But it takes more than a little rain to spoil
the enjoyment of cruising back down Glen Tilt on a freewheeling bike!
The Western
Drumochter Hills
The Pass of Drumochter
Day 3 saw us driving up the A9 to the Pass of
Drumochter. Leaving one car at
Balsporran Cottages, we returned to the top of the Pass and headed W up Coire Dhomhain. Leaving the track at the new wooden bridge
about one Km up the glen, we picked up a sketchy path that climbs to the
skyline from where the wide ridge is followed around the broad sweep of Coire
Creagach to the summit of Sgairneach Mhor (991m;
big scree).
Sgairneach Mhor
From the twin cairns and trig point that crown the
summit, we headed W down (ultimately, quite steeply) into the glacial trough at
the head of Coire Dhomhain passing our only fellow hill-walker of the day! After lunch, a 20-min steep climb up grassy
slopes took us to the summit of Beinn Udlamain (1011m; jointed hill).
Coire Dhomhain
From here, in warm sunshine, we traversed the long
wide-open ridge northwards descending gradually to the bealach above
Fraoch-choire where a herd of 60 red deer ran across our path. Yet another quad bike parked on the ridge
suggested the presence of a stalker - who may have had something to do with the
urgency of the deer. Sure enough,
stalker, rifle and quad bike appeared reunited as they sped past us a few
minutes later.
A’ Mharconaich
From the bealach, 20 mins of easy walking brought us
to the summit cairn of A’ Mharconaich (975m;
the place of horses). Do make the
effort to walk 200m past the cairn to enjoy the mountain’s defining feature: the
steep-sided NE corrie that falls abruptly towards the A9 and gives great views
to the N.
We retraced our steps a short way before commencing a
descending traverse into Coire Fhar surrounded by over 20 mountain hares,
several ptarmigan and the odd red grouse.
The clear conditions allowed us extensive views W across Loch Ericht to
Ben Alder and, immediately below, the ostentatious pile of Ben Alder Lodge
complete with helicopter pad and subterranean hanger!
Ben Alder Lodge
A final climb from the 739m bealach took us to our
last summit of the day and Munro No 5:
Geal-charn (917m; white hill). A day that had remained largely warm and
sunny stayed that way for the final 45mins of descent down the NE ridge of the
mountain and across the railway at the Cottages to the waiting car. If you do opt to climb all 4 of these Munros
in one go, the strategic positioning of 2 cars will save you 4 Km of steady
walking on the cycle path beside the very busy - and noisy - A9!
Schiehallion From Drumochter
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