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Firstly, to explain the unimaginative title of this report. Having settled on these four munros, with Glas Maol and Creag Leacach bagged previously, I set about finding a walk report for the same route. It seems most people take the Glen Callater route, but I eventually found someone who had done this a long time ago. So for anyone else planning to walk these munros, in this order, this report is for you!
We started from the parking area just off the A93. There's easily space for at least 10 cars, but due to some epically bad parking, we only just managed to fit in, even though there were only six cars there before us
We set off, heading across the stream on the pretty old bridge, which brings a note of historical interest to the start of the walk.
The ascent up Carn an Tuirc is straightforward, with a clear path most of the way up, until reaching the boulder field near the summit. I'd expected the path to stay more left of the summit and pass the shieling, not sure if we missed a fork in the path, but we ended up going more directly up the hill. From higher up there are great views to the north west to the still snow-capped mountains in the distance. There's a very well-positioned wind shelter next to the summit cairn were we stopped for lunch.
On the summit of Carn an Tuirc:
Next, on to Tolmount. We followed the track (you could drive a car along it!) towards Cairn of Claise looking for a path off to the left to take us across to Tolmount. Eventually we gave up and just cut across the peat hags. This wasn't as bad as I thought it could be, just a bit bumpy and still quite a few snow patches around. Once at the base of Tolmount, it didn't take long to reach the top.
Tolmount summit:
There are great views down to Glen Callater and across to Coire Loch Kander.
Glen Callater from Tolmount:
Coire Loch Kander from Tolmount:
Tom Buidhe is only a stone's throw away. We tried to strike a balance between adding extra distance and re-ascent. Again, once you get on to the hill there's a clear path to the top.
Tom Buidhe summit:
Views across to Mayar, Dreish and the Corrie Fee:
From here, it's easy to follow the path back towards Cairn of Claise. Eventually the path nears an old stone boundary wall, and the summit cairn is next to the wall.
Cairn of Claise summit:
For the descent, we followed the edge of the ridge around Garbh-choire then down the ridge to Sron na Gaoithe, heading off to the right rather than going straight over the top for a less steep descent. There's a relatively new looking bridge across the river from this side and you're back at the car.
In retrospect, it may have been easier to do these four in the order Carn an Tuirc, Cairn of Claise, Tolmount, Tom Buidhe - it certainly would have been easier to find the path across to Tolmount, and from Tom Buidhe you can stay on the track, cutting off the corner with the Cairn of Claise summit and instead heading further east towards the ridge to Sron na Gaoithe. But still, four munros bagged in 886m - what a bargain!
