Munros with 'meh' views...

[pww235]

Hi all,

Bit of a random one today:

I'm looking to escape to the hills again this weekend but the weather forecast leaves a bit to be desired. Given the likelihood of views being at least partially reduced, I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for Munros I could tick off without missing anything too spectacular view-wise if the clouds have rolled in?

Pete

[jayedubya73]

I don't like speaking badly of any of our national treasures... but there are a few at Drumochter just off the A9 that would be good candidates. 4 on the west of the road, or a double/single options on the east side.

I did them all in pretty decent weather to be honest, the ones on the west have views of Loch Ericht, but nothing I would have been gutted to have missed.

[jupe1407]

The East Drumochters are about as "meh" as you can get. Tolmount and Tom Buidhe aren't jaw dropping either. Carn Aosda and in particularly the Cairnwell are pretty dismal summits with the Ski centre stuff all over the place, however the outlier (Carn a'Gheoidh) is a lovely spot.

I don't subscribe to the "There's no such thing as a rubbish hill" theory, I do enjoy every walk I'm on whether i get a view or not. Apart from Beinn Achaladair and it's neighbour where my knee injury flared up to crippling proportions on a rubbish day. The only photo i have is of me flicking the vicky's in the general direction of BA after 10 hours of soaking hell.

[Giant Stoneater]

Why dont you pick something smaller, we done that earlier today.
We went up Morrone at Braemar, not the most exciting hill but it gave a circular walk and a stretch of the legs and got some nice views while all around it looked quite miserable with snow showers coming and going.
Reckon if we were higher the views would have been rather limited.

[Lightfoot2017]

I expect you're gonna get the full gamut of answers here.

I have to disagree with Jupe. I DO subscribe to the view that "there's no such thing as a dull hill". However, the very rapid caveat is.... some hills are are better than others, of course.

I think a lot of people conflate the hill per se with their experience on the day. The latter could be ruined by a) crap weather b) crap company c) an injury d) losing a fave / essential bit of kit.....etc etc.

Whatever hill you choose to do, enjoy.

LF.

PS: Mayar & Dreish

[simon-b]

Just one word of warning, the more featureless hills can be trickier to navigate in poor visibility. I had to bail out of my first attempt on the East Drumochter 2 when caught in a white out - a calm white out with lying snow and mist, not a blizzard.

[iain_atkinson_1986]

Buachaille Etive Mor

[Mal Grey]

In the past, I'd have been drawn to an "ordinary lump" of a hill on a poor visibility day (and often leading to some nav practice!!). However, I now tend to think that the only reason to do these is if you CAN see the view.
So on bad weather days, where there is almost no chance of the odd clearance, I tend to stay lower and explore beautiful glens instead, or wander up into wild corries.

[jupe1407]

PS: Mayar & Dreish

After going up them for about the 10th time each they do get a little tedious

[arjh]

Tolmount is a lovely-looking hill if approached from the north via Glen Callater/Jocks Road.

I find many hills are improved by approaching from a direction that is not the standard bagging route. Geal Charn (the Monadhliath one) is dull via the normal plod from Garva Bridge, but I found it great from the dramatic eastern coire and blunt ridge (Bruach nam Biodag).

I am greatly looking forward to approaching Seana Bhraigh from the north over Creag an Duine rather than the standard southern approach, it looks great. Also need to revisit Conival/Ben More Assynt from the south which looks a superb ridge.

[pww235]

Thanks all for the replies

I'm still not sure what side of the "no such thing as a bad hill" yet as my lockdown legs (and extra timber) complain with anything more than a few flights of stairs but I'm determined this year to bag double digits.

To those suggesting lower level walks, I totally get that and I did swither with doing so but....the temptation to build on last week's first bagging in two years was too strong and I've decided on Carn na Caim & A'Bhuidheanach Beag. Should be manageable and the route profile appears fairly forgiving.

Regarding Mayar and Driesh (already bagged), I do feel Corrie Fee in glorious sun made that experience better

Now I just hope Perth Tiso has OL51 in stock and parking in the lay-by goes ok!

[simon-b]

Thanks all for the replies

I'm still not sure what side of the "no such thing as a bad hill" yet as my lockdown legs (and extra timber) complain with anything more than a few flights of stairs but I'm determined this year to bag double digits.

To those suggesting lower level walks, I totally get that and I did swither with doing so but....the temptation to build on last week's first bagging in two years was too strong and I've decided on Carn na Caim & A'Bhuidheanach Beag. Should be manageable and the route profile appears fairly forgiving.

Regarding Mayar and Driesh (already bagged), I do feel Corrie Fee in glorious sun made that experience better

Now I just hope Perth Tiso has OL51 in stock and parking in the lay-by goes ok!

I hope it goes well, Pete. Looks like you might have a chance of cloud free Munros this weekend after all, even if the weather isn't so settled. But please don't underestimate this as a 'manageable, forgiving route' if clouds do come down. It's a long, featureless plateau between the summits which can be difficult to navigate in cloud, especially if there's snow as well. This is exactly where I got whited out and had to bail. So please take care. But with care, I'm sure you'll be OK. And like I said, the weather might not be too bad anyway. So enjoy!

[pww235]

Thanks all for the replies

I'm still not sure what side of the "no such thing as a bad hill" yet as my lockdown legs (and extra timber) complain with anything more than a few flights of stairs but I'm determined this year to bag double digits.

To those suggesting lower level walks, I totally get that and I did swither with doing so but....the temptation to build on last week's first bagging in two years was too strong and I've decided on Carn na Caim & A'Bhuidheanach Beag. Should be manageable and the route profile appears fairly forgiving.

Regarding Mayar and Driesh (already bagged), I do feel Corrie Fee in glorious sun made that experience better

Now I just hope Perth Tiso has OL51 in stock and parking in the lay-by goes ok!

I hope it goes well, Pete. Looks like you might have a chance of cloud free Munros this weekend after all, even if the weather isn't so settled. But please don't underestimate this as a 'manageable, forgiving route' if clouds do come down. It's a long, featureless plateau between the summits which can be difficult to navigate in cloud, especially if there's snow as well. This is exactly where I got whited out and had to bail. So please take care. But with care, I'm sure you'll be OK. And like I said, the weather might not be too bad anyway. So enjoy!

Thanks for that Simon, MWIS does suggest my visibility concerns may not come to much but I'll be keeping an eye on things for sure. I'll be tracing the path on my GPS as well as using the good old paper map but I'm not shy about calling it off should things close in - a near whiteout on Ben Chonzie while soaked through early in my bagging journey hammered home the "the hills aren't going anywhere, there's always another day" message.

Hardest part will be getting out of the Tiso at Perth without draining the debit card....got my eye on a shiny new synthetic down jacket

[simon-b]

I can imagine that happening on Chonzie, Pete, another hill with smooth grassy surfaces. So in a white out you can't see anything and it's very disorienting. Karen(Kmai61) and I did manage Beinn Fhionnlaidh (Glen Creran) in a white out; it's a rougher hill, and rocks showing through the snow helped to maintain perspective. The concept of a safe hill can sometimes be turned on its head! Hopefully the East Drumochter 2 will be good ones for you this weekend.

[Sgurr]

Mount Keen. Path all the way in case of bad weather. One or two interesting bits and pieces like QVic's well to brighten up foreground views, and essentially, no views across water (or none that I got in 3 visits to date anyway. ), NO water, No lively reflections. Ben Klibreck. there are some good views, but whenever you do it, you'll be looking at your feet as it is SO muddy. (Maybe not from ALL directions)