Mullardoch 12 over 2 days

[MountainTrail]

Hi , i'm looking at the round of 12 in 3 few weeks time , over 2 days with an overnight camp .
Have studied the route , read reports and feel its achievable for my experience and fitness levels .

Has anyone else done this one ? All tips and advice , particularly water sources along the route , would be most welcome , cheers

[Alteknacker]

I certainly found that water was an issue, but I don't think I'd paid sufficient attention to where I might find it before I set off.

I've subsequently read various reports where folk have managed to locate water pretty high up (if I remember correctly, reports by Weaselmaster - which is a gem worth reading anyway; and by Silverhill, also great) - if you look these up, you will probab.

Hope you get good weather, and are able to enjoy it as much as I did (though I was pretty tired at the end of it ). It lives in my memory as one of the very best walks I've done.

The only "tip" I would have is that, if you're doing the route anti-clockwise, when you descend at the end, rather than going down the Allt Fraoche-hcoire valley, take the shoulder of the hill to East of it, and then drop off towards the end on to the track. I went down the valley and found it quite hard going at the end of an 18 hour day!

[prog99]

There’s a spring at the bottom of the south ridge of Beinn Fionnlaidh on the left as you look south. Also there are a few burns not marked on the map on the west face of Carn Eighe.
Both of these still had water last year in the warm weather.

[EmilyD]

Pray to a deity of your choice for wind. That is, without a doubt, the midgiest place on earth.

In August 2017, my partner and I had plans for a two-day Mullardoch round and set up a tent by the dam the night before. It was windy when we set up the tent and had dinner, so all seemed copacetic. Sometime after we crawled in the tent, we heard what sounded like drizzle. "Huh," we said. "Rain wasn't forecasted."

Around 2am, I rolled out of the tent for a pish, and discovered that the air wasn't made of oxygen molecules anymore -- it was made of midges. It was crawling. I've camped in some pretty midgy places, but this took it above and beyond anything. It was out of a bad movie. I dove back into the tent and said to my partner, "That was one of the worst experiences of my life." Of course, when I threw myself into the tent, so did the midges. The inside of the tent wasn't much more habitable than outside. We gathered up critical items -- car keys, headtorches, and sprinted about 50 meters, to where the car was, and jumped into it. We drove down the glen a bit, then realized Irn Bru was needed. The Irn Bru was in the back of the car. My partner ran out to retrieve it, and when he came back, he looked haunted. He said he had to stick his hand into "a ball of midge" to open the boot. To make a long story short, we drove into Cannich and then at 5am, we turned back up the glen to rescue the tent, which involved making Tyvek suits out of everything we had, collapsing the tent into a heap as fast as possible, and shoving it into the car.

Then we drove to Lairg and did Ben Klibreck instead.

When we cleaned that tent in the bathrub later, the water turned black with midge. It still has midges embedded in the seams, which the friend I sold it to doesn't know about.

It could have been worse. We could have been in a very small backpacking tent, at the far end of the glen, between Beinn Fhionnlaigh and the start of the ones on the north side. I think we would have run through night to Alltbeith or the A87 and figured out how to get back to Glen Cannich later.

But aye, enjoy the Mullardoch round.

[Giant Stoneater]

Here is my trip report from a few years ago from another site.

http://www.scottishhills.com/html/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=15637

[MountainTrail]

I certainly found that water was an issue, but I don't think I'd paid sufficient attention to where I might find it before I set off.

I've subsequently read various reports where folk have managed to locate water pretty high up (if I remember correctly, reports by Weaselmaster - which is a gem worth reading anyway; and by Silverhill, also great) - if you look these up, you will probab.

Hope you get good weather, and are able to enjoy it as much as I did (though I was pretty tired at the end of it ). It lives in my memory as one of the very best walks I've done.

The only "tip" I would have is that, if you're doing the route anti-clockwise, when you descend at the end, rather than going down the Allt Fraoche-hcoire valley, take the shoulder of the hill to East of it, and then drop off towards the end on to the track. I went down the valley and found it quite hard going at the end of an 18 hour day!

Thanks for your advice . I'm hoping for decent weather but not scorching, as long as the rain isnt horizontal then I'll be happy lol.
From the walk reports I have studied I have managed to build up a kind of best case scenario In terms of distances and times . Obviously that might change with fatigue etc thrown in , but i want my homework to be right on this one.
And your advice on the last big will be very helpful. I've seen people mention the last bit being a real pain , with no real solutions, so your route has been noted .
I see a few folk have done this under 24 hours , but for me I'm afraid lol
Cheers

[MountainTrail]

There’s a spring at the bottom of the south ridge of Beinn Fionnlaidh on the left as you look south. Also there are a few burns not marked on the map on the west face of Carn Eighe.
Both of these still had water last year in the warm weather.

Excellent tips and noted and marked up on my map. Appreciate your reply, cheers

[MountainTrail]

Pray to a deity of your choice for wind. That is, without a doubt, the midgiest place on earth.

In August 2017, my partner and I had plans for a two-day Mullardoch round and set up a tent by the dam the night before. It was windy when we set up the tent and had dinner, so all seemed copacetic. Sometime after we crawled in the tent, we heard what sounded like drizzle. "Huh," we said. "Rain wasn't forecasted."

Around 2am, I rolled out of the tent for a pish, and discovered that the air wasn't made of oxygen molecules anymore -- it was made of midges. It was crawling. I've camped in some pretty midgy places, but this took it above and beyond anything. It was out of a bad movie. I dove back into the tent and said to my partner, "That was one of the worst experiences of my life." Of course, when I threw myself into the tent, so did the midges. The inside of the tent wasn't much more habitable than outside. We gathered up critical items -- car keys, headtorches, and sprinted about 50 meters, to where the car was, and jumped into it. We drove down the glen a bit, then realized Irn Bru was needed. The Irn Bru was in the back of the car. My partner ran out to retrieve it, and when he came back, he looked haunted. He said he had to stick his hand into "a ball of midge" to open the boot. To make a long story short, we drove into Cannich and then at 5am, we turned back up the glen to rescue the tent, which involved making Tyvek suits out of everything we had, collapsing the tent into a heap as fast as possible, and shoving it into the car.

Then we drove to Lairg and did Ben Klibreck instead.

When we cleaned that tent in the bathrub later, the water turned black with midge. It still has midges embedded in the seams, which the friend I sold it to doesn't know about.

It could have been worse. We could have been in a very small backpacking tent, at the far end of the glen, between Beinn Fhionnlaigh and the start of the ones on the north side. I think we would have run through night to Alltbeith or the A87 and figured out how to get back to Glen Cannich later.

But aye, enjoy the Mullardoch round.

Hahaha that sounds bloody horrific . If there is one thing that kills me it's the threat of the midge . I might have to rethink my plans now lol
Please tell me you were exaggerating

[Kevin29035]

But aye, enjoy the Mullardoch round.

Your midge stories bring back horrendous and almost-forgotten memories of the wee buggers. I can tell every word is true; they are that bad.

My first time at the Mullardoch dam was pretty much identical, except we didn't get out the car whatsoever and had a really rotten night in the car seats as the glen crawled and bubbled with insect life. That was mid August. Absolutely bloody horrendous.

Luckily it's never been as bad since, on my return trips.

[MountainTrail]

Here is my trip report from a few years ago from another site.

http://www.scottishhills.com/html/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=15637

Wow , what a terrific report .I missed this one from the Mullardoch reports .
And you did it ' the hard way' with a walk in from Cluanie . Some amount of km in that trek . Photos are fantastic and have given me a better idea of the terrain expected and the ascents and descents involved . Will be happy to use this for more detailed planning . thanks for the link ,very much appreciated

[MountainTrail]

But aye, enjoy the Mullardoch round.

Your midge stories bring back horrendous and almost-forgotten memories of the wee buggers. I can tell every word is true; they are that bad.

My first time at the Mullardoch dam was pretty much identical, except we didn't get out the car whatsoever and had a really rotten night in the car seats as the glen crawled and bubbled with insect life. That was mid August. Absolutely bloody horrendous.

Luckily it's never been as bad since, on my return trips.

Hi Kevin , i have been reading your blogs and walk reports on your web page for a while now . A minefield of useful info and great detail for many walks that i have been on . Was reading your Mullardoch report with Struan just last night , great stuff indeed .