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This was a better set of hills than I actually anticipated. Not especially rugged, but with good views towards bigger hills and interesting quirks like a wall marking a boundary line at a summit (the dedication to wall building of days gone by never fails to amaze me).
I had planned to park at the Ski centre, thus doing the hills in a clockwise direction and getting the 2km walk along the side of the road out the way at the start. My recollection (perhaps mistakenly) was that the car park used to have a ticket machine. Arriving at 7am I was greeted by signs instructing me to pay for parking at the cafe or online. The cafe was still closed and I had no phone signal (3g/4g or otherwise). Unwilling to wait until the cafe opened, I decided not to risk the sour aftertaste of a parking ticket and drove to the small free car park about 2km North.
After the initial ascent up Carn an Tuirc, the walking was a doddle. The cloud cleared to give views of MacDui et al, still with snow in the corries.
The first 3 summits, while enjoyable all felt fairly similar. The 4th, Creag Leacach, has an altogether more angular feel to it, with an inviting looking ridge leading to the main body of the hill. It's not quite the Aonach Eagach, again for reasons I can only guess at, someone has seen fit to build a wall down the middle of it. The last little push to summit is rocky with loose stones, and while straightforward gave slightly more of a challenge that the first 3 hills.
Descending via the track below the chairlift, I was amazed how quickly I lost elevation and was soon back at the ski centre. The walk along the main road still need to be done, but it was not the grind I had anticipated.
