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Sub 2k Marilyns: Meall an Tarsaid.
Date: 20/03/2021.
Distance: 3.5 km.
Ascent: 320m.
Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Weather: Overcast and breezy.
Another quickie for a Saturday afternoon - not sure how I persuaded Jackie this one would be a good idea as I had only said bad things about the terrain in the past, but here we were! We parked a short way down the Ardochy road near Whitebridge, having found something of a track here to get us started on the hill. The day was blustery with a threat of rain, but it was good to be out.
Heading off from the car After wandering through a grassy field, the track became more obvious but also quite churned up. However it got us the best part of 100m of ascent before petering out on a heathery plateau. I scouted ahead to see if there was an easy exit to the open hillside, but it turned out that there was nothing for it other than to climb a twin deer fence (the first fence in a deteriorating state but still stable enough to present a barrier).
Beinn a Bhacaidh Beinn Sgurrach The lower hillside had a convenient run of dead bracken to get us started, but was unrelentingly steep. Once at the top of this, the going was steep
and heathery
. Jackie was not impressed to say the least!
Sron na Muic above Invermoriston Glen Brein Eventually the gradient eased and we passed a summit cairn, finding a spot to the east to get out of the wind a bit and have a break. There were good views to the Monadhliath from here, as well as across Stratherrick. The big hills to the west beyond Meall Fuar Mhonaidh were completely obliterated by bad weather though.
Meall Fuar Mhonaidh East into the Monadhliath We took a quick detour to the (possibly higher) southern summit before deciding to get the hell out of here - it was chilly! We contoured the northern summit before bashing back down the heather to the fence - hard work but much quicker than coming up it. We managed to find a corner to climb back over the twin fence (slightly more stable here), and were relieved to drop down the track to the car. Probably not a hill for a return visit (he says after his second time up), but the adjacent Beinn Sgurrach looked much easier and more interesting for the future.
Summit Jackie on the descent Looking back to Meall an Tarside We took a quick spin up to Loch Killin (there is now a sign at the bridge before the loch forbidding access any further - not sure if this is legitimate) before heading home.