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Grahams: Meall na Faochaig.
Date: 21/03/2021.
Distance: 7 km.
Ascent: 550m.
Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes.
Weather: Overcast and blustery, but dry.
After yesterday's walk up Meall an Tarsaid had taken far more effort than it should have done, I didn't have particularly high hopes for getting up any bigger hills on Sunday. However Jackie felt a bit less knackered than she expected to so we thought we'd give it a go at least. Even with our late post-lunch start, we had plenty of time available, and there was no actual need to reach the summit.
The road west of Glenmeanie seems to have deteriorated significantly in the last couple of years, and we had to dodge a few impressive potholes before parking up at Inverchoran. There was already a car here (and there had been a dozen or so at the foot of Meallan nan Uan/Sgurr a' Mhuilinn), so we half expected to have some company today.
A short walk down the road took us to the good path/track which gives a great start to this hill. Having promised much easier going than Meall an Tarsaid yesterday I eyed the thick heather either side suspiciously and wondered if my memory was deceiving me (it had been pretty much 11 years to the day since I was last up this hill). We took a quick break where the views to Loch Beannacharain started to open up - we had barely started but it made sense to take breaks before Jackie started feeling tired.
Near the start Strathfarrar hills Looking towards Scardroy We made reasonable time up towards the high point of the path, opting to leave it before it veered away from our hillside. From here, a faint spur led NNW to the long summit ridge, and thankfully the vegetation was fine underfoot. Definitely pathless, but with only minimal heather and no tussocks - phew, my memory wasn't completely gone
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Summit of Meall na Faochaig from above the end of the path Gleann Fhiodaig We took a couple more quick breathers on the way up, and without too much fuss (a couple of minor peat hags higher up), hit the summit ridge. We actually stayed slightly below the crest to avoid any extra up and down.
This hill is pretty hemmed in by higher hills, and the cloud level was down to around 700m, but what views remained gave us a nice feeling of remoteness and being close to the big hills. There was impressive light above Gleann Fhiodhaig despite Maoile Lunndaidh being well into the cloud, and we could make out the lower slopes of Ben Eighe and Slioch, not to mention Fionn Bheinn. Back east, there was sunshine over the Black isle.
East down Strathconon with sunshine on the Black Isle Summit break Creag Ghlas and Meallan nan Uan across Gleann Meanaidh Scardroy with the slopes of Maol Lunndaidh looming to the left NW towards Achnasheen Bac an Eich from Meall na Faochaig Beinn a Bhach Ard across Strathconon Jackie had coped with the climb pretty well - way better than yesterday for double the amount of ascent, and although we still had to get back down, this is rarely as difficult. I had fancied a descent of the eastern ridge back to Glenmeanie (the top bit of this looked nice) or a full horseshoe around to Sgurr a' Mhuilinn, but I knew that just getting up here today was good enough, and we retreated by the same route. As we got lower, the cold wind became less annoying, and the last leg back to the car was positively pleasant.
Loch Beannacharain and Bac an Eich Beinn Mheadhoin and the Strathfarrar hills Descending to Inverchoran As usual, the whole thing had tired Jackie out enough for me to drive home (but not overly excessively today). While the descent is always way quicker, it needs the kind of balancing concentration which seems to knacker her almost as much as the physical effort of going upwards. Annoyingly, she finds it completely impossible to predict what is going to end up being a good day for going up hills - this one didn't start out very promisingly, while our cycle up Strathfarrar 3 weeks ago did, but finished her off for half of the following week.