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Sgurr Marcasaidh - Autumn perfection, at a cost!

Sgurr Marcasaidh - Autumn perfection, at a cost!


Postby Jaxter » Mon Jun 21, 2021 4:44 pm

Sub 2000' hills included on this walk: Sgùrr Marcasaidh

Date walked: 28/11/2020

Time taken: 4.03 hours

Distance: 11.65 km

Ascent: 625m

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Another beautiful day, another late start, but I felt up to trying something. We headed down Strathconon with the plan of heading up Carn Faire nan Con… it was cold but there wasn’t yet any ice on the road as we parked up and headed towards the dam
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We reached the Luichart Dam and there was something about the beautiful blue sky and the autumn colours that made us do something stupid….
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Carn Faire nan Con and Loch Luichart
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Malky enjoying the sunshine
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Although he’s not as prepared as me :lol:
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Before we knew it, we were across the dam and heading for Sgurr Marcasaidh instead! Once across the dam we were on a good track which led us steeply uphill for a short section before climbing more steadily around the corner
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Unspecified bird (I’m sure someone will help me out here!)
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We left the track and followed fence – there were traces of people or animals having gone this way but it was hard work with the bracken.
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Eventually we came out around the top of the first bump in the ridge. Unfortunately this now meant we could see the next section :shock: We could also see one of the weird transmitter things that are really large up close!
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Looking back to enjoy the views (and have a break :lol: )
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After a breather we continued – the next section was looking impossible but we followed what looked like animal tracks up the first section before it got even steeper!
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The next bit got a bit ridiculous – pulling ourselves up incredibly steep heather was hard work not to mention fairly unstable :shock:
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We were both very glad to be up that bit (it turned out to be by far the worst section of the hill) and the views down onto Loch Luichart and Carn Faire nan Con were awesome 8)
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The ridge opened out ahead of us and the summit looked far enough to be out of reach for me, but now we were on better ground the distance was less of an issue
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It was tough work despite the improvement in both gradient and underfoot conditions, but stopping to enjoy views out to Beinn Dearg was no hardship 8)
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Ben Wyvis
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As we continued along the ridge we could see the next section of Loch Luichart
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Sgurr a’ Mhuillin
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Looking back we could see that we were making progress – the pointy end of the ridge was the top of the crazy steep heathery nightmare :lol:
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Oh deer!
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We were now onto the final ascent, and as we wound our way around some of the lumps (I was keen to avoid any extra ascent!) there was some frozen ground in the shade – winter was definitely coming!
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Views to Slioch
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At last we were there. I was exhausted, and the temperature was dropping as the sun was preparing to drop behind the Strathfarrar hills.
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Extra layers were hastily added as we sat down to enjoy a breather as well as admire the views West. It was a spectacular viewpoint 8)
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Slioch and the Fisherfield hills
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Ben Wyvis and Carn Cuinneag starting to appear to the left
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The sun getting ready for departure
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Looking towards the Beinn Dearg hills
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Sgurr a’ Mhuillin
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Achnasheen, Fionn Bheinn and Slioch
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Managed to get up onto the trig – summit of Sgurr Marcasaidh!
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The sun dropping over Loch Monar
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Moon rising behind Ben Wyvis
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West to Torridon and the Fisherfield hills
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The Strathfarrar munros – dustings of snow on them now
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The Cairngorms
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As the sun finally dropped below the hills, we got going. As tempting as it was to sit and enjoy the last light, we had to get back to the car :lol:
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We dropped down the hillside avoiding the worst of the rocks and made surprisingly good progress
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Sgurr a’ Mhuillin
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The Strathfarrar munros now visible only as outlines
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Malky getting fed up of me stopping all the time, both for photos and for breaks :lol:
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The start of a cool section with a waterfall which we had to dodge around
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So nearly at the track – the moon would at least give us some extra light too!
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Although it was easy walking now, it felt like an eternity that we were plodding along the track. I was getting really tired and had to keep stopping for breathers.
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There was ice starting to form on the road by the time we were back at the car, in the dark :lol: I was completely shattered and made Malky drive home, but it felt good to be out on something that felt like a real hill, even if it wiped me out :lol:
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Jaxter
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Re: Sgurr Marcasaidh - Autumn perfection, at a cost!

Postby jmarkb » Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:23 pm

Some lovely photos there! I thought this was really quite hard work for a wee hill when we did it, so well done you. The "mystery bird" is a Red Kite. And here's a link to the geeky stuff about the comms hardware - https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=97879
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jmarkb
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Re: Sgurr Marcasaidh - Autumn perfection, at a cost!

Postby Alteknacker » Tue Jun 22, 2021 9:39 pm

Definitely looks like perfection - including the perfectly awful heather-clad slope! You did well to get up that - it looks as bad as an ascent I made of Rhinog Fach by the worst conceivable route!

(see you're catching up on old WRs... :wink: )
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Alteknacker
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Re: Sgurr Marcasaidh - Autumn perfection, at a cost!

Postby BlackPanther » Wed Jun 23, 2021 4:43 pm

Lovely day you had for this hill :D
We did the same route in mid-April, hoping it would be less overgrown but it was still just as bad, especially the steep section half way up. We brought home several ticks as a reward for our dedication :lol:
DSCF2665.JPG
I'm going slightly mad...


I think Sgurr Marcasaidh is a PROPER mountain, even if it only falls int o Sub'2 category. It really made us work for it!
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BlackPanther
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Re: Sgurr Marcasaidh - Autumn perfection, at a cost!

Postby Sgurr » Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:46 pm

I thought this was my last Marilyn in the Highlands until they re-measured one near Cape Wrath, and had put it off partly because R had met a horde of ferocious alsations at the beginning. They weren't there when we climbed it (him for the 2nd time) and seeing none in your report, I begin to think they were a mirage. It's a tough wee hill. What great pics.
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Sgurr
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