Five at the Lawers Range

[ScottyBoy76]

It was an early start today as I decided to tackle five Munros at the Lawers Range. After arriving at an empty Ben Lawers car park just before 6am I headed off into the gloom, hoping that the weather would clear up as the morning progressed.

A gloomy start to the walk.

I bet this nature reserve looks great in the sunshine.

As I reached around the 7-800m mark summits started to appear. I could see Meall nan Tarmachan appearing behind me, and my first target, Beinn Ghlas, was there in all its glory.

Meall nan Tarmachan.

Beinn Ghlas, the first Munro of the day.

The cloud inversion was superb as I made my way up Beinn Ghlas, and I knew that clouds would be the order of the day once I reached the first summit. You could barely see anything as once again they rolled in.

Beinn Ghlas summit. That’s Ben Lawers in the background, honest.

I didn’t hang around and immediately started to make my way towards Ben Lawers, hoping that I would get a good view of it before starting the ascent, and I did!

There she is, Ben Lawers!

Heading to the summit of Ben Lawers.

The ever changing cloud cover made the view from the summit of Ben Lawers dramatic to say the least, a bit more interesting than a clear view in my opinion. Beinn Ghlas was appearing and disappearing, as was my next target, An Stùc.

Ben Lawers summit.

Beinn Ghlas.

An Stùc, bits of it at least.

An Stùc next, and as I headed down from Ben Lawers once again the cloud cleared and eventually An Stùc was there to see in its entirety. There was a Munro Top to cross on the way down, Creag an Fhithich, before starting the ascent of An Stùc, which I managed to climb fairly quickly.

An Stùc.

Lochan nan Cat.

An Stùc summit, with the summit of the fourth Munro of the day in the distance, Meall Garbh.

There was no wind at all on the summit of An Stùc, which the local midge population decided to take advantage of, so after the quickest bite to eat in history it was time to carry on to the fourth Munro, Meall Garbh.

Meall Garbh.

The descent down the other side of An Stùc was steep and tricky in places, care definitely needed. Ascending Meall Garbh was straightforward, with superb views looking back at the three previous Munros I had climbed this morning.

This was the side of An Stùc I came down. Tricky in places.

An Stùc on the right, Ben Lawers on the left, Beinn Ghlas centre in the distance.

Meall Garbh summit.

Just one more Munro to go then, Meall Greigh.

Meall Greigh.

The walk between Meall Garbh and Meall Greigh was the first boggy section I had encountered the whole morning, but it wasn’t too bad and eventually I made my way up to the summit of Munro number five, at bang on midday. The views up and down Loch Tay were superb, as was the view back towards the other four Munros I had climbed.

Meall Greigh summit.

Loch Tay.

I was following a route that someone had posted in the forum a few years back, which had me making a pathless descent from Meall Greigh to the southwest, aiming for a small dam in the distance which has a track leading from it, and then what I had initially thought would be a case of following the long track back to the car park.

The dam at to the south of Meall Greigh.

The long track back.

Little did I know that the track wouldn’t go all the way back, stopping at another larger dam about three miles from the car park, which meant a pathless and at times awkward walk across steep slopes which proved to be very tiring, but eventually I made it back to the car park at about 1530, and the sun was blazing down in stark contrast to about ten hours ago.

Slowly making my way back to the car park.

Overall it was a great day out, very tiring but well worth it. Five excellent Munros, all with dramatic views thanks to the ever changing clouds, and I was glad it stayed dry for a change. I look forward to my next visit to the Lawers Range