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Our first problem arose when the van was too high for the lovely empty car park at Fassfern. Luckily there was a suitable empty space by the wall. The first section of the route towards Meall Onfhaidh was pleasantly deciduous, then came a bit of plantation then open hillside. We followed the track up towards the Allt Fionn Doire then an atv track for a while until it left the route up the ridge. By the time we were walking along the summit ridge, Gulvain had lost its cloud, and the views were magnificent.
- Looking west-ish from Meall Onfhaidh
We had an early lunch before making our way down the ridge towards Aodann Chleirig, then headed uphill. From a distance the grassy ramp going rightwards looked appealing, but as we got nearer, a lot less so. There were a few gaps in the crags to the left, so we headed straight through them and over to the summit for lunch number 2. Again lots of hills to see , and because there was a light wind, just one ked.
- Gulvain and Meall Onfhaidh looking small
- GlenFinnan pano
- Ardgour pano
It was tempting to return over Beinn an t-Sneachda particularly so that we could see the views of the hills without it in the way. However we were both nursing sore feet so headed off down the ridge of Druim Beag instead. It was very pleasant at first, easy walking, good views and lots of little lochans.
- Loch Eil and Ben Nevis
- Looking towards Garbh Bheinn
We found the stile in the deer fence, just off to the left of the ridge, and picked up the atv track mentioned in the SMC Graham guide. It seems that I am the first to document this on WH, which is fun. A vehicle had obviously been up this way relatively recently, squashing the long grass and making the route clear to see. However it hadn't been up often enough to kill the grass, so we couldn't see exactly where each footstep was going to end up. It would probably be easier walking earlier in the year before the grass had grown so much. Even so, it was far preferable to making our own way down the hillside, and led us easily downhill then through the trees to a wide forestry track at NN 0139 7938. If going the other way, the start of the track is very obvious, and stony initially, then turn uphill after 100yds or so.
- Where the atv track joins the forestry track
It was then just a straightforward walk following the red route back to the car park.
Here is our approximate route - the exact route through the trees on the return is a guess.