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My first two Grahams

My first two Grahams


Postby The English Alpinist » Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:03 pm

Fionas included on this walk: Meall nan Caorach, Meall Reamhar

Date walked: 29/10/2021

Time taken: 5.5 hours

Distance: 20 km

Ascent: 788m

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1.JPG
Meall nan Coarach 2,048 feet (624 m).

I decided it was time to get started on my Grahams career, and I chose these two as they were en route to my bigger objective for the next day of 4 Glen Lyon Munros. I'd like to say I opted to do this pair first so as to be sensible with the bad weather conditions, but it was as much to do with the fact it was as far as I could reach into Perthshire after departing England at 8 p.m. after work. I parked up in the pretty village (at least in daylight and sun it is) of Harrietsfield in the early hours, and got some quite good sleep to the sound of rain on the car. I was not unduly worried; they were 'only' Grahams, and it was only a 12-mile walk, and it had lots of massive tracks to follow. In fact I was so confident, I reckoned my lighter waterproof would do, as well as using a pair of old boots I'd had in storage for ages. Both were errors; but you see, I was trying to save my best gear for the high altitude stuff of tomorrow. I did, thankfully, have the sense to carry my 'serious' waterproof with me just in case.


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2.JPG
Enter through the wide gate; the Logiealmond estate.

3.JPG
Inset: waterproof looks good and nice and orange, but is crap.

4.JPG
Both Grahams can be seen ahead, either side of the pass. Inset: Coarach (the right) has a trig point.

5.JPG
Getting the heck off Coarach, down to the pass.

Legal-status access was easy to find just along the lane from the village, through the entrance to the Logiealmond property in this land of private estates. It was also a land of quarries which may be hard to enthuse about scenery-wise, but on a day like this was welcome in the sense of not getting lost and getting finished in good time. I briefly encountered people - in a car - at the gateposts, and that was the last time I saw any all day until getting back to the road. The rain hinted at lifting, but didn't, and it was my cold lashing companion from then on as I gained the rough sodden moorland which lead to the first summit, that of Meall nan Coarach. This had an intact and standing trig point - you can say that much for it - but there was nothing else to see and not a place I wanted to stay. By now it was obvious my waterproof top was inadequate, so I changed into the good one, but I was already damp inside. I needed to get on the hell down to keep warm. Not only that, I could tell that the boots were slowly but surely taking the skin off the back of my heels. I would finish this endeavour, but with a grim kind of pleasure at getting the job done.

6.JPG
Meall Reamhar 2,028 feet (618 m).

7.JPG
It lead in the right direction, so I took it.

8.JPG
The Shelligan Burn - it must have been, or a tributary of it.

9.JPG
Picnic anyone?

10.JPG
Animal feed in those plastic things.

Dipping into the col between the two Grahams, there was enough visibility down there to enable me to imagine pleasant little rambles in these parts in the summer (assuming it's a decent summer's day). But it wasn't pleasant today, so with squared jaw I just set off up to the second item on the itinerary, picking out whatever line seemed like it might offer the driest footing but I don't think there was any. This wouldn't really have mattered if only I'd worn my good boots, but it's an education and that, I reflected, was another reason why I was here. I was on top mercifully quickly - these really were two tiddlers in the grand scheme of things - and was pleasantly surprised by the size of its cairn. I felt I deserved one, even if it - Meall Reamhar - didn't. I descended directly south rather than returning the same way, as my spirits were not so sodden that I didn't t want to try to construct an interesting horseshoe. My industry was rewarded by a quarry path, and from then on it was easy walking all the way. With my cold inner layers sticking to me, watercourses in spate were just about worth seeing, and the little bridges and fords to get across them. There was an incongruous kind of humour about the sight of some picnic benches, but in fairness I could see the scenic potential.

There was a final, lingering mystery to the day, which still lingers. I came out at a Glenalmond Lodge - it said so on a sign - and yet on analysis of my route down, the turns I took and features I passed, I don't see how it could possibly have been. It should have been one Greenfield House, as was my vision beforehand. It doesn't matter, they were only half a mile apart on the road, and I was soon back at Harrietsfield with my first two Grahams in the bag. I didn't feel truly warm again until eating a fine baked potato with cheese in the Blackwatch Inn at Aberfeldy a few hours later, but the biggest issue was how I'd be able to walk the serious mountains tomorrow with the patches of skin my useless boots had removed from my heels. Damn, it stung.


This walk is followed by 'The Glen Lyon Ring of Four'
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=109135
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11.JPG
'The more you weigh, the harder you are to kidnap. Stay safe. Eat cake!' This still needs testing.
Last edited by The English Alpinist on Fri May 06, 2022 4:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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The English Alpinist
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 297
Munros:56   Corbetts:11
Fionas:22   Donalds:18+10
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:136
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Oct 27, 2015
Location: Lancashire England.

Re: My first two Grahams

Postby The English Alpinist » Fri Nov 05, 2021 10:39 pm

Apologies for bumping this drab little thing up the order, but I've now finished the blog after submitting it accidentally before i started writing. Sometimes I think it's more hard work than the walks themselves; in this case, though, my living room does seem a nicer option.
User avatar
The English Alpinist
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 297
Munros:56   Corbetts:11
Fionas:22   Donalds:18+10
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:136
Wainwrights:214   
Joined: Oct 27, 2015
Location: Lancashire England.

Re: My first two Grahams

Postby rockhopper » Sat Nov 06, 2021 12:34 am

Interesting route - hadn't occurred to me to go from the south - I went from the north from the start of the track to Girron just off the A822. Good hills for a winter walk. Pity about the weather - the water levels look high. You're doing well to have two Grahams already - for me, there were 26 years between my first and second :roll: - cheers :)
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rockhopper
 
Posts: 7446
Munros:282   Corbetts:222
Fionas:136   Donalds:89+20
Sub 2000:16   Hewitts:2
Wainwrights:3   Islands:20
Joined: May 31, 2009
Location: Glasgow

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