A very long walk for one Corbett!

[bootsandpaddles]

It was deja vu all over again as we headed for Old Bridge of Tilt with the promise of a sunny day from MWIS but with low cloud hanging over anything higher than 300m! After passing through Old Blair it was pleasant walk through the woods alongside the Banvie Burn before the track turned north to reach the large cairn.

At the large cairn

Another hour of walking in the clouds

saw us at the bothy for a short break before we followed the Allt Sheicheachan up into the hills.

Crossing the burn by the bothy

Quite a good zigzag path leads up the lower slopes of Beinn Dearg and then it is just a long straight slog to the top with its trig point surrounded by stone walls for a bit of shelter. The day began to look a bit a more promising at this stage. "Look blue sky!" "Where, where?" "Sorry, you were far too slow!"

What blue sky?

Clearing?

Another kilometre to the north and we reached the edge of the plateau only to discover that the northern slopes of Beinn Dearg still retained quite a lot of slippery, icy snow. With the cloud down again it was impossible to see the extent of this so we dithered about a bit considering alternatives (there really weren't any!) Then the cloud lifted a tad and we could see that we would only slip down about 100m before our fall was arrested by a band of rocks so we decided to go for it. In the event it was fine and by the time we reached the Tarf Water we were applying Factor 30 sunscreen!

Sunscreen at the Tarf Water

The heathery slopes of Beinn Bhreac were a bit of a struggle (well for me anyway)

Where are we then?

and we sat at the cairn for a while trying to identify hills across the way in the Cairngorms. Then down again through boggy ground to reach our campsite at NN887836. There were grouse everywhere and we had occasional glimpses of deer in the distance as we brewed up and cooked our dinner.

Brewing up

The next morning was fine and clear so we were away early on our way up Carn an Fhidhleir, reaching the summit before 9am.

Summit Carn an Fhidleir

I don't think the ptarmigan had expected to see people quite so early! It was then nice easy walking down the rdige towards the south top before descending east to the boggy bealach where we spotted another tent and someone having a leisurely Sunday morning. The way up An Sgarsoch looked incredibly steep but in the event was not too bad (if you took a bit of a breather where it levels out a bit!).

Taking a breather

After a snack at the summit cairn (the last of the Xmas cake!)

Summit An Sgarsoch

we strolled round the broad sweep of the hill to Carn Greannach

My kind of walking

and then descended rocky slopes to reach the Tarf Water close to the building at NN956798.

Crossing the river here meant a refreshing paddle. As we were drying our feet in the sun and having lunch on the opposite bank a guy came along from the the west. He told us what must be the ultimate tale of navigational disasters. He had been up Carn A' Chlamain and was descending to Glen Tilt aiming to catch the 2pm bus back from Blair Atholl to Glasgow. When he was almost in Glen Tilt he had followed the track round to the right and just kept going north and somehow managed to continue on this course until he reached the Tarf Bothy! Carrying on east alongside the Tarf Water he encountered us. Then he hurried off aiming to catch the 6pm bus instead! I hope he made it.

After our lunch we took the track up past Dun Mor and over to Glen Tilt. Then the long walk back to Bridge of Tilt, past Forest Lodge,

Heading for Forest Lodge

Nice waterfall in Glen Tilt

Marble Lodge and Gilbert's Bridge. The last 4km were very hard going (sore back, sore shoulder, headache - too much sun!) and I was incredibly relieved to get back to the car. However, a couple of large 99s in Pitlochry revived us sufficiently for the drive home.

Katie got 3 new Munros and a Corbett out of this expedition whilst I only got one Corbett. I wonder if this is the furthest anyone has walked for one Corbett!

Day1: 22K 1250 m of ascent
Day2: 30K 1180m of ascent

our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

[monty]

Geez thats a big walk well done. Some nice picrtures in there. Excellent

[foggieclimber]

Nice report .
Brought back lots of nice memories of doing a similar long circuit with an old pal.
I did Beinn Mheadhonach, Beinn Dearg then Beinn Bhreac camped then walked back via Carn a'Chlamain - so not as long as your epic. Hard work carrying all the camping gear!

[Alastair S]

Wow, some walk - well done & a good report. The cloud might have taken longer than predicted to burn off on Saturday but otherwise the conditions look wonderful.

[ChrisW]

Hellluvawalk, congratulations - that is what you call making the most of the conditions, love the tale of the 'lost wanderer' hope he made the bus this time

[LeithySuburbs]

I wonder if this is the furthest anyone has walked for one Corbett!

Sorry to disappoint you - Tarf Hotel Trip - .

Looks a great trip anyway and a report to match .

[malky_c]

Surely you did it for the overall experience, not just the tick, no?

Beinn Bhreac and Beinn Mheadhonach are high on my hitlist, anong with another visit to some Beinn Dearg and some bothies I think. Quitre fancy walking out down the Feshie instead and making a full traverse of the area, but will need to wait and see.

That looked like a good couple of days regardless

[sketch]

great report for a long walk, and the pics are great, congratulations

[gaffr]

Beinn Bhreac....maybe a number of us will a story to tell about this one....I was twice on the top of Beinn Dearg during the day out for this retiring hill. And that after having been out for Beinn Dearg many years prior I was only trying to keep my boots clean. Feels quite remote out there!

[annesbob1]

Hi - I am the navigationally challenged walker who met you while you were cooling your feet

Got 1747 train back to Glasgow and have posted up my TR on www.scottishhills.com if you want a laugh and the full explanation

I use the same name as on here

Cheers Bob

PS it was nice meeting you two

[Bod]

Yep, nice one - looking forward to getting back to some remote camping again. Enjoyed your report very much, and know some of the spots, cheers...

[bootsandpaddles]

Hi Bob,
Glad you got back OK. It's a long walk back along Glen Tilt, isn't it! I'll have a look at your walk report.

[bootsandpaddles]

Hi again Bob
I have had a look at your walk report. Your route was very similar to ours (apart from the huge detour! ). With hindsight I wonder if you were relying too much on the GPS and not checking regularly on your map to see where you were. We tend to rely on the map and compass and have the GPS as a back up rather than the other way round. Which is not to say that we have never been "lost" but I think you have more chance of spotting that you have gone wrong if you check the map quite often.