Carn Gorm Horseshoe
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:17 pmI hadnt done any munros since the tail end of January and I was itching to get back into it. Constant nightshifts at the weekend and bad weather on my weekends off were keeping me away but on Wednesday the MWIS was saying 80% chance of cloud free munros and the forecast was good so my mind was set. I talked my mate Davie into joining me and we set off at 7am heading for the start point.
By 8:50 we had our packs on and were heading up the path. Unfortunately the cloud was thick and low and it looked like we were set for 4 whiteouts. After reading on here on lots of reports about people not crossing the dodgy bridge and causing themselves problems getting back onto the correct route I was determined not to let that happen. After a short while we came to a dodgy bridge, crossed it, decided it wasnt the correct bridge, crossed back over and continued on. If anyone is thinking of doing this route after reading this just remember one thing - IT IS THE CORRECT BRIDGE
After a bit of a detour back down a hill we had just climbed and across a fast flowing burn we were back on the zig zag track up Carn Gorm. Although the cloud was low it was reasonably straight forward getting to the summit, although it was a bit of a slog. Just as we reached the summit the cloud cleared and I got a little bit excited as it looked like I was about to get the inversion I had been longing to see. Unfortunately the cloud was a little too high and only a few summits were visible. It was also a little hazy higher up but pretty cool none the less.
After a short break at the summit of Carn Gorm we headed off for Meall Garbh. This was quite an easy section and only took 45 mins although it was so cloudy that navigation was tricky as my map was rendered useless. I forgot that I was supposed to follow the fence line to the next summit and we took a detour but luckily we realised fairly quickly and retraced our steps until we found the fence again which we followed to the summit of Meall Garbh.
From here we followed the fence line again (our saving grace this day as it was so cloudy) and headed towards Carn Mairg. This was the trickiest navigation of the whole day and again we took a wrong turn and had to find our way back. With no reference points we also mistook the cairn on Meall a Bharr (1004m) as the summit of Carn Mairg until a friendly tourist with a GPS told us otherwise. This was not the news I was looking for as I was beginning to tire but we headed off in the direction of Carn Mairg all the same. We rediscovered the fence line again and followed it once more. We began to get some breaks in the cloud and some nice views of the low cloud over the valley.
After a bite to eat at the summit we headed off for our 4th and final munro of the day Creag Mhor. It began with a fairly steep descent onto a coll and then a straightforward climb to the summit.
We retraced our steps from the top of Creag Mhor looking for the route back to Invervar but didnt manage to find it so we decided to take a direct route into the valley roughly towards the river at the bottom of the valley. This fairly took its toll on my feet which were already sore and I was dying for it to end. After 40mins or so we found the resemblance of a path and followed it back to Invervar where we had packed the car.
All in it took us 6.5 Hours including breaks and detours, and even though it was cloudy I somehow managed to get sunburn all over my head. A great day out overall.
Eddie
By 8:50 we had our packs on and were heading up the path. Unfortunately the cloud was thick and low and it looked like we were set for 4 whiteouts. After reading on here on lots of reports about people not crossing the dodgy bridge and causing themselves problems getting back onto the correct route I was determined not to let that happen. After a short while we came to a dodgy bridge, crossed it, decided it wasnt the correct bridge, crossed back over and continued on. If anyone is thinking of doing this route after reading this just remember one thing - IT IS THE CORRECT BRIDGE
After a bit of a detour back down a hill we had just climbed and across a fast flowing burn we were back on the zig zag track up Carn Gorm. Although the cloud was low it was reasonably straight forward getting to the summit, although it was a bit of a slog. Just as we reached the summit the cloud cleared and I got a little bit excited as it looked like I was about to get the inversion I had been longing to see. Unfortunately the cloud was a little too high and only a few summits were visible. It was also a little hazy higher up but pretty cool none the less.
After a short break at the summit of Carn Gorm we headed off for Meall Garbh. This was quite an easy section and only took 45 mins although it was so cloudy that navigation was tricky as my map was rendered useless. I forgot that I was supposed to follow the fence line to the next summit and we took a detour but luckily we realised fairly quickly and retraced our steps until we found the fence again which we followed to the summit of Meall Garbh.
From here we followed the fence line again (our saving grace this day as it was so cloudy) and headed towards Carn Mairg. This was the trickiest navigation of the whole day and again we took a wrong turn and had to find our way back. With no reference points we also mistook the cairn on Meall a Bharr (1004m) as the summit of Carn Mairg until a friendly tourist with a GPS told us otherwise. This was not the news I was looking for as I was beginning to tire but we headed off in the direction of Carn Mairg all the same. We rediscovered the fence line again and followed it once more. We began to get some breaks in the cloud and some nice views of the low cloud over the valley.
After a bite to eat at the summit we headed off for our 4th and final munro of the day Creag Mhor. It began with a fairly steep descent onto a coll and then a straightforward climb to the summit.
We retraced our steps from the top of Creag Mhor looking for the route back to Invervar but didnt manage to find it so we decided to take a direct route into the valley roughly towards the river at the bottom of the valley. This fairly took its toll on my feet which were already sore and I was dying for it to end. After 40mins or so we found the resemblance of a path and followed it back to Invervar where we had packed the car.
All in it took us 6.5 Hours including breaks and detours, and even though it was cloudy I somehow managed to get sunburn all over my head. A great day out overall.
Eddie
- Approaching Carn Gorm summit
- Davie on Carn Gorm
- Me on Carn Gorm
- Meall Garbh
- On route to Carn Mairg
- Carn Mairg in the distance and cloud over the valley
- Carn Mairg
- Davie on Carn Mairg
- Carn Mairg Summit
- Creag Mhor Summit
- The route back
- The home stretch
. Was up here on Sunday but with a 1:30pm start - I am a lazy git 
. Interesting to read an alternative take on the route. On Sunday in the sun, you couldn't get lost up there and could have binned the map and warm clothing before the start (not that I did).
