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Another midweek quickie for me. The previous evening was spent frantically trying to decide where abouts I'd end up. I thought Meall Chuaich looked good so at the last minute made my mind and packed my bag for the next day’s adventures.
The forecast wasn’t looking great but for me, it adds to the excitement when there’s a bit of a breeze and some weather, nothing stupid of course
. I left home at 06:30, made my way towards the A9 and headed up to layby 94 (southbound side) where I would park up and set off. The drive up was nice and as I approached Blair Athol, I could begin to see some snow lying on the higher ground to my sides. Yes!! I thought. Hitting Drummochter the snow began to come down and it made me wonder what the days adventure would be like weather wise.
As I parked up the snow had passed and there was blue sky. I left the car and after a few minutes I could see the mountain I'd be climbing. It stood majestically at the end of the glen in which it sits. The area had a decent covering of snow (a rare thing this winter) which gave it a stunning wintery feel.
Leaving the car, I passed through the gate and after about a minute joined the track that runs parallel to the manmade river. Some may consider this an eyesore, but I didn’t mind it too much. The walk passes over a bridge, past a hydro power station, a massive pipe and another couple of bridges before arriving at the point where the climb begins.
Walking along this path the weather was on -off with blue sky at times and then periods of snow with little visibility. Rather enjoyable.
- The mountain standing in the centre of the picture, the hydro electric river in the foreground
- Caught in a snowshower
- A peeking Grouse
- Passing a hut near the foot of the mountain
An hour of walking complete and I was at the foot of the mountain, ready to start the climb. There was a path at the start, very boggy (50cm ish deep in places) at some points but was easily followable. Following the path for a few hundred metres (horizontally) I reached a sign advising me that the walker path veered left, more direct up the mountain. I followed and tried to stick to the path as much as possible. There was not a blanket of snow but in parts it had drifted to nearly a foot deep meaning that the path was somewhat hard to follow at times and I've no doubt I veered off it at points. Nevertheless, as long as you walk up, you’re probably going in the right direction. The weather was very nice but there were a few windy snow showers that blew over. I was hoping that my time on the summit wouldn’t be blanketed by the weather. As I approached "Stac Meall Chuaich" I could see cloud blowing over and sure enough it did. This one was a bit meaner than it’s predecessors though and the wind was really blowing hard. When combined with the snow and the blowing powder it led to white out conditions. These conditions would follow me all the way to the summit. I stopped, put on my ski-goggles and continued on.
- The start of the upward path
- Veering left up the walkers path
- Whiteout, this picture shows a period of better visibility compared to what I had at other times
From Stac Meall Chuaich I continued upwards toward the summit. The conditions improved very briefly giving me a short window to look back at where I had come from. I took a few pictures while I could and then continued the final push to the summit. Looking back, I could see another walker coming up from behind. After a wee while the gradient lessened and I reached the summit plateau. I couldn’t see the summit cairn in the whiteout but found it fairly quickly following what looked like an eroded path on the ground. 2 hours and 45 mins from car to summit.
- Looking back to the track which I had walked along to reach the mountain
- The summit plateau with no cairn in sight (can just be seen in the picture)
- There it is
- The east side of the cairn, protected from the howling winds but a lot of powder blowing in
I hunkered down and had my lunch. Not very enjoyable given the fact I was nearly buried in snow powder after a few minutes but some much needed fuel. I got packed up again, had a wee chat with the fellow walker who arrived shortly after I and headed back down. As soon as I stared to walk again the wind felt even more ferocious and colder. A quick check of the thermometer on my pack showed about -8/-9. Cold, but I’m sure people on here have been witness to much lower temperatures.
I tried to follow my footsteps back, but they had been refilled with snow, so I made another way down the hill, trying to return the same way I came up. I sort of zig zagged down from the summit back to Stac Meall Chuaich and upon reaching this point the cloud began to clear and the wind, although still blowing quite a bit, wasn’t as bad as on the way up.
- Temperature on the way down
- Icy goggles
- Heading down
- Looking down to the return path
Continuing down, I knew I was off the path that I had taken up but with the better visibility this was no issue. After some steep descents, trudging through some drifts of snow a foot or so deep and some heather bashing I reached the path that I had taken up just before the base of the mountain. I followed the path down for 5 minutes and I was back to the level car track.
- Down through the heather
- Looking down to the path
- Looking up the path from the bottom. Note the small cairn to the left which marks the start of the path
From the foot of the mountain, I followed the dirt road that I had taken a few hours earlier the other direction back to the A9. The views looking back onto Meall Chuaich were stunning. under more snow than what was there earlier on in the day it looked amazing, the summit just holding onto a bit of cloud. I continued down the road ad eventually reached the gate leading onto the A9 and back to the car.
This was a really enjoyable day out, not much ice if any though and I have no doubt that in true 2021/22 fashion that the snow that has fallen here over the last few days will be gone soon but who knows. That’s been a few "easier" Munros done in a row now (if there is such a thing as an easy Munro). Time for a challenge now I think.
- Walking through the snowy glen
- Looking back to the mountain. A beautiful sight
- From the track, the summit of Meall Chuaich
- And finally, away to pass through the gate back at the A9, a minute from the car
Time to car and back, 5 hours and 17 minutes.
