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Munros: Creag Meagaidh, Stob Poite Coire Àrdair, Carn Liath.
Date: 19/03/2022.
Distance: 24 km.
Ascent: 1450m.
Time: 6 hours, 55 minutes.
Weather: Sunny, hazy, ferocious wind on some ridges, calm on others.
Plus a 7.5 mile cycle.
Time to get a half-decent walk in again. I was looking at Glen Affric or the Cairngorms before I realised I had a whole pile of unvisited Munro tops around Creag Meagaidh. I also hadn't been up on any of those hills for the best part of 20 years, and could see a nice end-to-end traverse. Without trying, I had a plan!
Struggling to sleep on Friday night, I was actually up earlier than my alarm and away from the house by 7:40. After ditching my bike in a layby near the east end of Loch Laggan, I was parked up near Luiblea by 9:15. The usual Arverikie hills layby was pretty much full but the next one along had no cars whatsoever in it, and suited my purpose better. Off-piste from the word go, I crossed the A86 and jumped straight into the heather - no fences to climb here. Fortunately I wasn't completely on my own as there were intermittent quad bike tracks heading towards Tom Ban. It was a fabulous morning and as I gained height, the Easains, Grey Corries, Aonachs and eventually Ben Nevis were on view, still stacked with more snow than I expected. I'm rarely along this road so it was a bit of a treat really.
An Cearcallach from the road
Southern top of Beinn a Chaorainn
Chno Dearg and Stob a Choire Mheadhoin
SW across the Laggan Reservoir Nearby Brinn a' Chaorainn presented its impressive east face and even my first summit of An Cearcallach looked reasonably imposing. I could see an argocat parked in the bog a short distance away as I finally gained the steeper southern slopes of my hill.
Beinn a Chaorainn
Easains to the Grey Corries, Aonachs and Ben Nevis The way up was steep heather for the most part - thankfully not too deep - but there were crags to dodge through around halfway up. These could be avoided in summer conditions but today they were filled with steep banks of soft snow. This wasn't easy stuff to climb up so I ended up teetering along a couple of ledges and pulling up a heathery corner to avoid the snow.
Coire nan Cearcaill
East face of Beinn a Chaoriunn
Aonach Beag and Beinn Eibhinn
On An Cearcallach The gradient soon eased and I made my way to the summit of An Cearcallach, where I met the first other person of the day - the owner of the argocat below. He was scouting for deer in the corries with a telescope and generally enjoying the sunshine.
South
Looking back to An Cearcallach The snow was a little firmer up here, making the walk over to Meall Choire Choille-rais relatively easy. At this point I was in short sleeves and it was pleasantly warm and calm. Meall Choire Choille-rais is in a great spot overlooking Lochan Choire Choille-rais - probably the second-best corrie in the Creag Meagaidh range. After going to the summit, I followed the corrie rim for a short while before breaking off across the plateau towards the summit of Creag Meagaidh itself.
Choire Choille-rais
Summit of Meall Choire Choille-rais
Choire Choille-rais
Lochan Choire Choille-rais As I approached the summit, I came onto the route everyone else was using up from the Window. The forecast had suggested strong winds in odd locations today, and after enjoying the stillness, I was hit with some of this. It wasn't too bad at this point.
Stob Poite Coire Ardair from Creag Meagaidh
West to Lochaber from Creag Meagaidh
NW to Kintail and Affric The ridge down towards Craig na Cailliche looked like a good route for the future. After enjoying a quick look around at the views, I headed off towards the Window myself, passing quite a few folk over the next 20 minutes or so. As soon as the route headed onto even slightly north-facing slopes the snow became much harder and I wondered if I would need crampons to drop down to the Window - some of the folk who had come up from there were wearing them. Although I got my axe out, the going turned out to be fine without crampons....until I slipped on an icy rock and cut my thumb

. Actually the snow was fine, as were the patches of snowless ground - it was the transitions from one to the other which were lethal, and I hadn't been paying enough attention to where I put my feet.
Looking back to the summit of Creag Meagaidh I had a break just above the col of the Window as it was relatively sheltered here. A couple of skiers skinned past me - a day for everyone

. It was a great feeling to be out in the large mountains in these conditions.
The Window Stob Poite Coire Ardair is a very short climb from here, and the snow had been entirely scoured off the ridge. The wind was also becoming quite annoying, and although it was too warm I had to put my jacket on so I could use my hood to keep my hat in place!
Puist Coire Ardair from Stob Poite Coire Ardair
Coire Ardair The earliest summits of the day had been new to me, but more unusually the section of ridge between Stob Coire Poite Ardair and Carn Liath was too, as I'd previously legged up Carn Liath on its own as a very short stop-off years ago. It was a nice section of ridge too if not for the wind - quite reminiscent of some of the Affric hills that I had originally been planning on today.
Looking back to Creag Meagaidh
Lochan a Choire and Coire Ardair
Creag Meagaidh
East from Stob Poite Coire Ardair to Meall an t-Snaim
Loch Laggan
Back to Creag Meagaidh and Stob Poite Coire Ardair
Sron Coire a Chriochairien
Stob Poite Coire Ardair I assumed that all of the potential for snow problems were past now, but I was wrong. Dropping off Sron Coire a Chriochairien and aiming for the next section of ridge, I encountered a mini-window - a steep north facing drop down to the col that was completely banked up with solid snow. It was probably less than 10m high, but it looked impenetrable in boots alone. I snapped on my micro-spikes and wandered towards the drop, before deciding that this was definitely steep enough for proper crampons. So I had to retreat to a flatter area and put those on instead! And I thought the microspikes would save me time...

.
After all of that, it was this tiny bank of snow that forced me to put crampons on The steep bank was negotiated in about a minute but the wind was so strong at the foot of it that I couldn't get my crampons back in the bag. I had to take them off and carry them up the next ascent and into the lee of the hill before I could put things away properly

. After this I noticed that other folk had been descending further south then traversing back onto the ridge. The snow bank there was in the sun and probably didn't require crampons. Oh well....
Back into Coire Ardair The rest of the walk to Carn Liath was no less breezy but much less eventful. Beyond Carn Liath, views into Coire Ardair were lost and soft blankets of snow slowed the going a little, but Coire nan Gall and Coire Dubh provided some interest. Where the snow had melted the walking was across easy close cropped grass.
Coire Ardair from Carn Liath
Across Loch Laggan to the Ardverikie hills
Coire nan Gall from A Bhuidheanach
Coire nan Gall I decended eastwards for a bit towards Carn Dubh before taking a direct line down southern slopes to reach the Allt Crunachdain. The heather became deeper as I lost height but once on the path in the corrie (turning shortly afterwards into a vehicle track) the walking was pleasant and the wind finally gone. My legs were more tired than usual for a walk of this length - don't think I'm doing enough of this sort of thing at the moment. A couple of slight rises and a junction in the track took me out onto the A86 a few seconds from my bike.
Loch Laggan
Beach at the east end of Loch Laggan
Ardverikie from Loch Laggan
Last look at Loch Laggan beach before cycling back down the road After a couple of minutes sitting by a memorial on the side of Loch Laggan, I unlocked the bike and pedalled west. Having brought my mountain bike for convenience (it fits in the car with less hassle), I was expecting the cycle to be a bit of a plod but it was pleasant. The road along Loch Laggan is very scenic at cycling pace and despite my reservations, the traffic wasn't too bad. Not sure why, but this felt like my first 'proper' hill day of the year despite having been out half-a-dozen times.