Mullardoch Madness

[OssianTheDog]

The man himself presiding over loch Mullardoch

The Mullardoch munros have been looming over us for a wee while now, the length of the walk being the main reason . So much so, that these were 4 out of the 5 munros we had left to do.
The weather has been exceptionally good so there really was no excuses available to avoid it any longer
The first order of business was to see if we could get the ferry along the loch to cut out the infamous trudge, however, unfortunately the ferry man was temporarily out of service so trudge it would be.
After reading the guide and various walk reports we decided to get the walk along the loch done first and head back along the hills (it seemed like a good idea at the time ).
It was a stunning morning, and the waters of loch Mullardoch were like a mirror. The path along the loch is quite boggy and eroded, but we were full of the vigour of spring.... and anxiety for the hills ahead that it didn't seem too bad.

First wee peep of An Socach

Getting to the end of the loch we got a wee glimpse of the first hill of the day - An Socach, still quite a distant prospect. We saw a pair of wild goats and a wee badger footprint on the path up which was lovely, as on the drive over the night before, I had seen a badger for the first ever time in the wild.

Wee badger paw print (I think)

After a troop through the peaty hags and up the boggy slope we made the ridge of An Socach, it had felt a fair time in coming so it was good to finally see the cairn of the first hill of the day... now just a case of getting the other three done.

An Socach first of the day

Making our way along to the next hill it was slightly snowier than I had imagined it would be and I was very glad we'd brought the ice axes for the steep slippy bits.

Walking down the gentle snowy slopes

I'll be honest I don't much remember what the climb up to the next hill - An Riabhachan was like, I must have gained some kind of mediditative state of higher hill consciousness by then But I remember feeling like it took ages to get to the summit cairn AHAHAHHA

High energy moment at the top of An Riabhachan

It was a steep way down and back up to the third hill of the day Sgùrr na Lapaich.

Sgùrr na Lapaich starting to get a bit chilly

This was a bit of a beast to get down with sections of the steep path still covered in snow. A wee bit of a challenge but it was a good feeling to know we only had one hill left and fortunately the smallest of the day Càrn nan Gobhar. After a wee pull up to the top we finally got a glimpse of the dam where we had started from and back over the some of the mullardoch hills we had done. But the best thing of all was this was our 281st munro ... unfortunately only 254th for Ossian (sorry pal ) But nonetheless it felt like an achievement.

Munro no.281 Càrn nan Gobhar

Having done a wee celebratory dance at the top it was time to race the sunset down the mountain and get back to car. It was indeed one of our more epic adventures to date but personally I think it was a fabulous set of hills to make some of my last unexplored munros... bring on the final hill

Racing the sunset down the mountan to Draculas castle

[Arthurs Eat]

Excellent report and good luck on the final hill

[Alteknacker]

I envy you that cracking day!

[OssianTheDog]

I envy you that cracking day!

It really was a good time of year to do, still a bit too cold for any midgies and no bracken about yet . Still some tics tho

[OssianTheDog]

Excellent report and good luck on the final hill

Thank you so much it was such a good day, so glad we finally got them done.