free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Having stayed overnight at Dalwhinnie I set off sharp as there was limited parking. I could have left later as there are two good parking spaces at the end of the public road. I think that they might have been created by the construction workers for the Beauly to Denny powerline.
- Photo taken at the end of the walk. Plenty of space for parking the car without obstructing the track.
- There is also space on the other side of the road from where I parked.
You know you are in a remote area when there is a bothy 0.25 miles into the journey - Melgarve Bothy. A well kept bothy. It looked as though it had been just given a fresh lick of paint inside and was very clean as there was no rubbish to lift on the way out. I don't know if I was just unlucky when I was there but there are no chairs in the bothy. Just as well I had only walked 0.25 miles and I was keen to get on with the walk.
- Melgarve Bothy from General Wade's bridge. The small thicket of trees in the distance is where you leave the track to start the ascent to Gairbeinn. Or alternatively it is the immediately after passing the second pylon from the bothy.
Once off the track the ground was heather and grass. With the recent dry spell the dead grass was very dry and could burn quite easily.
- This was the first time this year I had been out on consecutive days (The Fara yesterday) and I was feeling it. However looking back down Glen Spey gave me boost.
Once on the ridge the gradient eased off and although false summits are normally disliked, for some reason I was enjoying the ridge walk. Perhaps knowing there was a corbett at the end was the motivation.
- The start of the ridgewalk.
- A false summit ahead.
- Eventually the cairn and I am sure that the rock to the left is a higher point.
The continuation of the Gairbeinn ridge looked like a good walk.
But my plans for the day was to go to the Corrieyairack Hill to complete the circuit.
- So I headed northwest to Corrieyairack Hill with plenty of snow patches and some steep descents and ascents ahead.
The descent off Gairbeinn was easy enough following a fence line and the initial ascent towards Geal Charn was without issue. But then I had to traverse across a large snow patch. If I lost my footing at anypoint then there could be trouble below as there was what looked like a serious drop and if I missed that Lochan an Aonaich Odhair was lying in wait.
- At the start of the snow patch on Geal Charn.
- I was standing on a grass patch when I took this photo getting myself ready for the second half of kick stepping my way across the remainder of the snow patch.
Once across the snow patch the descent off the side of Geal Charn was very steep and the bealach was heavy with snow. The section was less steep if you detoured to the left. This was the last of the challenges.
- The bealach between Geal Charn and Corrieyairack Hill.
The final ascent was without issue crossing a couple of minor snow patches to the summit.
- Summit of Corrieyairack Hill
The descent from Corriyairack Hill is easy. Initially a grass ATV track heading towards the Beauly to Denny powerline with the pointy summit of Ben Tee in the distance. The track eventually becomes stony further on.
The return is by track accompanied by the powerline dropping down into a nice glen with plenty of places to stop and have a wee breather. The initial drop was on a short but steep zig zag section. This was full of snow and was avoided by taking a more direct route.
Eventually you pass underneath the powerline and soon the bothy comes into view.
On the drive out of the glen there were three places south of the road where there was a large herd of deer. The photo was taken before the Spey Dam.
