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A fine day! As I don't drive, it was a walk up from Blair Atholl to the starting point. A fair steuch just to get there- mostly up minor roads - but quite a nice walk in. Pleasant bucolic views, and through the charming Old Bridge of Tilt, then as the mountain started to show itself.
It was clear that there was some snow on the mountain, but only once up there did the changing conditions start to show themselves. Glad I took my crampons and ice axe. (Though accidentally I left my crampons by the side of the path on the way back - more of that later
Càrn Liath has a straightforward stone stair - only when at its summit was the freezing wind and hail evident. Took shelter behind the big cairn (there's a small shelter around the trig point, but it didn't look like it offered the same level of shelter (being lower.) Had a bit of sandwich, put on some extra layers, took some photos, then forged on. The next bit, on the ridge is really exposed and the wind was whipping up quite the thing. The group behind me turned back at this point. I was glad of my big Rab jacket and lots of layers. There were a couple of sketchy bits where - if there was a path - it wasn't visible, and the snow was pretty hard, so crampons and ice axe were used for a stretch or two, to get back to the path. Visibility came and went - I had map, compass, GPS, and the benefit of other people being on the hill also, but I can see how in very poor visibility some of the bits beyond Càrn Liath could be challenging.
The lead up to Càrn nan Gabhar in particular, is very rocky - this combined with deep-ish snow gives a bit of a trip-risk. Was quite clear and really quite peaceful at the summit for 5 minutes or so, and when the snow started again it was gentle and beautifully peaceful. But only for a few minutes! The wind whipped up again, and that needle-bullet hail returned in force. The nice thing about this walk is that once you're up the 3rd Munro that's really you done in terms of ascent; you retread back to the Bealach an Fhiodha. From there, it was an initially tiring walk down the valley: first snow, then bog, which is just annoying when you're looking to just happily trek downhill home. Was delighted when I finally met the good path. Was an extremely peaceful and enjoyable walk first South, then West by South-West back to the starting point. Was glad of my poles; there's a few minor ups and downs. By this point, the poles were a very useful means of propulsion and saving the knees a bit. It was at this point (on the final stretch - maybe 2 - 4 miles from the car park), that I vaguely recall sitting down for a brief rest and in the process of unpacking some stuff I put my
crampons: Grivel Mont Blanc - Monte Rosa (in crampon bag) aside, and I must have forgotten to repack them.
Just in case anyone comes across them - they would literally be at the side of the path - if you could reply / contact me direct (if that's possible), I'd be hugely grateful, and happy to provide a reward for their return- they are in decent condition.Anyway, I made it back to the car park in decent time (probably accelerated by the absence of a couple of extra pounds to carry!), and embarked on the final leg - back down to Blair Atholl. Because the roads are quite steep on some of the way back, this was a wee bit gnarly on the knees - I endeavoured to jog wee bits, to work with gravity. May have been foolhardy at this point, but my mind's eye was full of the shower, whisky, food, bed plan that would round off a cracking day.
Only the following day - today - did I wonder why there was more room in my bags than I'd thought there should be, and figure out that I must've left my Crampons on the final stretch back to the car park from the hill.
A fine day, nonetheless!
