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Having only these five Munros left to complete in the Tay-Rannoch area and fancying something of a challenge for my first solo walk, I went ahead with the plan of doing all five Munros (Beinn Ghlas, Ben Lawers, An Stuc, Meall Garbh and Meall Greigh) in the one go. I have to admit I was hesitant in going for the entire ridge, because of the reportedly difficult descent of the NE face of An Stuc and because of the length of the walk. The length was, in fact much shorter than my originally planned route, as I will explain later, much to the relief of my feet and general morale.
The obvious path (or perhaps 'road' would be a more appropriate term) from the NTS visitor carpark prevents any navigation problems over Beinn Ghlas (1h15m) and Ben Lawers (1h45m) until, at least, the summit of An Stuc (2h30m), and it is obviously easy walking.
Ben Lawers from Beinn Ghlas
Looking SE from Beinn Ghlas
Meall Garbh and Meall Greigh from Ben Lawers
Looking SE from Ben Lawers
Beinn Ghlas and Meall Corranaich from Ben Lawers
Ben Lawers from Creag an Fhithich
Meall Corranaich from Creag an Fhithich
Lochan nan Cat and a concealed Meall Greigh from Creag an Fhithich
Meall Garbh from An Stuc
The first difficulty comes on the descent of the NE face of An Stuc. Although there is a relatively clear path negotiating its way through the rocks, there is a very steep gradient at points and the path, at times, is not particularly stable (occassionally it consists of gravel underfoot). The face is manageable with care, but only in good conditions.
Looking back at An Stuc NE face with Ben Lawers in background
An Stuc NW ridge
From the col, the path leads easily up to the summit of Meall Garbh (3h15m).
Flowers on Meall Garbh
Lochan nan Cat from Meall Garbh
An Stuc and Ben Lawers from Meall Garbh
Following this, the path then leads fairly clearly down the ridge towards Meall Greigh. There is a small bog to negotiate at the low point of the ridge, but nothing difficult. The path is less clear on the ascent of Meall Greigh (3h50m).
Ben Lawers, An Stuc and Meall Garbh from Meall Greigh
Ben Lawers, An Stuc and Meall Garbh from Meall Greigh
From here, my plan was to descend the S ridge of Meall Greigh and then walk along the A827 alongside Loch Tay and up the road back to the car park. However, with good visibility, I saw a track (not marked on my old OS map) leading South West from a small dam below Lochan nan Cat around the side of Ben Lawers at approx. 550-600m altitude. The descent to the dam was fairly easy, over grassy and, at times, boggy terrain, but took only 15 minutes.
SW towards Ben More + Stob Binnein
From the dam, the track leads a long way around the side of the Lawers Massif, maintaining and even gaining altitude. Eventually it veers sharply off to the left, towards the A827, but a smaller track continues straight ahead for a short distance. From the end of this smaller track, there is no path and there is a steep descent into, and ascent out of, a gorge containing another small dam.
Looking up Allt an Tuim Bhric towards Ben Lawers
A moderately steep grassy bank leads up to a flatter area at approx. 625m altitude. From here, the contour leads back to the Beinn Ghlas S ridge. Grassy slopes lead back down to the Nature Reserve and the car park.
Overall, a great walk with some fantastic views (SW to Ben More and Stob Binnien, W to Meall nan Tarmachan, as well as a N to the Glen Lyon hills and Schiehallion). An easy route, in good conditions, and a decent length of walk. Great for anyone looking to bag a fair few Munros within reach of the Central Belt.
