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For hill baggers, the area of Blair Athol is mostly known for Beinn Dearg, Carn a'Chlamain and Beinn a'Ghlo, but for me, the most attractive hill in this corner of scotland is the Mountain in the Middle, Beinn Mheadhonach. Overlooked and ignored by the majority of hillwalkers, this modest Corbett provides a joyful walk along its long ridge, wedged between Beinn Dearg and Carn a'Chlamain. Additionally, the approach route goes through a delightful little gorge cutting into Gleann Mhairc, where the two streams, Allt Mhairc and Allt Diridh join together. This picturesque spot is worth a visit by its own merits and the trip feels even better when combined with a climb to the summit!
We started from the car park in Old Bridge of Tilt and followed Glen Tilt for several kilometers, before taking an obvious path into Gleann Mhairc:
River Tilt from one of the bridges in the main glen (Cumhann-Leum Bridge I think):
The Rifle Range was open for shooting today, so we followed the eastern side of the glen, on a good track. After re-crossing the river via Gilbert's Bridge, we located the small, diamond-shaped gate, leading to the track in the forest on the western side of Glen Tilt:
The morning was glorious if a bit windy. With sky so blue and spring smiling at us from every corner, it was hard not to be optimistic, so I was happily singing silly Polish folk songs as we walked up the glen...
View into upper Glen Tilt from the approach track:
We left the main track by the ruins of Ach Mhairc Mhoirhe and took the path along the deep gorge of Allt Mhairc. Our target hill appeared on the horizon, together with Bein Dearg (left):
The landscape here is breathtaking and we took every opportunity to stop and take photos, including panoramas:
Allt Mhairc in the deep ravine:
Heading towards my favourite bridge
Funny as it sounds, it is called New Bridge, I wonder where is the old one? Possibly there was an older bridge in this spot in the past, maybe a wooden one, and was replaced by this stone structure.
Looking into upper Gleann Mhairc from the New Bridge:
Time for a snack break before the main climb!
From our previous visit here,
in 2013, I remembered there was a faint path for the first 100 m of ascent, then we just followed the heathery ridge to the summit. Since then nearly a decade has passed and the faint path turned into a well-worn one, leading all the way to the top. Just proves how popular hillwalking is these days, when even the less known hills, Corbetts and Grahams, attract enough traffic to erode a proper path all the way up!
Looking down the ridge with the well-worn path visible in the foreground:
It was a steady climb up to the height of about 600m, the beginning of the long summit ridge:
More distant higher mountains still held on to some snow:
Higher up the ridge is a bit stony:
As we gained height, we were hit by the strong wind; it wasn't gusty enough to prevent us from reaching our ultimate goal, but annoying enough to slow us down a bit. Or was it just a good excuse for Kevin to take more photos?
A couple of Kevin's panos:
- Beinn Dearg's Beinn a'Chait
- The western shoulder of Carn a'Chlamain
Looking towards the Cairngorms:
We reached the first cairn, which is NOT the true summit but it marks the beginning of the long, flat ridge.
There are three cairns in different spots of the ridge, we visited all of them just to make sure we had actually been to the highest point (even if re-visiting, we still wanted to tick it off). BTW it was a new hill for Lucy, her 135th Corbett:
Beinn Dearg in panoramic mode:
Kevin struggling with his windproof jacket:
After a short rest near one of the cairns (nowhere to hide from the wind, so we didn't linger for too long) we headed back down the way we came. Beinn Mheadhonach, if climbed on its own in a day trip, is a difficult hill to do a circular walk on, the best way is to retrace your steps...
...but we didn't mind as it meant returning via one of our favourite glens
One last look at New Bridge and Gleann Mhairc:
We took another break by the ruins of Ach Mhairc Mhoirhe, just wanted to enjoy the sunny spell of weather for a bit longer. Shame that we live so far away from Glen Tilt... But on the other hand, we are only an hour drive away from Torridon and Glen Shiel so I don't dare complaining!
As a final day of walking during our spring holidays, we revisited one little known Graham. We picked it because it was local to us and we hadn't seen anything from the summit the previous time we climbed it. The hill proved worth repeating and despite strong winds we enjoyed a good shorter day of walking. TR in progress.
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