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“Why does anybody climb mountains?”
“Nobody's ever figured... Possibly we devotees keep doing it in hopes that someday somebody'll find out.”
–Mack Reynolds,
Ultima Thule.
I had a reason to climb Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughaill. It had been on my list for almost four years, sitting on the map like a calligraphic
x marking a spot that was always too far away, or high, or low for a jaunt. Finally, on a sunny spring day with snow atop the Grahams, I took the winding road through Altnaharra towards Kinloch. (Maybe that's why I went - without writing this report I wouldn't have noticed that the two Meallan Liaths I've visited are both next to places called Kinloch. Apparently cartographers sometimes copy and paste to fill space.)
- Quick look at Ben Klibreck on the way past
There's a decent-sized gravel car park near the end of Loch Merkland so I parked there and cycled to the start of the walk.
The approach track offered fine views along Loch More to Ben Stack - which looks an interesting shape.
- Loch More
The first slope was an intense climb with reasonable going off the track. I wasn't on top form and took it easy, stopping a couple of times to watch the heat shimmer over Loch More.
- Boys on the way up
Then came a long, steady rise alongside the Allt an Reinidh.
- An early frog pic
- Icicles hanging on in a sheltered spot
On the way I came across a mossy lump that was the size of a large chair, and so ridiculously soft I decided to sit for a while and let the world go its merry way. Maybe the chance to relax in such a peaceful spot was the real reason I came.
- Tuffet
I wondered if the chair fitted the definition of a "tuffet"; there would have been plenty of space for a friendly arachnid to join me.
Continuing up the valley I could see three walkers making their way down the slope of MLCMD. I saw others further up, but all were heading their own way and passed me away to the west. The burn here burbled merrily over rocks and provided some nice little waterfalls on the way.
- Waterfall
Further up the water was more shy, trickling through narrow channels and under rocks and sometimes splitting into two streams to tinkle in stereo around me.
- Summit cairn
Eventually I reached the top and saw the other side of the hill. This was the
real real reason I came, to be among the western hilltops in the snow. I was struck by how many hilltops there were - most of my walks lately have been near the coast, but MLCMD is that little bit further inland and sat among burly white peaks.
- Ben Hope largin' it behind the summit cairn
- NE from a little further back: Hutig to the Griams
- SW - can you spot Suilven?
- Along the ridge to Carn Dearg, Ben Klibreck in the background
- Trig shot
Most of the snow was pristine but a fair number of people had tramped over the top of MLCMD that day, apparently following something like the WH route. I was the first to cross to Carn Dearg.
The only other pedestrian on Carn Dearg since the last big snowfall had left tracks like a dog, so I guessed it was a fox. It had come from the end of the ridge and I followed the tracks backwards from the Meallan Liath Beag turning. At one point the tracks abruptly turned right for a couple of metres then turned again and carried on - I wondered if it had suddenly spotted a ptarmigan or a feral sandwich.
- tracks
- Looking down on Loch Merkland
- Cairn on Dearg
Carn Dearg is only 4m shorter than the main peak and I wondered why nobody else had ventured that way. Maybe it was the rocky steps at the end of the ridge, which made the round trip less inviting than I'd imagined when looking at the map. The fox had come up over an edge here and I found a safe way to slide down nearby, but it felt a bit hairy in the snow.
- End of Dearg leading towards Carn an Tionail
I had wondered about visiting Carn an Tionail but the day was running out and so was my energy, so I headed down past the two lochans.
- At the side of Lochan a'Bhealaich
- Looking back at Carn Dearg
- Allt Lochan a'Bhealaich
- Loch Ulbach Coire
- Allt Lochan a'Bhealaich again
I'd
been in that area before and remembered the lower part of the valley being pretty lumpy. The upper section was much smoother, in places - the "places" being the insides of the wall-to-wall peat hags. An hour into picking my way over them I started to wonder if Tionail would have involved less ascent.
- Hags around Loch Ulbach Coire
By the time I rounded the end of Sail na Claise it was properly dark and raining intermittently. The going was a steady rhythm of up, down, squelch and repeat, using a torch to pick the least lumpy route through the blackness, and for quite a while the looming patch of black-on-black that marked the Sail seemed to be keeping pace with me. Even so, the valley eventually shortened, the rain stopped and the clouds started to clear. On the way to the estate road I sat by a burn to refill my bottle and enjoy the night, which had become still and calm. A few stars were out and the water, like the air, was absolutely clean, with a refreshing and penetrating cold. Maybe this was the
real real real... ah, forget it.