free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Zero Shreks, though. Unless I was meant to play that role. With the forecast promising sub-zero conditions, at least up on the hills, I did indeed bring a number of layers, and admittedly didn't smell that great at the end of the walk...
Anyway. Importantly, it was freezing. The snow hadn't been abundant thus far, but I still wanted to play it safe and go only as high up as the Fionas. (Saying that will need some getting used to.) Meall nan Damh and Glas Bheinn seemed like a suitable duo for the amount of daylight available (and the forecast cloud behaviour), so I drove up the A830, and figured out a Christmas present for my mum by the time I left the car next to the Callop.
- The Meall/Sgorr ridge on one side (R to L: na h-Airigh, a' Bhainne, nan Cearc, Craobh a' Chaorainn)
- And Beinn an Tuim and Fraoch-Bheinn (tops of Streap and Sgurr an Utha respectively) on the other
- With my first target, Meall nan Damh, in front. This is, of course, a picture taken on the way down; on the way up, the sun was right above the hill, making photography impossible. But the contrast accentuated the hill's shape even more, making me think... why had it been named after a deer? Wasn't there some other animal that the two 'ears' and the 'snout' resembled more?
Around Callop, and all the way to the dam, what I had underfoot was a stable track, and I was making good time. Just before crossing Allt Coire na Leacaich, though, the track ended - as shown on the map - being replaced instead by a boggy path.
- Over the glen to Glas Bheinn
- Meall Nan Damh's W top and ridge, now a bit more photogenic
Most reports I'd read tackled Meall nan Damh via this ridge. I was, however, tempted by the path shown to travel up the glen. From the col, I could climb up the Fiona 'via the back door'. Back then, I couldn't find a report on the same approach - not knowing, of course, that Graeme D would use
pretty much the same route the following week, and be much quicker to write it up.
In short, the path was quite boggy from the get-go, and though it occasionally showed signs of improving, the bogginess was back in full a few metres further. I couldn't do much about it while climbing over the Meall na Cuartaige ridge, but once in the actual glen, it was often more convenient - or at the very least passable - to shadow the path from a metre or two on the right, so uphill.
- {horror film-like traumatised voice} I can still hear the squelch...
Eventually, the path did get better, though by the time that happened, I was already at least two thirds of the way up the glen. And even after the improvement, the good path was interspersed with patches of swamp I needed to bypass. Guess all the ridge people knew what they were doing. But I was too far gone to back down from my plan.
- The Glen of Bog. Not that that's a unique description, but uniqueness is not required when naming terrain features (just look at Glen Roy)
- Sgorr Craobh a' Chaorainn and the ridge continuing to Sgurr Ghiubhsachain
- Next: finding a way up this. I spy with my little eye... a stalkers' path?
Standing on the first little hill above the col, I really did see a path of some sort snaking between the cliffs. malky_c, who'd
extended my route by 3 Corbetts, also mentions a stalker's path on the W side of Meall nan Damh. Given my talent at path-losing, I don't know if the one I took was the same. But it was leading me up the Meall successfully. Like a true stalkers' path, it was faint - but talking bogginess, compared to the glen path, it was
paved.
- You won't hear a bad word from me about walking on this
After some time, the stalkers' path reached a ravine of sorts and, instead of crossing it, bent right to lead straight uphill. Having bypassed the cliffs from below, the path thus took me to the crest of the ridge, to a slight shoulder. And then I lost it.
- The path, just to be clear. But this Cona Glen view was still great
- Still a bit to go, but hillsides like this are fun to walk even without paths
- Now on the W top, I could see both the E/main top and Glas Bheinn (plus the clag, which really did seem to be more present further inland)
- Or even over on Streap
- While Sgurr Ghiubhsachain and hills further W were clear
The immediate descent from the W top was surprisingly steep, but afterwards, the E top was reached sooner than I expected. Partly because it wasn't the highest point that was cairned, I suppose.
'This can't be it yet, can it? Though the cairn looks like it's lower than I am.'
(looking back a minute later) 'Oh yeah, that was
definitely the summit.'
- Glas Bheinn, Loch Eil beyond
- That sideways right-angled rock is where the Meall nan Damh summit is (picture taken from the cairn)
Further on, after not lingering on the summit for longer than it took to take the pictures, it was a simple descent down grassy slopes to Glas Bhealach.
- It was, indeed, sub-zero. I didn't trust the ice enough, though, and snaked my way between the aquatic pockets
The following ascent, as small as possible between two Fionas, was a little featureless. Nothing technically challenging, the hill just wasn't as rough as the rest of Ardgour, reminding me a little of the terrain I could find in perhaps Perthshire.
On the summit, there were two lumps competing for the highest point: a rock on the W side and a trig on the E side. Making my way to both, I could see it was the rock that was higher - as, after all, the maps suggest.
- Streap was still cloud-covered
- And the clouds were coming down on a few Ardgour Corbetts, too
When I did this walk, the online maps hadn't been updated yet. (And the maps where I made the gpx file hadn't been either, that's why it's off; I promise I did follow the track.) Several reports spoke of a track starting at a dam and crossing the forest between Glas Bheinn and Allt na Cruaiche, but it wasn't featured on the maps. But according to two guys I met up on Glas Bheinn, I'd see the dam immediately, and wouldn't have to search the woods for it.
- Which was, indeed, the case - and spotting the track itself in a fallen section of the forest was helpful, too. Don't know why I thought the track would be further down, where the forest was thicker
The grassy hillside was wet underfoot and slippery, so I had to take it slow and careful. Where the gradient eased, the wetness got worse, and while it didn't carry the risk of rolling who knows how far downhill anymore, that was replaced by the risk of getting mud all over myself, so it took some time to descend.
The dam was fenced off, but I made use of a convenient hole in the fence, crossed the burn above the dam (which didn't create any sizeable loch), and hit the track. Which looked to be a good one...
- ...for the first minute or so, then it turned into quite the bog
Maybe due to it being a track - and so I always had more 'options' when looking for a safe place to step on - or maybe it was just knowing all that was left to do was to reach the car, and a good track was waiting on the other side of the forest, this bog didn't feel nearly as bad as the one in the neighbouring glen. But objectively speaking, perhaps it wasn't any better.
Just knowing where it would be over meant it was over quicker than I expected. (Does that make sense?
) So I squelched my way out of the forest, and getting back to the car from there was just a matter of a few minutes' walking on easy ground. Enough for the mud on my boots to dry, though.
