Creag Meagaidh Winter Whopper

[johnbythell]

Since my incredible support team (aka wife) said she didn't mind picking me up anywhere along the A86 after dropping me off at the Creag Meagaidh Nature Reserve car park, I sort of had in mind that doing the full circuit of the five Munros would make tactical sense, to avoid losing the height gain made onto the ridgeline, but I wouldn't really have called this 'the plan'. And I definitely wouldn't have planned it with full winter gear and heavy boots (and I needed both crampons and ice axe on the day), but it just sort of ended up being the thing that happened. At what point did I regret the decision to press on? Well, on the nightmarish, trackless descent from Beinn a' Chaorainn - first across the boulder fields, then grassy tussocks, and then peat bog onto the bealach. But by then it really felt like the point of no return, as dropping down via the Rough Burn would have been just about as hard as going over the final top of Ben Teallach (or at least that's what I thought before doing it).

Creag Meagaidh Circuit 2 Mar 2023.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

After doing it and trying to figure out what I was thinking, the GPS profile shows a really nice ridgeline walk without too much loss of elevation until the last step down off Beinn a' Chaorainn, so that's my excuse for what was (obviously,on reflection) a much longer day than was entirely sensible given my fitness levels:

Walk profile

Anyway, here's how it all unfolded:

Heading out of the car park at the Creag Meagaidh Nature Reserve - excellent toilets (well, toilet) by the way.

Still a pink tinge in the sky heading up the beautifully maintained nature reserve footpaths.

Classic highland views looking back down towards Loch Laggan

The turn-off to a more or less non-existent path comes as a bit of a shock after the well-manicured nature reserve path, and would be easy to miss.

First dusting of fresh snow from the night before at about 600m, the Window and the Coire Adair ridgeline partially hidden in cloud.

Sunlight glinting off a still Loch Laggan in the morning quiet (about 8am)

Looking back down the path toward Loch Laggan

On the summit of Carn Liath, blissfully unaware of the very long day ahead.

Looking along the ridgeline on the descent from Carn Liath with Creag Meagaidh in the cloud.

The first significant obstacle of the day looked a bit like something the wicked witch had put up - a solid wall of hard neve blocking the path up to Coire a' Chriochairein. I followed the path up to the low point on the wall and decided to cut steps rather than bother getting the crampons out for a 3m ascent. I felt like somebody might come and tell me off for ruining the otherwise perfect snow-wall.

Spectacular drifts in and out of the cloud, with some snow flurries and some more consistent patches of hard neve as I kept along the ridgeline, but it is pretty flat in this section and crampons weren't needed over Stob Poit Coire-Ardair

The Coire Ardair crags looking both ominous and magnificent as the cloud blew in and out.

Beautiful spot for an early lunch on the other side of the Window.

I missed the narrow corniced ridgeline up to Creag Meagaidh in the cloud and needed to put the crampons on to regain the ridgeline and then kept them on for the rest of the snow dome-come ridgeline up to the summit.

Then I continued along the western ridgeline, soon dropping out of the cloud with spectacular views to the SW towards Loch Treig.

I still felt quite fresh, it was still relatively early (about 1230) and the sight of the slope up to up to Beinn a' Chaorainn looked too tempting to miss, so I decided to press on (or more like I just never got around to getting the map out to plan an exit route back to the road).

The beautifully sculpted cornices along the eastern flank of Beinn a' Chaorainn.

The final summit slope. I was feeling great up to this point, but the descent was a tortous mix of boulder slope, tussoky grass and finally bog, with no signs of a path, which sapped a lot of my remaining energy.

Looking west, spring looked like it had actually arrived already, with little signs of winter left - how hard could it be? I was tired, but thought it was worth the effort to press on and complete the circuit.

Looking back from the other side of the bealach, it looks like a long way down (it was) and hard going (that too) - the final climb up Beinn Teallach was a very slow and and painful slog as a result.

Though with wondeful views of the Nevis range as a backdrop for the last snacks before steeling myself for the descent.

Looking back over towards Creag Meagaidh, the starting point lost somewhere in the mist.

The descent was either pathless, I missed it or I don't remember it - it was definitely head down and one foot in front of the other on the descent, but I ended up in the Allt a' Chaorainn eventually, somehow.

There was still some light when I finally got down, so the headtorch stayed in the bag. Beautiful pink skies matching those that I had set off to earlier in the day.

It was a very, very long day in the hills - over 11 hours - and probably pushing my limits beyond what is sensible, but what a day! I was completely hobbled that night and the next day, but the up-side was that we got a free dessert at the hotel we were staying in after my wife said that I'd done the full circuit (to explain the state I was in) - free stuff!

[Anne C]

You got some great light in those photos…wonderful Congrats on a big round and a really enjoyable read.

[johnbythell]

You got some great light in those photos…wonderful Congrats on a big round and a really enjoyable read.

Thanks Anne!