The 'Inverar Four' but from the north

[johnbythell]

I took a long-ish 10-day trip in June and decided to start off with the Inverar round of four, but instead of the usual start from Inverar to the south, I e-biked in to the end of the forestry track along the Carie Burn from Loch Rannoch to the north.

Inverar 4 from Carie Burn 20 June 2024.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

The bike stash at the top of the forestry tracks (spot the bike?)

The first hurdle (literally) was a locked gate in the deer fence and a broken stile. The diagonal post gave a solid foot-way to get over it without too much indignity, not that there was anyone else around to watch

Rough going across the heather on the lower slopes with only occasional deer tracks to follow now and again, but mostly pathless

And the upper tributaries of the Carie Burn are deep and steep-sided, making for hard going

Looking back down the length of the Carie Burn, with Loch Rannoch below. The going got much easier once out of the heather

Cresting the broad ridge I was greeted with an impressive view of the Ben Lawers group and beyond, summits just poking into the cloud

The first objective, Carn Gorm up ahead with a track starting emerge, even though still mainly deer prints on it

Carn Gorm summit cairn, right at the cloud base when I arrived

View down to Glen Lyon below the cloud, and getting some sun by the look of it

Whimsical or maybe a bit macarbre? The summit cairn of Meall Garbh which is soon reached from Carn Gorm

One of the cairns on the long, broad ridge of Meall a’ Bharr, Schiehallion looming large

Nearing Carn Mairg, with the final Munro of the day, Meall na Aighean, beyond

Summit Cairn of Carn Mairg, with some impressive quartz boulders included

Looking back north at Carn Mairg from the bealach, which by this time in the day was starting to look very high up and far away (for the return route). Because of this I decided to try and skirt around to the west side and avoid the summit, but ended up having to cross the steep boulder field on that side which meant the roughly 84 m in ascent I avoided were definitely not worth it!

Grand views from the summit of Meall na Aighean

But first some lunch in the cover of the rocks below the summit, with Schiehallion as a stunning back-drop

Crossing the ill-advised boulder field on the west side of Carn Mairg

A very brief (and thankfully short) detour to the southern top of Meall Garbh, with impressive views of the Lawers group

A definite down-side to doing this round from the north – having to re-climb at least one of the summits. At least the cloud had lifted a bit by the time I got back to Meall Garbh, so the views were better

The return down the northern slope of Meall Garbh was uneventful, except for the steep climb out of the Carie Burn at the bottom (which was a struggle). Overall, I'm not sure this approach is a great option. Re-climbing 2 of the 4 Munro's was a definite down-side and it was a long day, even with the help of an e-bike in to the end of the forestry track on the Carie Burn. It would add another 8 km or so to an already long round (over 24 km) if you walked in and out.

[MountainTrail]

An interesting route to avoid the Glen Lyon parking hassle , excellent post

[johnbythell]

An interesting route to avoid the Glen Lyon parking hassle , excellent post

Yep, that was the plan! I've never done the Inverar route, so can't comment really, but I suspect this is a lot harder. As you say, avoids the hassle though.

[prog99]

An interesting route to avoid the Glen Lyon parking hassle , excellent post

Yep, that was the plan! I've never done the Inverar route, so can't comment really, but I suspect this is a lot harder. As you say, avoids the hassle though.

Not sure retracing your steps over 2 summits is worth it? FWIW I’ve done the usual circuit 4 times without any issues.