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My original plan for Sgor Gaibhre and Carn Dearg was to take the train from Rannoch to Corrour and walk out via the Munros and the Sron Leachd a’ Chaorainn ridge. Unfortunately, the early train on Friday had no tickets left, and so I decided to make it a bike-hike from the Rannoch road. This at least meant I did not have to rely on Scotrail for any part of the journey. With a view to future box ticking now that the Munros are almost finished, I decided to include the Corbett of Meall na Meoig (Beinn Pharlagain).
I arrived at the start point by Loch Eigheach by about 9:30am. Weather was fair, with the cloud above most hills (except Ben Nevis) and a few breaks giving the odd glimpse of sun. There were a few cars already there, but it is quite a wide section of the road, and I got parked clear of the gate and without invading the passing place. I had to lift the bike over the gate at the start of the old Road to the Isles track, as the pedestrian gap at the side was too tight to wheel it through – this might be an issue for some with a heavy electric bike.
- Viaduct at Rannoch Station and Loch Laidon
- Cycle path to the Isles
It was then mostly a steady climb up to where the track forks, with the newer vehicle track going right and the older track continuing to the ruins of the Corrour Old Lodge. I took the right fork, pushing the bike as the track becomes a bit steep and rocky. Once at the highest point due South of Sron Leachd a’ Chaorainn I left the bike by a big rock, as this was where I intended to descend. I continued along the track on foot, reaching a small concrete dam on the Allt Eigheach – this must be for a micro hydro scheme as there was a cunningly disguised generator house by the track lower down.
- Dam on the Allt Eigeach, return route ridge behind
I crossed the Allt Eigheach just below the dam and headed Northeast climbing through Coire na Bain Lic in the general direction of Meall na Meoig. There is a route described in WH for a more complete traverse of Beinn Pharlagain, but I chose to only include the highest point, shortening the walk and allowing for a little more cycling. This part of the walk was the boggiest, although by no means severe. It’s mostly grass with a little bit of peat hag, but nothing like the extensive peat hags that fill most of the upper reaches of Coire Eigheach.
- Coire Eigheach
The gradient is also modest, so it was easy to maintain good progress. Nearer to the top of Meall na Meoig as the going got steeper, the terrain dried out, with a mixture of grass, short heather and rock which was pleasant to walk on.
There is a small cairn marking the summit of Meall na Meoig, although a rocky outcrop just to the North looked just as high if not slightly higher. I spent a little time taking in the views which were very extensive in weather conditions providing excellent visibility. Buachaille Etive Mor and Schiehallion stood out particularly well.
- Summit of Meall na Meoig
- View South West to Glen Coe from Meall na Meoig
- North East to Ben Alder and Loch Ericht from Meall na Meoig
- South East to Schiehallion from Meall na Meoig
Next, I headed due North in the direction of Sgor Gaibhre. The initial drop from Meall na Meoig is quite steep (in fact the only properly steep section on the whole walk) but with care it was easy enough to pick a route on ramps between the rock ledges, passing just to the West of the small lochans. I think this can be bypassed by descending further to the East.
- Looking back at descent route from Meall na Meoig
The ridge to Sgor Gaibhre is broad and not very well defined, so could make navigation tricky in poor visibility, but no problems when you can see your destination ahead.
- Sgor Gaibhre with Mam Ban on left and peat hags of Coire Eigheach below
There was no path, but underfoot conditions made for easy walking, just more grass, short heather and stones. A few big low angle slabs were also nice to walk up.
- Some nice slab
It didn’t take long to reach the summit of Sgor Gaibhre, which was another good viewpoint.
- Summit of Sgor Gaibhre looking North East to Aonach Beag ridge and Ben Alder
I decided not to make the additional trek over to the Top of Sgor Choinnich, so just headed towards Carn Dearg via the wide bealach of Mam Ban. There is a clear path on this section, the slope is modest and ground conditions good so more fast progress.
- Carn Dearg across Mam Ban
Down in Mam Ban, there are a few minor peat hags but no serious bogginess, and once climbing up to Carn Dearg the ground becomes drier and stonier. I met a few other walkers between the two Munro summits but saw no one on either of the ridges running to the South.
After a little bit of weaving around rocks on the final climb up to Carn Dearg, I arrived at the large well-constructed summit cairn. The visibility was starting to get slightly hazier, but there were still excellent views to be had, down to Loch Ossian and Corrour and the many hills to the West and North West.
- Summit of Carn Dearg, view West to Glencoe
Then it was into the final leg, the descent along the ridge to Sron Leachd a’ Chaorainn. There was a path for most of the way, although I lost it occasionally.
- Descent route to Sron Leachd a' Chaorainn
Off path, the going was fine however, more stones, heather and grass with very little bog. The ridge is broad and has a few undulations, although no serious climbing, just a general loss of altitude as you move South. It might be a little tricky to follow in bad visibility or in snow if you lost the path and there are some crags on the East side that would be best avoided.
As height was lost off the end of the Sron, the path disappeared, and the ground became progressively boggier and grassy. Still not too bad though. I could see the rock where I left the bike beside the track so just made a beeline for that. All that was left was an easy and fast bike return journey. Although the bike part was less than 5km each way, it probably saved a fair bit of time and effort as the track was good and gradient allowed cycling in (mostly) and much freewheeling back.
Overall, this was a pleasant and quite easy bike-hike, not too much bog even on the pathless sections, and no steep long slogs. The hills themselves are unremarkable, but the views are excellent given their position relative to the surrounding mountains. I think it would also be a nice walk on a clear day in winter with hard snow on the ground.
So back at the car by 3:30pm, I thought I would be home nice and early. That didn’t allow for the sneaky hidden rock in a passing place a couple of miles before Kinloch Rannoch that left me with a double puncture. After some recovery travails and a 3 hour wait in Forfar services for a taxi(!) I got home at 11:30pm which did take the shine off a decent day out.
