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Tuesday 23rd. So the plan had been to drive over the ‘Ben Lawers Road’ from Killin into Glen Lyon and turn right, head along to Inverar and attempt the 4 munro circuit to the north. It was a lovely day with a good forecast and with the early morning mist lifting quickly from about 8am as I headed up the road.
Unfortunately, the traffic was heavy and slow!
- Heavy Traffic 1
As I dropped into Glen Lyon a problem reared its ugly head. The road east was closed, so the only way I could get to Inverar would be the (very) long way around. I checked my phone and saw that one of the maps I had downloaded covered the area north of Glen Lyon, and that the two Munro’s North and South of Loch an Daimh, could both be reasonably attempted in the same day.
I reached the empty car park and booted up, slightly conscious that I had no signal on my phone, and my ‘safety check-in’ thought I was going into a different set of hills. Ah well, that’s life sometimes. I headed out past the dam to the south side with the intention of heading up to Stuch an Lochain 1st.
- View from the car park
The ascent up to the ridge was steepish and damp underfoot, but with a lovely white quartz boulder to sit on for a breather/ snack, just at the right point. The walk improved quickly when the ridge was gained and the target came into view when Creag an Fheadain was reached.
- Stuch an Lochain comes in to view
A pleasant brisk walk along the ridge and over the shoulder of Sron Chona Choirein with the views west and north opening up beautifully brought me towards the main summit. Within metres of reaching the top I heard the familiar ping of the family chat group. My wife’s flight had landed in Singapore, and I had a signal to update my safety check in on where I was headed.
The view from Stuch an Lochain was impressive, especially west and north west across Rannoch moor towards Glen Coe.
- Selfie on Stuch an Lochain
- Meall Bhuide from Stuch an Lochain
After a few messages (even on a far away summit its polite to ask the wife how her flight was!?) a snack and lots of photo’s I retraced my steps, meeting a gent coming up as I crossed Creag an Fhedain), we chatted for a short while and he also planned to add Meall Bhuide later in the day.
As I turned left down from the cairn on the ridge the peace and calm of the descent was interrupted by two of the loudest shirts I have seen in the hills. Both T shirts, one orange and one yellow, both with cartoon characters on them. Why would middle aged guys actively chose this attire? The rest of the descent went without incident and I was back at my car 2hrs 55 minutes after leaving it.
I emptied gravel from my boots, laced up and set off again, however, I made the error of leaving the estate track at the first cairn, resulting in a very wet and boggy hour or so of what should have been gentle ascent, to reach the improving path above the worst of the peat hags. However, the spirits were quickly lifted on reaching the cairn at 917m and witnessing the spectacular views from West round to North East. All of the summits of the highlands south of the Great Glen were now clear of cloud. I stopped for a couple of photos but realized the summit would have a better vista.
- View NW from the 917m cairn
I passed a group of 6 older walkers coming in the opposite direction, and we chatted briefly about the contradiction between the quality of the approach, and the beautiful horizons. The summit of Meall Bhuide is an excellent viewpoint, and I took lots of photos experimenting with zoom etc, and a 360 degree panorama vide which I will upload if I can work out how to do it. There is a commentary on what I think I can see, but apologies to the purists, I’m sure I miss-identified some of the hills!
- Glen Coe & Rannoch Moor from Meall Bhuide
- Ben Nevis from Meall Bhuide
- South Glen Coe from Meall Bhuide
- West to North Panorama from Meall Bhuide
- Meall Bhuide Summit Selfie
I headed back the way I came, catching the group of older walkers (which I had jokingly suggested earlier) at the worst of the peat hags. After turning down requests for a piggy back, I headed down a slightly different path, approx. 100m west of the one that I had ascended and much drier underfoot, hitting the estate road about 200m west of where I had left it. The loud T shirts were just headed out of the car-park and after a chat I suggested they looked for the drier west path. I got back to the car 2hrs 35 mins after I had left it. 5hrs 30 exactly for the day’s efforts.
En route back, I encountered more heavy traffic!
- Heavy Traffic 2
