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For the third year running, I found myself in Lochcarron for a week's holiday with family and friends in early June - a lovely village, with great restaurants and a nice pub, and also of course a strategic spot for bagging a few Munros. Well, that had been the hope
- of course, after the fine summers of 2022 and 2023, we ended up with the Non-Summer on 2024, with that accursed Jetstream parfing about way up there right over our heads, bringing us cold, wet and windy weather for 3 months solid
- not really what most of us seek from a summer. The first week of June was particularly foul - the
www.mwis.org.uk forecast was pretty much for a significant risk of thunderstorms almost every day, and that was very much how it played out
. So, plenty of fine dining, but I wasn't going to get much walking done this year
!
The Sunday 2nd June looked like the best of a bad lot - wet, but no significant risk of thunder - so I thought I might as well try to get one hill bagged, and I set out for that remote and much maligned peak, Maoile Lunndaidh.
Yes, Lunndaidh Bloody Lunndaidh. TF Bunndaidh. Solomon Grunndaidh. That one.
This hill sits away up, presumably in a huge permanent sulk, at the far end of Gleann Fhiodaig, out of sight and out of mind for most people I suspect - in fact it is consistently listed on this website as one of the four least climbed Munros, only transiently being outdone for the relegation spot from time to time by the fabulously remote Lurg More and Bidein a'Choire Cheesecake, and by the lesser-known Sgurr Mor - not the big one in the Fannaichs, but that other one that sits up and over that ridge from the head of Loch Arkaig in lonely, wet and desolate Glen Kingie
.
Undaunted, I got up nice and early and set off. The beach at Lochcarron was looking rather attractive in the early morning light, but there sure was rather a lot of Clag about
...
I opted for the standard route as per the website's route description, except that I couldn't even summon up the enthusiasm for the alternative descent down the eastern (rather than western) side of the Fuar Tholl Mor corrie, and I went back down the same way that I'd come up, over Carn nan Fiaclan - there were nae views to be had anyway
!
At least this time I managed to find the nice big forestry car park in Craig - when I'd done Sgurr Choinnich and Sgurr a' Chaorachain last year, I ended up completely missing the sharp left turn for that, and parked unnecessarily far away in the next lay-by along the A890. This time, I'd remembered that it was the next left turn after a big driveway marked "PRIVATE", and located it with no problems. I headed across the road and down the track directly opposite that leads to a pedestrian crossing over the railway. Thankfully no trains about!
On the other side of the level crossing, a well-built forestry track leads to a bridge across the River Carron, then continues uphill beside the Sloc Mor gorge, passing that show-off Corbett Sgurr nan Ceannaichean and eventually taking a 90 degree left turn to head way, way up Gleann Fhiodaig. Ah well, it's a long, long way but at least it gives a straightforward enough approach, until the last wee bit anyway.
Bridge Over the River Carron:
Sgurr nan Ceannaichean flexing its buttresses in the distance, which seems to be something that it can never resist doing...
A sign off right to the "Allt a'Chaonais Pinewood" - I'd noticed this much-touted grove when I did Choinnich and a'Chaorachain last year, and was briefly tempted to detour this time, but I had a long and knackering day ahead, so needless to say I didn't bother
.
Up close and personal with Sgurr nan Ceannaichean now:
A scary-looking single strand wire bridge leading to the Corbett Sgurr na Feartaig; it boasts a sign saying "Cross at Your Own Risk"; no sh*t, Sherlock.
A bit further on, I passed the path that branches off right to head up to the Bealach Bhearnais, which is the standard approach route for Sgurr Choinnich and Sgurr a'Chaorachain. I stayed on the main track this time, though.
The route description instructs one to "stay on the main track for another 3 km to a forestry plantation", then to head off right across the infant River Meig and over "around 1km of very rough terrain" to cross the larger An Crom-Allt burn and to gain the western rim of Lunndaidh's big northern corrie, Fuar Tholl Mor. Roger, Wilco
. But where the heck was that accursed plantation? I'd swear it was much more than 3 km; the featureless track just seemed to head westwards forever in the thickening Clag with nary a tree in sight....
Finally, finally, the fabled Forestry Plantation hove into view at last.
Time to head off southwards across that "around 1km of very rough terrain" - I couldn't wait!
Thankfully the upper reaches of the River Meig weren't much bother to cross, but the "very rough terrain" definitely didn't disappoint, being not only rough and pathless, but also extremely boggy. Fun fun fun.
At one point, the Clag vaguely considered lifting, and gave me an almost-view of TF Bunndaidh - probably the best view of it that I got all day. Then of course, it changed its mind and descended again
.
There was at least a fine view up Gleann Fhiodaigh to Glenuaig Lodge at the start of the ascent: a Feature of Interest, no less.
The terrain was horrible right enough, but at least there were some lovely Early Purple Orchids to admire while knee-deep in bog:
Approaching the Am Crom-Allt burn at last, with the rather good-looking Fuar Tholl Mor corrie in the middle distance and Lunndaidh presumably up there somewhere in the clouds:
It was a relief to cross the Am Crom-Allt at last, to embark on an unrelentingly steep ascent of the grassy but pathless and steep (did I say steep
?) western rim of the Fuar Tholl Mor corrie. At least you get to look gown on that 1km of Very Rough Terrain, feeling smug at having conquered it...although it will still be lurking there, waiting for you to come back down again, of course.
A bit higher up the corrie rim now, and looking back down to the Forestry Plantation and Glenuaig Lodge:
A nice view of the Fuar Tholl Mor corrie headwall on the final ascent of Carn nam Fiaclan, which is a northwestern outlier of the two rival summit peaks:
Nearly up Carn nam Fiaclan now, with a brief glimpse of a large lochan to the south - I think it must have been Loch Mhuilich. On a better day, Loch Monar should have been visible further south, but not today
!
This first big cairn belongs to Carn nam Fiaclan, as my GPS soon confirmed:
The Clag was thickening nicely, but I took a compass bearing towards Creag Toll a'Choin's smaller cairn, and thankfully it wasn't far away at all. This rather less prepossessing cairn has actually recently been re-surveyed as being slightly higher than the "official" Munro summit, Maoile Lunndaidh itself, and is therefore the true Marilyn summit, although I think Maoile Lunndaid is still listed as the Munro by the SMC. Better visit them both, in that case!
At Creag Toll a' Choin's summit cairn now:
Summit Selfie Number One:
Visiting Maoile Lunndaidh itself requires a dog-leg to the north-west, over a narrow isthmus of flat ground between the headwalls of two big corries: potentially tricky in the Clag, but I took a bearing and there was actually a bit of a path, so it turned out to be straightforward enough.
Lunndaidh Bloody Lunndaidh, at last
!
Summit Selfie Number Two: I was mightily relieved to have gotten at least one Munro bagged in this week of shocking weather
! Donedaidh & dusted.
I headed back over to Creag Toll a' Choin and then back over Carn nam Fiaclain, re-tracing my steps exactly rather than taking the alternative descent described in the website's route description (probably not my smartest move, since the alternative descent actually sounds nicer and apparently even sports a bit of a path; not something that blesses the Carn nam Fiaclain route
!). There was at least another brief view of the Fuar Tholl Mor corrie looking rather fine through the Clag:
That 1km of Very Rough Terrain on the other side of the Am Crom-Allt burn didn't improve any on re-acquaintance, and it was a relief to regain the track up Gleann Fhiodhaig, although the rain really wasn't mucking about now and had settled down in earnest for a steady downpour for the rest of the afternoon
.
A long, wet and knackering day, then, but I have to admit that this sulky misanthrope of a Munro has earned my grudging admiration, and even dare I say it a degree of fondness
.
