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DATE : 11/07/09
TIME TAKEN : Stuchd an Lochain 3 hours , Meall Buidhe 2 hours
ASCENT : 1260m
WETHEAR : poor in the morning with the cloud base around 600m clear skies in the afternoon
stuchd an lochain first
starting at the end of the road at loch an daimh and heading left over the bridge following the road until this becomes a track,after a few hundred yards there is a small cairn on the left heading straight up the steep slopes in no time.
quick ascent made here to the fence line at coire ban,with the cloud slowly lifting there were great views down glen lyon and to ben lawyers
a 5 min breather here to give the muscles a rest before starting the easy climb to sron chona choirein with stuchd an lochain coming into view
you also get a good view of the ridge walk from here to the summit, a great walk in here with more views to the south.
the last climb to the summit seemed no bother after the easy walk round the ridge and making the summit in just under 2 hours.
we had looked at the circuit round to meall buidhe with the addition of a corbett but this looked longer than it was on the map and with the father in laws first walk in 8 weeks after a knee injury we decided to head back down the same route to the car park in just over an hour.this maybe isnt the best thing to do if you are planning to do the 2 in one day as you have to pass your car to get to meall buidhe.
after a 15 min break here with the sun now out and hardly any cloud it was time to head for meall buidhe but i knew as soon as i had seen wullie hadnt put the boots back on and was lying taking in the rays i knew i was going alone.
i did think about calling it a day myself but the thought of having to travel back over that wee winding road didnt appeal to me (i dont do well on these roads) so i decided to go for it saying i would be back as soon as.
this turned out to be my quickest munro yet by making it to the summit in 1hr 15mins and the return in 45mins (running most of the way down)
this would have to go down as one of my least favourites with possibly one of the worst paths i have followed, boggy smelly marsh for around 3/4 of the way.
not much time for photos here or breaks as i was a man on a mission
the only good thing i could say about meall buidhe would have to be the view, this was one of the best i have had from a hill with great views down rannoch moor to glencoe
i really enjoyed the run back down here i try and to this when i can if its possible but the legs were agony for the next few days.
a good day out with stuchd an lochain probably going to get another visit but not meall buidhe
cheers alan