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Please excuse the shameful pun (does it even count as a pun?!) in the title, I brainstormed for the entire return journey, but unfortunately that was all I came up with...
With six weeks of my summer holiday left before I head back down South to Uni, I have made some grand plans with which to maximise my time in Scotland. So the purpose of today was really to test, and begin to build up, my fitness. With just the one Monadhliath Munro, Geal Charn, left to complete up there, I thought I could make more of a day of it by tying it in with Meall na h-Aisre, and potentially Gairbeinn to the West.
Setting off from Garva Bridge at 9am, the ascent of Geal Charn was fairly straightforward (although I did initially take the wrong track!). I followed the path along the E side of Feith Talagain before it headed up the edge of Allt Coire nan Dearcag.
Feith Talagain
SW from Geal Charn ridge
The path eventually faded away, so I headed North, up onto the summit ridge, on which there was a decent path. I reached the summit at 10.30 and, despite the decent views, I couldn't take my eyes off the enormous temple (or 'cairn'?) on the summit. I'm not quite sure what the story behind the cairn is...
Geal Charn summit
Towards the Alder Forest from Geal Charn
Into the Monadhliath from Geal Charn
After a quick sarnie, I cut down a heathery and boulder-strewn slope on the NW side of the summit, heading across heather and peat hags towards the second summit. There was a fair amount of wildlife to be seen - a golden eagle gliding overhead, mountain hares, a load of ptarmigan - but the most surprising site of the day I saw near the Meall na h-Aisre summit. I noticed what looked like an oversized golf buggy trundling near the Coire Gorm crags but, as it turned out, it was only a deer stalker's vehicle (when I spoke to the driver, he expressed his joy at getting paid to drive a £3000 'space buggy' up and down mountains). So the peacefulness of the relatively nondescript Corbett summit was perhaps compromised by the presence of this space machine. As it turned out, the stalkers were shooting between Meall na h-Aisre and Gairbeinn, so there was no chance of continuing with my original plan to do all three. Bearing in mind that only three hours had passed so far, I thought a good alternative would be to drive part of the way home, and pop up another hill in the Drumochter pass.
Geal Charn and Coire Gorm from Meall na h-Aisre summit
Towards Gairbeinn from Meall na h-Aisre
From the summit, I cut down into Coire Iain Oig, and followed this all the way back to Garva Bridge.
S down Coire Iain Oig
Wee caterpillar
Half an hour down the road I found myself putting my boots and gaiters back on in a layby on the A9 - the plan being to bomb up the Sow of Atholl.
The Sow from the A9
Having negotiated various fences, the railway line, and the Allt Dubhaig, I (perhaps foolishly) opted to climb straight up the steep E face which, particularly near the top, was a tad too steep for comfort.
The Boar of Badenoch from the Sow's E face
SW from the Sow's E face
However, I got to the summit within 45 minutes, from where there were some decent views around the Drumochter hills, down to Schiehallion and the Loch Tay hills, and across to Beinn a Ghlo.
Sgairneach Mhor from the Sow
Towards Schiehallion from the Sow
On the descent, I opted for a slightly more reasonable route, cutting off the SW ridge about half way back down.
So, despite the significant alteration to my original plan, it was a great day's walking. The first walk was a fairly substantial trip, while the Sow's E face was something of a leg-burner.
Now, for round two... something a bit more ambitious...?
