walkhighlands

Share your personal walking route experiences in Scotland, and comment on other peoples' reports.
Warning Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich

Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich


Postby Collaciotach » Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:24 pm

Route description: A' Mharconaich and Geal Chàrn, Drumochter

Munros included on this walk: A' Mharconaich, Geal-chàrn (Drumochter)

Date walked: 07/01/2012

Time taken: 6 hours

Distance: 7.5 km

Ascent: 450m

Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).

Uill ... two weeks of larding it over food and drink and coarse weather has kept me and an cú of the hill :( .

The last time we was out was Garbh Bheinn (Aird nan Gobhar) on the 19th December and she is chust a corbett :lol: so we hooked up with my caraid Iain and decided on the Monadhliath for today.The forecast was cáic ..ish so we decided on an easy start and somwhere with snow so A Mharconaich and Gheal Charn t'was .

I set out from Ardnamurchan at 5.15am for the 6.20am ferry ...agus that gu dearbh bha an t uisge ann fad an rathad ..you ve guessed t'was raining !

Being on the Tir Mór at Corran it took me an hour to reach Druim Uachdair at Baile Sporran, which in the dark i managed to drive past , only when i reached Dail Na Spideal did i do an unauthorised U turn to head back North ,she is no the most handsome of places to have a house Balsporran :)

Wee note temp in the West was 6 plus ,dropped to 3 plus in Gleann Speann and finally dropped to 0 at Baile nan Sporran

I hooked up with mo charaid ,got an cú under control and off we went it was dull n damp and kinda sleety or as i would say mossach :)

Bealach Druim Uachdair Gheal Charn.JPG
Gheal Charn Druim Uachdair


At about 500 metres in the wind was horrendous ,blowing spindthrift up and it was hard going in the snow which had no an awful lot consistency !

DSCF3862.JPG
Dreich


To make matters worse an cú set off after the local wildlife :shock: and crossed the raging burn only to have the greatest difficulty getting back across so i had to walk him back down to the bottom before he crossed again .. the hare by this time was at the dram in Dal na Spidal :) .... anyway the grian poked her head in for a minute on her way up into the cloud

éirigh nan gréine Bealach Druim Uachdair.JPG
Eirigh nan Grain Druim Uachdair


Looks grand but it really was blowing estimate from a man who knows wind :) 60-70mph gusts to 80mph ,was hard going then the snow/hail/sleet thing started so and did nt see much for a while however ...... de tha sin ?

Suas Gheal Charn.JPG
Suas Gheal Charn


Uinneag an t -side .... a weather window :lol: ..... well of sorts ,snow went off but the wind was still ferocious however wee views of the Bheinn Eallair range and a general clearing of murk was in the offing !

Bearradh air Gheal Charn.JPG
Bearadh air Gheal harn


Stacan air Gheal Charn.JPG
Stacan air Gheal Charn


Sreath.JPG
Sreath Bheinn Eallair


An Tuath.JPG
An Tuath



A short lived window it was soon back to white out as wee reached an mullach

Mullach Gheal Chárn.JPG
Mullach Gheal Charn


On the summit you could barely stand so we took a quick bearing for the bealach and looked to get some shelter to grab a bite to eat we found a wee bit lee on the way down when the weather changed again ...still gaoithach though but sun :)

Sreath Bheinn Eallair agus Loch Eireachd.JPG
Sreath Bheinn Eallair agus Loch Eireachd


The wind chill was erm biting and we did nt hang around long so it was down the bealach and up A Mharconaich as the wind rose to a furious level ..oh and the stinging sleet/snow/hail made a re appearance !

However being oh so Ghaidhelachd and praying to the ancestor's of the Cluny for respite we hit the summit of the druim as for the first time in two weeks the sun put in an appearance 8)

Sealltain snog gu dearbh :lol:

Alpine.JPG
Alpine Alba air A Mharconaich


Coire Dhomhain a'ribhist.JPG
Choire Dhomhain


Choire Dhomhain bho A'Mharcoinaich.JPG
Schiehallion


We were finding it hard to keep our feet in the wind but the timing was immaculate and underfoot ice with firm snow on top giving good grip so no axe or crampons just poles to keep us from blowing away

DSCF3893.JPG
Druim A Mharconaich


DSCF3897.JPG
Sgoth


Sreath Bheinn Eallair bho A 'Mharconaich.JPG
Sreath Bheinn Eallair bho A'Mharconaich


At the Cárn we did nt hang around again as difficulty in standing and a hefty looking weather front to the West and heading our way made the drop down the ridge inviting to say the least

Clachair Réoite.JPG
Clachair Reoite


DSCF3907.JPG
An cú aig an cárn


Coire air A 'Mharconaich.JPG
Coire air a Mharconaich



Ach uill bha sin an latha ann an Monadh Liath .... a good day in the hill again with the luck of the Gaidheil giving us a reward for bearing with that hurricane wind and they are no the bonniest hills the Mondaliath/Cairngorms completely different from the West (which is naturally the best). Its interesting A Mharconaich means "the place of the horse" and Baile na Sporan "the township of the purse" there must have been a Tryst (fair) there when the Gael was king of course he still is ...... he can hack the wind 8)


Cha b’e là na gaoithe là nan sgolb.

Cheerie.jpg
Cheerie an drasda
User avatar
Collaciotach
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1896
Munros:282   Corbetts:219
Fionas:47   Donalds:10
Sub 2000:25   
Islands:28
Joined: Aug 8, 2011
Location: Gàidhealtachd an Iar

Re: Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich

Postby mrssanta » Sat Jan 07, 2012 11:50 pm

I fair enjoyed that report and the pictures Collaciotach, good to see the sun putting in an appearance, you dont really see the wind on the pictures
User avatar
mrssanta
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 3132
Munros:281   Corbetts:12
Fionas:3   
Sub 2000:10   Hewitts:43
Wainwrights:41   Islands:13
Joined: Jul 18, 2011
Location: north yorkshire moors

Re: Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich

Postby Collaciotach » Sun Jan 08, 2012 1:52 pm

mrssanta wrote:I fair enjoyed that report and the pictures Collaciotach, good to see the sun putting in an appearance, you dont really see the wind on the pictures


Its a rare rare thing these days Mrs Santa :(
User avatar
Collaciotach
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1896
Munros:282   Corbetts:219
Fionas:47   Donalds:10
Sub 2000:25   
Islands:28
Joined: Aug 8, 2011
Location: Gàidhealtachd an Iar

Re: Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich

Postby dooterbang » Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:56 pm

Bet that wind blew the cobwebs away.

Dont mind the wind on plateaus but different story on razor edged ridges - eeeeek!!

Nice start to the year, well done.
User avatar
dooterbang
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 1828
Munros:262   Corbetts:58
Fionas:18   Donalds:10
Sub 2000:10   Hewitts:18
Wainwrights:21   Islands:19
Joined: Oct 27, 2009
Location: Isle of Skye from Feb 2019 (Originally Glasgow)

Re: Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich

Postby Collaciotach » Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:47 pm

dooterbang wrote:Bet that wind blew the cobwebs away.

Dont mind the wind on plateaus but different story on razor edged ridges - eeeeek!!

Nice start to the year, well done.



It did indeed , furthest East i ve been :) its a very different country but i ll be back ...frequently , although i reckon a lot of the hills in this area is Winter walking ! ...

Wind was baaaaad but aye on a plateau not as bad as the jagged West
User avatar
Collaciotach
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1896
Munros:282   Corbetts:219
Fionas:47   Donalds:10
Sub 2000:25   
Islands:28
Joined: Aug 8, 2011
Location: Gàidhealtachd an Iar

Re: Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich

Postby pigeon » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:15 pm

Good effort in that wind,imagine this area is fairly exposed,gonna get back up that way soon :thumbup:
User avatar
pigeon
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 1488
Munros:282   Corbetts:127
Fionas:41   Donalds:39+7
Sub 2000:23   Hewitts:2
Wainwrights:1   Islands:2
Joined: Apr 29, 2010
Location: Linlithgow
Walk wish-list

Re: Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich

Postby quoman » Sun Jan 08, 2012 6:09 pm

nice report there Collaciotach some cracking pics.
User avatar
quoman
Mountaineer
 
Posts: 960
Munros:282   Corbetts:10
Fionas:1   Donalds:5
Sub 2000:2   
Joined: Nov 14, 2011
Location: larbert

Re: Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich

Postby Collaciotach » Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:06 pm

pigeon wrote:Good effort in that wind,imagine this area is fairly exposed,gonna get back up that way soon :thumbup:


Aye me too farthest East i ve been :D
User avatar
Collaciotach
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1896
Munros:282   Corbetts:219
Fionas:47   Donalds:10
Sub 2000:25   
Islands:28
Joined: Aug 8, 2011
Location: Gàidhealtachd an Iar

Re: Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich

Postby Collaciotach » Sun Jan 08, 2012 8:23 pm

quoman wrote:nice report there Collaciotach some cracking pics.


Moran Taing :) enjoyed seeing a bit of sun !!!
User avatar
Collaciotach
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1896
Munros:282   Corbetts:219
Fionas:47   Donalds:10
Sub 2000:25   
Islands:28
Joined: Aug 8, 2011
Location: Gàidhealtachd an Iar

Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).




Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to Walk reports - Scotland

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: brentc, phillee, rmse047071, The snail and 51 guests