Druim Uachdair / Geal Charn is A Mharconaich
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:24 pmUill ... 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
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
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 !
To make matters worse an cú set off after the local wildlife
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
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 ?
Uinneag an t -side .... a weather window ..... 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 !
A short lived window it was soon back to white out as wee reached an mullach
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
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
Sealltain snog gu dearbh
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
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
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
Cha b’e là na gaoithe là nan sgolb.
.The last time we was out was Garbh Bheinn (Aird nan Gobhar) on the 19th December and she is chust a corbett
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
- 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 !
- Dreich
To make matters worse an cú set off after the local wildlife
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- 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
Uinneag an t -side .... a weather window
..... 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 !- Bearadh air Gheal harn
- Stacan air Gheal Charn
- Sreath Bheinn Eallair
- An Tuath
A short lived window it was soon back to white out as wee reached an mullach
- 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
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
Sealltain snog gu dearbh
- Alpine Alba air A Mharconaich
- Choire Dhomhain
- 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
- Druim A Mharconaich
- Sgoth
- 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 Reoite
- An cú aig an cárn
- 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
Cha b’e là na gaoithe là nan sgolb.
- Cheerie an drasda
