Walkhighlands

A friend suggested a wee visit to Braigh nan Albann on Saturday to attempt two hills which get bad press Meall Glas agus Sgiath Chuil..... having not been this far South and with a grand forecast i was at the start for 8 am and off for 8.15 am plenty time to nip round these two before dark

Ach uill ....... no so simple for the minute we arrived there was a lot of ceó hanging about and no sign of the 80% MWIS forecast ! . We set off up the path with the intention of Meall Glas first as it was the farthest away and the weather should every sign of not improving



It is pretty grim and undulating ground and as we headed into the monadh the ceó well it got worse ! to add to the general mix there was a hellish lot of wee tracks heading here and there so we plodded on in the general direction of Meall Glas which we could see but not the mullach for the ceó ....




My caráid (friend) was struggling on the peat hag and as we got closer the Meall Glas started to disappear from view with a lot of ceó moving in



I managed to get a fixed baring from a wee dam to the summit so we duly trooped off up the slope it was good to get off the peat but the pace was still to slow for me and i began to wonder wether we would make the round oh and the visibility was well poor





It was easy going now with a mix of rock and snow shoots but the visibility was if anything getting worse ..tha an t side mossach






Anyway we reached the mullach in good shape and the bearing was near bang on but we did nt hang around long as time was getting on it was 12.15pm and we had a long way to go yet



We set off along the ridge with a bearing North over the summit to Sgiath Chuil and the bealach .... then i set along following the path about 10 mins later a wee break in the clouds revealed a view into a Glen with a block of trees to be seen down in the distance !! ....seo fuireach a mionnaid / there is no trees beneath Sgiath Chuil !!

I had prompted to follow the path after taking a bearing and walked off in the wrong direction following a path North ach only cost us 20 minutes and we were soon crossing down East and over Beinn a Cheathaich .


It is a long haul right enough and the weather was getting worse we could see nothing and by the time we had exited down the steep side of Beinn Cheathaich it was 2.15pm




So into the bealach and at 605m with no even the sides of the Sgiath Chuil to be seen we decided to bail out and head down .It was the thing to do, my caraid was tired and i could nt be bothered fumbling about in the ceó , seeing nothing for my trouble..... neither did i fancy head torching over the peat hags to the car ...so we ambled out after 8 hours without ever seeing the corner wing

I ll be back but... seo chan eil cabhag orm / i m in no rush ,brìgh gach cluiche gu dheireadh

Did these 2 on Sunday but from Glen Lochay. I would recommend that as you have a bit less of the boggy stuff from the reports of the south side. Glen Lochay is really nice too.

like the photo of the dog

I was out wi some of the WH gang 2 weeks ago on these hills dut only managed the one Saigth Chuil same as you the clag was bad.

Shame you didn't have the good weather forecast, still, there's always another time
You managed some interesting photos though

Steve B wrote:Did these 2 on Sunday but from Glen Lochay. I would recommend that as you have a bit less of the boggy stuff from the reports of the south side. Glen Lochay is really nice too.

Ach we thought of that but coming from the NW tis easier from Gleann Dochart ..... maybe in the Summer

quoman wrote:like the photo of the dog

I was out wi some of the WH gang 2 weeks ago on these hills dut only managed the one Saigth Chuil same as you the clag was bad.

Ach no the best of hills these two beauties haha

I think the dog wins it for me on this report What a look

Weather got the better of me on these two too when I was there just before Christmas from this direction. A tough couple of hils though and like has been said, I'll be back on the Glen Lochay side next time me thinks.

PeteR wrote:I think the dog wins it for me on this report What a look

Weather got the better of me on these two too when I was there just before Christmas from this direction. A tough couple of hils though and like has been said, I'll be back on the Glen Lochay side next time me thinks.

The dog fair enjoyed these every shape in the mist was worth barking and snarling at

Aye Pete they is hard going these hills think for Sgiath Chuil i might cycle in over the track from Auch a Linne ,then again maybe Gleann Lochaidh but i ll no be rushing back for a while