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Did my usual check of the mountain weather forecast about half a dozen times on Thursday & Friday before deciding it was going to be good enough to attempt this walk. Plan B was to start at Balsporran Cottage do Geal-charn and A'Mharconaich and if the weather turned bad to exit the hills back to the A9. Plan A was to carry on from A'Mharconaich to Ben Udlamain, Sgairneach Mhor and possibly even the Sow of Atholl. You always need a plan B this time of the year.
Had a very early start from Edinburgh and was parked up at Balsporran Cottages by about 8.00, I would like to be able to say it was a fantastic morning, sun shining, birds singing etc. etc. but it wasn't, it was s...e, wet and miserable. I hate having to get the waterproofs on at the start of a walk but this was one of those morning where you had no choice. What's the last thing you think of putting in your pack when it's pouring with rain and you can see the cloud shrouding the summits down to about 700m, you've got it, sun glasses. That was a big mistake as my wrap around shades are perfect for walking in snow, not only do they stop the glare they keep the blowing snow from stinging your eyes, I always manage to forget something.
Crossed the rail line by the cottage at about 8.15 and followed the track for a few hundred metres before taking the second turning right towards Geal-charn. The track peters out after a few hundred metres and for the next kilometre or so you follow a muddy track/stream/bog call it what you like.
- The muddy track leading up to Geal-charn
I hit the cloud layer way below the summit of Geal-charn probably at about 700m and at about 800m it started to snow which was the reason why I needed my shades. It wasn't particularly heavy at this point but the higher I climbed the more snow there was.
I had taken the time to mark my route on the map on Friday night along with some compass bearing to walk on, this was a wise move as the visibility was down to about 10m. I hit the cairn on the summit at about 9.30, I was thinking of stopping here for breakfast but the snow was still blowing across a bit and the cairn was full of snow so decided to push on a bit before stopping for coffee.
- The summit cairn
The snow stopped blowing across as soon as I left the summit of Geal-charn so a bit lower down I found a friendly rock to sit on and had breakfast and coffee.
- Breakfast time
As I started to climb again the visibility was still very poor so I was walking on compass bearings alone, I hit the track at map ref. 593 766 at the top of the Allt Coire Fhar so I was pleased I was where I was supposed to be. Crossed the burn and started climbing up to the summit of A'Mharconaich; visibility was particularly bad at this stage but it wasn't snowing much. One of the big problems with fresh snow when visibility is so bad is you can't see any of the tracks that normally lead you to the summit cairn, Lady Luck was on my side and I hit the summit cairn without any bother. I decided at this point to follow plan "A" and head for Ben Udlamain. Although visibility was poor thankfully I picked up the old County Boundary fence posts and managed to follow them towards the summit of Beinn Udlamain. Someone else had obviously walked this track a few days earlier as I found a waterproof glove, if it's yours let me know and I'll post it to you. The snow was fairly deep in places and blowing across quite strongly again stinging my eyes in almost white out conditions, but ever the optimist I was hoping for that little window of sunshine you occasionally get at times like this. Unfortunately it didn't happen yet.
- fence post are wonderful things
Reached the summit of Beinn Udlamain okay and followed the fence posts on down to Carn'lc Loumhaidh at about map ref. 578 727; as I was approaching this spot the cloud suddenly cleared and the sun came out I was delighted to say the least. It allowed me to see my next target and confirm my route up to Sgairneach Mhor, I stopped on a rock for lunch and really enjoyed being able to see something of the surrounding mountains and Loch Ericht; even had the company of some birds (of the feathered kind).
- Clear sky at last with a brief glimpse of Loch Ericht
- Someone to shair my lunch with
The walk up towards Sgairneach Mhow was very tiring because of the depth of snow, its amazing how a bit of snow saps your energy. Part way up to the summit the cloud returned but I was walking on a bearing again and was pretty confident of hitting my target, even so I was relieved when the trig point came in view.
- The summit of Sgairneach Mhor
Just to prove I was there I even added an arms length self portrait.
- An arms length self portrait
The cloud lifted again soon after I reached the summit of Sgairneach Mhor and the route on towards the Sow of Athol along with my aching legs meant that the Sow would have to wait for another day. So I took a bearing and headed for the top of the track leading towards the A9. The route down towards the track was enjoyable enough but the walk back to the road was a bit boring after the excitement of the trek over the Mountains. By now the sun was shining and it was warm enough to remove a couple of layers for the first time today. If I though the trek back to the A9 was boring the walk back north along the A9 was even worse it's about 3.5k of sheer hell, I stuck my thumb out a couple of times but soon gave it up as a bad job. Got back to the Balsporran Cottages at about 4.45 I was pretty knackered and not looking forward to the 2 hour drive back home. But on the plus side it was a great day out and a confidence booster to my map reading skills if nothing else. Phoned the wife as I approached the Forth Bridge, she run my bath and put a couple of cans in the fridge, she might not understand why I enjoy getting up into the hills in poor weather but she certainly looks after me when I get home.