Blowing in the wind

[jonny616]

50 mile per hour winds gusting to 70 ach who cares. Chance of cloud free Munro’s & some sun. We all care. However the wind did put paid to the Forcan ridge suggestion or the one combining Ciste Dubh with its two neighbours. So 05:30 & Campbell & I left Glasgow to meet Andy at the affectionately named doggers layby off the A9 in red sauce land for a MWSP adventure. The target being the three Munro’s on the Monadhliath plateau behind Newtonmore.
At the parking place we had a wee encounter with the author of the Cicerone guide ‘Walking the Corbett’s’. Who is currently writing a guide on the Graham’s.
Taking into account the wind direction we opted for clockwise by the route described on WH. This would mean that for the majority of the 7k across the plateau the wind should be behind us.
Followed the track down from the car park over the bridge & before too long you come to another bridge, take the fainter track, through the field, on the right before crossing this bridge. The track becomes more defined & leads up the Glen. Even here the wind was strong. We saw the bridge across the alt, which was most welcome. The next bit offered some rest bite from the wind so we had a bite to eat before coming out into Glenn Ballach. The glen is mainly peat hags which were fortunately dry & posed little problem, but with my previous I took a bit of stick. Once at the head of the glen the path climbs out onto the ridge between the first Munro of the day Carn Dearg & the Munro top Carn Ban & here the wind was torture. At one point Campbell left the ground.
The path to & the summit cairn are very close to the corrie edge so we stayed in as far as possible until the cairn was reached. A quick photo & off having had to secure our polls under a rock to stop them blowing off the edge. The drop down was just as bad as the wind whistled across us. At Carn Ban we picked up the line of fence posts & from here to Carn Sgulain the wind was behind us. Stopped at one of the minor tops with a decent shelter for another bite to eat & had two entertaining games the first being chase the foam mat, the second chase the camera case. Both chases proved successful.
The walk to Carn Sgulain seems to go on & on, but the sun was out & we could see for miles around. It would be a pretty eerie place in poor viability. Before the final ascent, only about 40 meters, more peat hags to cross, but again fairly dry & no real problem.
We retraced our steps back towards the 908 point on the map before heading across yet more peat hags to cross the Allt. Making a beeline form the summit of Sgulain to A Chailleach would take you into a ravine & you would lose a lot of height. Cross the Allt & then a wee pull up to a very windy summit. The stones on the cairn were being blown off the very top. For once though the shelter was the right way around to offer some protection from the wind. Good views across to Sgulain & back to Carn Dearg as well as down Glen Chaorainn & back to the car. There is a path leading down which starts at right angles to the bearing following the route, but this path leads all the way to the allt a short distance before the return track starts. We could see the hut mentioned in the notes but our path did not take us near it. Equally we did not see the bridge, although we had no trouble crossing the Allt. The track soon brings you back to the parking area.
Whilst the wind was a pain in the a**e it was a good day weather wise & we had a good laugh all the way around.

Hay Ho Lets Go!

Heading for the Allt Fionndrigh

Allt Fionndrigh

Yay, Bridge!

Summit Carn Dearg

Looking back to Carn Dearg

chase me chase me!

View to A Chailleach from summit of Carn Sgulain

Summit A Chailleach

looking back to Carn Sgulain

The route back

the people you meet!

[SAVAGEALICE]

well done guys

[monty]

Nice report Johnny. Looks lovely in the sun. Windy I cant see any wind in the photaes

[andy millar1]

Monty can you no see the windae doon the bottom(last pic) trust me it was blowin a hoolie up there but a good day was had on what i thought were below average hills Cheers Jonny and Campbell for the company and we werent one of the unfortunate 700 speeders that were caught!!

[Meatball]

Cheers for the company boys.
A fun day despite the boaky moment when putting on my boots and my flying moment!
Jonny now has a windy video too.
Roll on next week!

[quoman]

Well done to the MWSPC

[ChrisW]

Great report as always Jonny, glad you won your 2 games of chase up there I love the wind when it howls across those round tops.....not so much when there is an edge involved Still looked like a really enjoyable day in spite of the wind

[gammy leg walker]

Another 3 bagged mate,one second you had 3 ticks on your muro map & then with no effort at all you lose a tick...........................simples.

[pollyh33]

So did you find any answers my friend?

Sorry to have missed out on yet another walk with the MWSPC

Smashing report as usual Jonny. Must confess to looking at the video a few times- fantastic

[SusieThePensioner]

Well done the MWSPC, out in all weathers!
Great report as usual, Jonny, great photos

[Johnny Corbett]

Aye it was certainly windy on Tuesday, Kim and i were just up the road from you guys

[Stuart Angus]

The one thing about wind is it blows me into the pub quicker.............defo not onto the hills Good effort

[Jock McJock]

Well done and nice report Jonny. See the "tittles" are still as good and relevant as ever too Missing getting out with you guys but good to see the reports being posted.

[Alan S]

Well done guys, good report mate

[jonny616]

Nice report Johnny. Looks lovely in the sun. Windy I cant see any wind in the photaes

It was a good day cheers.

Here is a windy millar for you