Two cars trick and Ben Lawers 7

[Paula Hubens]

Ben Lawers 7 shorter.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Earlier on in the week it had been becoming increasingly unlikely that I would be tackling the Ben Lawers 7 in the good company of fellow Walkhighlanders. I had been texting with Mountainlove and Tomsie, who both kindly had let me know they couldn’t make it after all. So from Tuesday onwards I had been plotting back-up plans to avoid the long walk back to Lawers Village, in case no-one else would be joining me. Options included doing the range over 2 days (more mileage and inevitably losing height); starting from Dericambus in Glen Lyon (still a 5km walk back on tarmac); starting from Camusvrachan in Glen Lyon (virtually bagging Meall Garbh twice); or starting from the car park north of Lochan na Lairige, bagging Meall a’ Choire Leith first then traversing towards Meall Garbh and continuing with option 3. None of these I found particularly appealing and I was hoping that by Saturday a stroke of genius would reveal the best option.

Then Providence sent me an unsuspected accomplice in the shape of my B&B host, who offered to perform the two cars trick with me (without the walking bit that is), if needed. On Friday evening I still hadn’t heard from a few people, so I PM’d them to say that I had made alternative plans, hoping they would read the message before the Saturday.

So Saturday morning we both drove to the car park at the north end of Lochan na Lairige, where there was just about one space left (a rather cramped one, half of it being a muddy puddle), which I quickly occupied. This was not the time or place to dismiss a parking space! Then my B&B host gave me a lift to the start point of the walk, just past Lawers village.

Just as I was lacing up my boots, 2 other walkers came walking up the road. With a cheery ‘good morning’ they strode past me up the path towards Machuim farm. I wasn’t even tempted to keep up with them. After a week of bagging my competitive urge had finally budged and started listening to the legs. There are some helpful signs at the farm pointing to a diverted path.

When Meall Greigh came in sight I opted for the direct line of attack towards Pt. 805. There were paths (or sheep tracks) in places, but they all disappeared swiftly. Never mind, I quite like picking my own way, although it is usually not the shortest nor the fastest. It was a clear day and the views on the ascent were great.

Loch Tay and Lawers village

An Stuc loud and clear

Below Pt. 805 there is an interesting craggy cleft. At the top end of the cleft a path crosses it and leads to Meall Greigh, making the last bit of the ascent easier.

Summit Meall Greigh

At the summit I had a quick bite and then continued down the easy ridge towards Meall Garbh and made fast progress. At Lairig Innein it gets boggy and it stays boggy all the way up along the line of fence posts. I was now catching up on another walker who stopped frequently on the ascent to admire the views. After the first steep ascent the ridge levels out and the path gets better. The walk along this ridge is very nice. A quick summit shot and onwards to An Stuc, with anticipation (and trepidation) building!

Summit Meall Garbh

In all the excitement to get started on An Stuc, I had overlooked the fact that the descent from Meall Garbh is quite steep. A quick glance at the map would have made this clear. But as it was, the descent came as a bit of a surprise and was trickier than the gentle grassy slope I had had in mind.

An Stuc

With adrenaline levels rising I arrived at the bealach and stopped to stow map and walking poles away as I wanted my hands free for the ascent. The first section of the ascent looked straightforward. Steep and eroded yes, but at least a path was clearly visible until halfway. From the bealach I could not quite make out where the path went thereafter. Rather conveniently, the walker I had been catching up on had just arrived at that halfway point, so I watched which route he would pick. He went straight ahead, which concerned me a little, as that would be my least preferred way up. From my vantage point going left after the halfway point seemed most feasible.

My heart was now definitely beating faster than standing on a bealach would justify, so it was time to get on with it. The adrenaline was doing its job and I whizzed up to the halfway point in no time. From the upper corner of my eye I had noticed that the walker in front of me had not been moving for a while, so I guessed he was stuck. An exchange of hellos and status quos confirmed this. I said I would try the option on the left. After rounding a corner there was a clear path ahead and I called out to the other walker to share the good news. I found a spot to sit and waited for him to appear. This took a while, but as long as I heard boots thumping on rock I was reassured that he was OK.

Looking down on the ascent path

All in all there were only two scrambly bits on the ascent, which I enjoyed very much. After this the path is on a grassy slope which leads you quickly to the summit cairn.

An Stuc summit

Once on the summit the walker offered to brew me a cup of tea, to which I didn’t say no! He told me he had been wild camping just below Meall Greigh. This explained the size of his backpack. Hat off for lugging this up 3 munros with 4 more to go! After a good chat I thanked him for the tea and continued with my walk.

The descent down An Stuc was quick and so was the ascent up Ben Lawers. I skirted round Creag an Fhithich and at the bealach stopped to chat with two walkers of a more senior age who were doing the range from west to east. They had started from Camusvrachan. When I told them about the scrambly side of An Stuc their faces lit up. It was quite funny. Both were mountaineers and they had found the range a bit tame so far.
The remainder of the walk to Ben Lawers went swiftly. In fact after An Stuc the whole range required hardly any effort. It was only after Meall Corranaich that the effects of the An Stuc adrenaline rush were wearing off and I started getting tired.

With the good weather it was really busy on Ben Lawers’ summit. There were at least 10 people, all enjoying the views and the sunshine, which made for a cheery atmosphere. As the area around the cairn was overpopulated I decided that the trig point would feature in my summit picture. I later managed to snap the cairn too.

Ben Lawers trig point

Ben Lawers cairn

The views were fantastic:

View towards Meall Greigh

View towards Beinn Ghlas

View towards Loch Tay

View towards Meall Corranaich

View towards Meall a' Choire Leith

Onwards to Beinn Ghlas along a good path albeit a bit eroded in places, again with glorious views. There was a steady stream of walkers making their way up to Ben Lawers.

Descending from Ben Lawers

Looking towards Beinn Ghlas

Looking back towards Ben Lawers

Up towards Beinn Ghlas

It was notably quieter on Beinn Ghlas!

Summit Beinn Ghlas

Looking down the glen towards Glen Lyon

View towards Meall Corranaich

On Beinn Ghlas

Looking back towards Ben Lawers

From the summit I had a nice view of the string of walkers now making their way back home from Ben Lawers along the bypass path from the bealach. For me the route down was a bit steeper but still along a good path to the next bealach. The weather was holding out nicely and with no breeze around the ascent up Meall Corranaich was a sweaty affair. On the summit it became apparent that at some point, probably in the next hour or so, the weather would change…

Summit Meall Corranaich with bad weather looming

[Paula Hubens]

The ridge from Meall Corranaich towards Meall a' Choire Leith

So after a quick snack I headed down the easy angled ridge towards Meall a’ Choire Leith. After roughly a kilometer the ridge forks, but it is not very obvious as the forking happens lower down from the main ridge. An ever so slight drizzle had started, producing a rainbow in the glen to the right. In the west it was proper bad weather.

Rainbow

Bad weather in Glen Lochay

More bad weather

The drizzle got worse but I was delaying putting on waterproofs, hoping the real rain would not get as far as the Lawers range. Alas! The rain came and with it the An Stuc adrenaline wave on which I had been surfing for quite some hours troughed at last. So the ascent up Meall a’ Choire Leith was a bit of a slog, but never mind.
The conditions on the summit were not very enticing, but the bad weather certainly made for moody views.

Summit Meall a' Choire Leith towards Tarmachan Ridge

From the summit all the way down to the dam in Gleann Da-Eig there is a path, along which relative good progress can be made.

Descent path from Meall a' Choire Leith, looking back

Descent path from Meall a' Choire Leith, looking ahead

By now the bad weather had moved on and the sun was back, casting knobbly shadows on the Tarmachan ridge.

Tarmachan ridge

After crossing the Allt Gleann Da-Eig at the dam I lost the path, if there was one. This last kilometer was over wet and rough ground and seemed to last much longer than the 20 minutes it took to get back to the car park.
I sat in the car for a while just staring over Lochan na Lairige and winding back the impressions of the day. It had been a great trip and everything had been just right: the two cars trick, the weather, going up An Stuc, the views, the conversations with fellow walkers, a rainbow. I could not have wished for more. Then, driving back to the B&B I got this bonus view.

Lochan na Lairige with Stuc a' Chroin in the distance

Bliss…

[mrssanta]

superb effort Paula getting all seven. that walk out from Meall a'Choire Leith is a rather horrid bog after a long day.

[davedanson28]

Excellent Paula, great report!

[jwramsay]

Well done Paula for bagging them all in 1 day.

Took me 3 visits to get that lot! (2+2+3)

[ScottishLeaf]

Well done Paula on getting all of them
That bog fest after Meall a'Choire Leith is horrible after two Munros, must've totally morale crushing after 7! I got a lift on a quad bike out from the wee dam! Hope you had a nice wee dram waiting on you after walking it

[RobRoy13]

Top report Paula,me and a friend was up there yesterday and bagged only 4,Meall Greigh-Meall Garbh-An Stuc and Ben Lawers,pity we had the 3 hour drive home to Aberdeen

[Paula Hubens]

Thanks everyone for the comments!

superb effort Paula getting all seven. that walk out from Meall a'Choire Leith is a rather horrid bog after a long day.

Thanks mrssanta! Yes, the going was tough on the last bit, but at least it was only kilometer, although it did seem to take ages

Thanks davedanson28 and jwramsay!

Took me 3 visits to get that lot! (2+2+3)

3 visits to the Lawers range, you lucky person! And, the thing that matters is that you enjoyed the trips. If I lived a bit closer to the hills, I would probably take a more leisurely approach!

Well done Paula on getting all of them
That bog fest after Meall a'Choire Leith is horrible after two Munros, must've totally morale crushing after 7! I got a lift on a quad bike out from the wee dam! Hope you had a nice wee dram waiting on you after walking it

Cheers ScottishLeaf, it was a great day!
The bog traverse needed to be done if I wanted to get back to the car, as there was no quad bike around this time!

Top report Paula,me and a friend was up there yesterday and bagged only 4,Meall Greigh-Meall Garbh-An Stuc and Ben Lawers,pity we had the 3 hour drive home to Aberdeen

Thanks Robroy13! It is a lovely ridge so at least you’ve got a good reason to return to bag the remaining 3.

[Alan S]

Well done Paula, good idea with the car
It took me 3 trips to get the 7 done, wish now I had tried something like this

[Moobli]

Seriously impressed Cracking report, views and photos

[gammy leg walker]

Fine effort there Paula.

[dooterbang]

Another big day but with great views this time.

We did the 2 car trick when doing these and luckily also got decent weather.

You certainly made the most of your time up here.

[Paula Hubens]

Well done Paula, good idea with the car
It took me 3 trips to get the 7 done, wish now I had tried something like this

Thanks Alan! You could go back for the 7 and bag them again . It is a great walk and very much doable

Seriously impressed Cracking report, views and photos

Cheers Moobli!

Fine effort there Paula.

Thank you Gammy Leg Walker, it was a great walk!

Another big day but with great views this time. We did the 2 car trick when doing these and luckily also got decent weather. You certainly made the most of your time up here.

Thanks Dooterbang! Views do make a difference!

[Stuart Angus]

Superhuman

[Paula Hubens]

Superhuman

Thanks Stuart! It's more a case of being super hooked