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Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts


Postby kevsbald » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:26 am

Route description: Càrn a'Chlamain

Munros included on this walk: Beinn Dearg (Blair Atholl), Càrn a' Chlamain

Date walked: 29/12/2009

Time taken: 32 hours

Distance: 40 km

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At last, the Tarf weekend was here. I had been looking forward to this for quite some time and zoomed up to Old Blair of Tilt with Janet (Walk Aboot) from Glasgow. We arrived at the car park at 1000 to be greeted by Graeme and Darren (Curlywurly) - why the nickname? A reason was proferred but was not as digestible as the aforementioned sweetie. Once Mountain Coward (Carol) had arrived, we were good to go and a Sullivan's shot was snapped.
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Smile
The path meandered through the woods and up along the land rover track. Progress was good considering the packweights. What with a tonne of coal, furniture for burning and a bottle of Highland Park, I was fair peching along the track until we had a sit-down before the ascent up on to Carn a'Chlamain.
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Views opening up
The chat was convivial and we began to get to know each other. A small bit of lunch was had and we began the ascent up on to the hill. After 15-20 minutes strenuous work, the views began to open out to Carn Liath and beyond. As we came over the shoulder, we could see our 1st objective of the day covered in not inconsiderable snow.
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Thar she blows!
Time was pressing on and walking through the snow wasn't easy. A couple of mountain hares bounded off with disapproving looks but at last the final pull up Chlamain was upon us and we reached the summit, grateful that it was all downhill from here.
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Janet and Darren race for the summit
Some opportune snaps saw Graeme looking a bit bewildered (had he forgotten his denner?) and Darren on his knees at the summit.
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I've done what?!
IMG_3147.JPG
Thank **** we're here
No time to waste, we made tricky progress off the North face down towards the bothy - the snow had a very hard consistency and was surprisingly icy presumably having been blasted by the cold North winds. As we got past the snow line, we followed the burn down towards the bothy and it wasn't long before we had the headtorches on. I don't know about the others but I was really sore with the packweight and my shoulders were crying out for malt relief. I thought I could smell burning at one point (my feverish brain?) and sure enough a wee light in the distance confirmed my suspicions. We rolled into the bothy to be met by John Burgess, who had a fire going - what a man! Some dinner down and I began the pouring of Highland Park - would the Teachers like it?
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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
As we sat around the fire, we discussed everything from Facebook to jet fuel. I won't make a comprehensive list of all the dirty jokes we (I) mentioned but there were ghost stories, statistical anomalies, Aberdeen steroids (kenfitamine) proud exclamations of Megadeth being a great band, nuts actually containing nuts and ratemyteacher.com. As the Highland Park evaporated with the heat and my secret stash of Old Poulteney was downed, spirits were high and sentence structure was disintegrating.
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Janet loved Megadeth too.
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Darren relaxing beside the fire
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Roastytoasty
It had been a long day and we all turned in for the night. Only, as everyone slept I couldn't sleep for the fact that someone had appeared to have taken a tuba into the bothy. Alcohol-infused exhalations had resulted in a regular blast of someone performing in a brass band and it was a long time before I nodded off. The next day (half an hour later), it was dawn and we breakfasted and discussed what we should do. Going over to Fhidhleir and Sgarsoch was poo-pooed.
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Sullivans shot part deux
Going straight out of the glen was also discarded so it was a joint decision to head along the Tarf and tackle either the Corbett or Beinn Dearg. Graeme chose wisely and headed for Beinn Mheadhonach while the remaining 5 headed towards Beinn Dearg. Well, it took some time to climb up this bugger but as we ascended, the views were outstanding, as far as Braeriach at one point.
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Lesson from drama - depict characters at different heights.
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Grass with frozen ice drops
Crisp snow made work easier going and by 1330 we had reached the summit. The wind was blasting in from the North so we didn't hang about. A couple of summit shots and release the hounds.
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Beinn Dearg in a light breeze
As we headed for the Land Rover track, the sky was a fantastic mix of light dark colours with snow being whipped up by the conditions.
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John about to be consumed by Heaven
We began our descent back off Dearg and split up at the Land Rover track - Carol had to drive back to Yorkshire that night, poor sod while Darren was keen to get home with his iPod tunes in his ears...and I would walk 500 miles... John, Janet and I made the walk back out along the track in a couple of hours and arrived back at the car park at about 1740. It had been a very long day and muscles I didn't know I had ached. We said our farewells and I promised to buy John a pint in his local as he had been a rock through the entire weekend with his bonhomie and encouragement. I would imagine another bothy meet may be organised for more temperate weather conditions but it is testament to this website and Paul and partner that 6 strangers can meet up and have a good weekend together. Slainte.
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby foggieclimber » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:38 am

Enjoyed that, cheers :D
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby Stretch » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:50 am

Looks like you guys and dolls had an excellent trip! Hopefully another meet up will be scheduled some time next year so that a few more of us can get involved.

How did you find the snow and ice at this stage? Any need for crampons?

Stretch
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby kevsbald » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:57 am

Hi Stretch,

only on that bit coming down off Chlamain would an ice axe have been handy though I'm not sure it necessitated crampons. I'm hopeful I'll get to use mine this year as I ain't had the chance since I bought them 2 years ago!

Am sure another meet will be planned in the future.

Kev
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby Graeme D » Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:53 pm

I'd just like to go on record and point out that I did not forget my dinner ....... just the pasta bit of it. And neither did I forget my breakfast...... just the rolls for the bacon rolls. :lol: Thank goodness for muesli bars!

Nice one Kev - once again a cracking report with a title to match. Roll on the next bothy meet.
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby Paul Webster » Tue Dec 01, 2009 3:05 pm

Enjoyed reading that and finding out what we missed - looks like it was a great trip :lol:

Amazing how the weather improved so much after such a wet week - though it didn't look too clever on the top of Chlamain. Hope to meet some more of you next year :thumbup:

And was Graham left to eat a tin of sardines / jar of pasta sauce?
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby John Burgess » Tue Dec 01, 2009 3:24 pm

Hi Kev,

Nice report, that brought back happy memories and filled me in on the bits I'd missed :D

I should have worn my hat like the rest of you - looks like I had a great bad hair day :lol:

All the best,

John
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby IainG » Tue Dec 01, 2009 3:29 pm

Excellent report! Looks like you all had a right good bothy night.

Nice to see face put against the nicknames folk use on the site. Got to admit though, because of the names, I mistakenly had assumed incorrectly the gender of one of the group!!!! Better not say what one though :D :D :D
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby monty » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:25 pm

Hi guys and dolls.
Great report kev. Looks like the weather gods were kind to you all. I am kicking myself for not coming along after our initial plans were scuppered. Look forward to meeting up for a 1 day or bothy walk in the future though.
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby benno » Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:19 pm

IainG wrote:Nice to see face put against the nicknames folk use on the site. Got to admit though, because of the names, I mistakenly had assumed incorrectly the gender of one of the group!!!! Better not say what one though :D :D :D


Likewise...if you look closely at the recent posts in '3 munros from the tarf hotel in November' you'll see exactly what i thought!
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby benno » Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:20 pm

Great report Kev, looks like you guys had a cracking weekend. Would love to get involved in a meet sometime in the new year..anyone for Knoydart?
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby LeithySuburbs » Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:45 pm

Great to hear about this trip and looks like you all had a good time and with good weather. Definitely seems to be more snow about than this time last year, or is my mind playing tricks :? ? I would certainly like to join in a trip next year - particularly an overnighter as the company could be a great morale boost if the weather is playing up.
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby kevsbald » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:22 pm

I would most definitely be up for a trip to Knoydart, Benno.
And I am sure there will be some others too....
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby davetherave » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:58 pm

kev

Enjoyed reading that, seems like you guys had a great time. Also great to see faces behind the names. :) would love to join a trip next year hopefully.
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Re: Carn a'Chlamain-Tarf bothy-Beinn Dearg - May contain nuts

Postby John Burgess » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:04 pm

benno wrote:anyone for Knoydart?


Hmm, twist my arm perhaps :lol:
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