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So good to be back home. I missed Scotland, missed the hills. Two weeks in completely flat landscape made me bananas and as soon as we landed back on Glasgow International, I was jumping up and meowing - Mountains! Mountains!
Driving back from Glasgow to Inverness I almost stopped to run up and down one of Drumochter Pass hills
Having rested after the long journey on Saturday, I asked Kevin if he felt like hillwalking on Sunday. My chum was happy to tackle a hill, as long as it wasn't anything too long and too steep. We spent the last two weeks sitting and eating (my mum's therapy - she still thinks we are too skinny!) and our fitness levels were hard to judge. Therefore, a half-day Corbett was picked rather than a multi-Munro adventure.
This route starts by Garva Bridge, from the same car park as for nearby Munro. It's been two years since we came here to climb Geal Charn and as soon as we arrived I noticed one change in the landscape - a dirt track built for the construction of the Beauly-Denny pylon line. I was surprised to see vehicles driving up and down this track, work in progress even on Sunday. Luckily, the track doesn't interfere too badly with the landscape and we soon left it behind, heading for the hills due north.
It is worth taking a few photos from Garva Bridge, here - view north with our target Corbett, Meall na h-Aisre on the horizon and Geal Charn to the very right:
Looking south, "the back side" of Stob Coire Dubh and Carn Liath, the easternmost end of Creag Megaindh group:
The route in good weather is obvious, as the target mountain stays in plain sight all the time. Having crossed Garva Bridge and the pylon line track, we stayed on the left side of Allt Coire Iain Oig. There is a faint track to follow:
The route may be confusing when it comes to bridges, which one should be crossed, which should not. This is the one to cross, about half a mile from the car park:
Past the bridge, the track is still visible, though boggy. Or I should rather say it USUALLY is boggy. We were incredibly lucky with weather, obviously it hasn't rained much recently (I was abroad so I don't know
). Most of the mud and bog dried out and apart from a few wet patches, we walked on dry vegetation.
Glimpse back south:
When we started, we dressed up for a cloudy, cold day, but soon the sun came out and we took a few stops to take off layer after layer
. Here, Kevin during one of such stops...
The sketchy track follows Allt Coire Iain Oig deep into the corrie...
...but we left it at some point and headed straight up the heathery slopes of Leathad Gaothach, which would be a squelchy nightmare in wet weather, but now it was a nice, easy climb:
Looking down to the glen and the hills beyond it:
We definitely felt our muscles working, burning all the excess fat from holiday overindulgence. The sun was still shining bright through the gaps in the cloud, and a fresh breeze meant - no midges. So almost perfect conditions for hillwalking. I could hear my heart singing!
Having reached the ridge, we came across a fence, which we crossed - there's no barbed wire on top. Vistas were now extensive, and with hills around, with blue & white sky above me, I felt like Dorothy returning to Kansas - there's no place like home!
We continued NW up the ridge, towards the lower top (844m, it has no name on OS maps) and soon it came into sight:
I noticed a web of peat hags blocking the way to the lower top, but just as well they were almost completely dry and we marched through them without any problems. A path occurred near the summit and soon we landed on the 844m point. There is no cairn here, but views are interesting. We took a break, not because we were dead-tired, but because I wanted this adventure to last
Looking south, Creag Meagaidh group and to the left, distant long ridge of the Fara:
Down to River Spey:
To the SW, more mountain formations came into view:
In comparison, our final target, the summit of Meall na h-Aisre, looked insignificant:
The most interesting feature of the lower top is this rocky knoll:
One for "Me on the rock" collection, this time "Me on the rock from the back"
It may be the kingdom of rollin' rollin' landscape, but I was more than happy to do some uphill walking for a change!
The lower top is separated from the main summit by another sea of peat hags, but the dry conditions made this last obstacle easy to tackle. Soon we were on the other side of the col, looking back to the lower top:
Climbing up to the summit was now a formality and in just over two hours since we started, I was jumping, hopping and meowing on the top my 56th Corbett
The summit area is pretty bare, apart from a trig point and... a pile of metal fence posts:
The best panorama was south, towards Creag Meagaidh...
...and surprisingly, I recognised a familiar shape on the SW horizon. Mr Nevis, I reckon?
Close up:
A few more photos from the summit. The cloud was slowly coming in from the west, but the light was still good:
The wind picked up so we walked a few metres down from the summit and soon we found a large rock which served well to shelter us. Kevin was still playing games with his GPS (ahhh, boys and their toys!
)
We sat by that rock for over half an hour, simply enjoying the moment and sinking in the beauty of Scottish landscape. There are so many beautiful places to visit all over the world and I'll always feel sentimental about my home town, but I couldn't live away from the hills. It's like my roots have been planted here. My heart is here, and so is my home.
Away from sentiments, Meall na h-Aisre is an enjoyable walk and would be a good, easy one to do in winter conditions. The only problem would be getting to Garva Bridge if roads are heavily covered with snow.
We got up eventually and headed downhill, SW first, to avoid descending directly into Coire Iain Oig, then due south towards the river. The ground was a wee bit boggy here and in wet weather it would be a slow descent on slippery grass, but views down towards the glen make up for the steep experience:
We followed the river until we picked the track heading down the glen. More cloud arrived, but at last the day felt like summer rather than early spring:
The return route:
Soon we were back at the point where we first left the boggy track and looking towards the summit, it seemed like one of the easiest hills we climbed so far:
Meall an Domhnaich, the extension of Geal Charn ridge. On the way down from the Munro two years ago, we walked over this lump and ended up descending steeply through the dense forest - but at least it was fun and adventure
This time, no blood clotting adventures took place, but we were both happy to start the summer season with an easier walk.
Hopefully, summer 2013 will be better weather-wise than last year and you will hear me meowing on mountain summits again soon. So beware, Scottish hills. I'M BACK!
A separate entry about my holidays will be added to Outside Scotland section, as soon as I find time to write this story
