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99, 100 & 101 Not Out

99, 100 & 101 Not Out


Postby Fife Flyer » Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:23 pm

Route description: Creag Meagaidh circuit

Munros included on this walk: Càrn Liath (Creag Meagaidh), Creag Meagaidh, Stob Poite Coire Àrdair

Date walked: 10/06/2013

Time taken: 7 hours

Distance: 21 km

Ascent: 1080m

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What a fantastic day & I have to say probably the best & most enjoyable I have spent in the hills :clap:
A nice early start meant leaving Fife at 6.45am quick stop to fill up with petrol & then head north. The early start was to try & miss the work traffic, not really sure if it worked or not :? One thing I had forgotten was how bad the A9 is to drive on, if it's quiet I can overtake almost anywhere but when there are lorries trundling along at 50mph it causes bottlenecks behind :( Then when you reach the wee bits of dual carriageway everyone, lorries included dash into the outside lane, which means only a few vehicles manage to pass the slowest of slow coaches :crazy:
Anyway enough of the road rant - sorry :lol:
Arrived at the substantial car park at 8.45am & there were only 3 cars in before me, so it was a quick get all the kit together & off we go, strating at 660' on my watch :wink: Was pleasantly surprised to find toilet facilties available near the car park, absolutely ideal because it meant no stops were required in that department :lol:
The weather was rather odd, the forecast was for a scorcher & me being a man decided against sun cream, because the cloud base was about 2000', so thought the forecasters had got it wrong for a change :lol:
So after the brief stop it was easy going following the very good path all the way which runs along side to the north of the "Allt Coire Ardair" (stream) which takes you to the Lochan A' Choire which is at 1880'.
The setting for the Lochan is absolutely stunning & after researching all the previous walks it would appear everyone took a picture of the Lochan from the same spot :lol: :lol:

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The walk up the nice path to the Lochan

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The nice path

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The Lochan from the spot where everyone else takes their photo - note the low cloud for the disbelievers!

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The nice path about to end, just below the "Window"

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Low cloud & still a bit of snow around

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Low cloud over the Lochan, confirmed again


Now I had reached the bottom of the window, the path was OK for the first 3rd, but it got gradually worse, would not have fancied coming down that way, as there was very little grip on the stones & dust - due to the dry weather & it's not very often we can say that :lol: :lol:

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Cloud level lifting?

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Great shot of the path round the Lochan

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As if by magic cloud disappeared


For those of you who are thinking I set up camp waiting for the cloud to lift, I can assure you I didn't - don't do camping anyway :( So now that I had reached the window I was looking for a path, there was one heading towards Stob Poite, but I knew I had to turn left at the window for CM & the next part was probably the hardest part of the whole day, very steep loose scree, which I was carefully placing my feet.
A bit of advice to anyone else heading this way carry on through the window & there is a path that takes you up to CM :lol:

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Loose scree

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Looking down towards the window


Once at the top of the scree, I was pleasantly surprised to see Mad Meg in the distance :wink:

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Zoomed in on Mad Meg

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Scary drop down on the way to Mad Meg, especially in cloud

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Mad Meg's Cairn from alot closer

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The summit of Creag Meagaidh from Mad Meg

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The view from CM across to Stob Poite

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Lochan Liame just to the north of CM summit

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A zoom in to the path across to SPCA via the window

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A point & fingers crossed self portrait, getting a bit red & only been in the sun an hour!!


Now it was the walk across to Stob Poite Coire Ardair which would be my 100th munro, it wasn't actually anything much to shout about, not even a huge cairn, however the views of the cliffs were special 8)
Here are a few shots from SPCA, not typing all that again would probably get it wrong :lol:

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Summit cairn of SPCA

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Summit cairn of SPCA


It was between SPCA and Carn Liath that I met & had chats with 4 other folk coming in the opposite direction, was nice to meet you all, always enjoy a chat, plus it is an excuse to stop & have alittle breather :D
I didn't realise until just now that I took nearly 100 photo's, if I had just concentrated on walking I would have been home for lunch :lol: :lol: Another bit of good news is that I am getting better with my new camera, only took one photo with the lens cap on, which is now in cyberspace :lol:

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The view down to Loch Laggan & where it all began


Just realised that one can only attach 25 photo's so I have had to do a spot of editing :oops: :oops: :oops:

The walk from SPCA to Carn Liath seemed to take forever and seemed to take ages before it appeared closer, not fond of walking over boulder fields, daresay someone enjoys it though :wink:

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The final summit number 101


Finally reached the summit of Carn Liath & then it was downwards & downwards, returning over Na Cnapanan, when I first saw that I thought it was a typo, but have copied it off my OS map :lol:
The descent was fairly straightforward, however I daresay after a spot or two of rain it would be rather different, reached the car after 7 hours of bliss :D :D
For anyone who hasn't been out this way you really must pencil it in your diary, maybe I am looking through rose tinted glasses, as the weather made the walk even better than normal.
Hope you all enjoyed the photo's, next stop back to work tomorrow & bring on Glen Shiel :thumbup:
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Fife Flyer
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Re: 99, 100 & 101 Not Out

Postby MG1976 » Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:49 pm

Nice Report FF, and congratulations on passed the 100 mark. Some good pictures in there too. MG
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Re: 99, 100 & 101 Not Out

Postby simon-b » Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:14 pm

Congratulations, FF. It was nice of the cloud to lift, right on cue for your century celebration.
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Re: 99, 100 & 101 Not Out

Postby Collaciotach » Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:23 pm

Good pictures there a fine round :D
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Re: 99, 100 & 101 Not Out

Postby rockhopper » Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:45 pm

Congratulations on passing 100 :clap:
Such a great feeling when the clag lifts and you get weather like yours - cheers :)
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Re: 99, 100 & 101 Not Out

Postby Driftwood » Sun Jun 16, 2013 10:17 pm

I was one of those going the other way that day (anticlockwise, starting with Carn Liath) and can only agree, conditions were superb after the morning cloud just disappeared. I continued round the plateau after Creag Meagaidh itself, so missed the spot where everyone takes their photo - maybe that needs adding to edition 2 of the WH guidebook?

And, again, congratulations on your 100th (and beyond).
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Re: 99, 100 & 101 Not Out

Postby dooterbang » Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:55 pm

6.45am an early start :roll: ....did you sleep in :lol:

Well done on reaching the ton :clap:
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