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Munros: Meall na Teanga
Grahams: Glas Bheinn
Date: 24/06/2013.
Distance: 20 km
Ascent: 1670m
Time taken: 6 hours 40 minutes.
Weather: Cool and sunny - showers on main summit.
The last day of my short intrusion onto my parents' holiday, and I had arranged for us to meet my wife for a meal in Drumnadrochit (which would oh so conveniently sort out my lift home
). This meant an 'early' start if we were to manage a walk anywhere. Not early by normal standards though - it was quite a trial to get them to leave Onich before 10:30 am!
Mum wanted to do the section of the Great Glen way from Gairlochy to Kilfinnan (she is trying to do it all, albeit not on consecutive days) and dad wanted some views from Meall na Teanga, which he didn't get last time. My previous ascent of Meall na Teanga had also been pretty forgettable, and I also wanted to go up Glas Bheinn, as I'd failed to include it with the adjacent Corbetts previously. So this all worked out well, with a less conventional approach from Clunes also in the bargain.
Nevis Range across Loch Lochy:
Dad and I set off up a zigzagging forestry track just before midday, and passed through the customary felled area (everywhere in Lochaber seems to be ripe for felling just now). We managed to find a fairly pleasant route just inside the trees up the edge of some felling, which led us onto the open hillside without too much pain.
Serious felling above Clunes:
Grey Corries:
The going was a little steep and heathery (and remarkably pathless for a red route in the Munro guide), but much easier going than some of my other walks this holiday. The views opened up gradually (being particularly good over the Grey Corries) and we decided to stop for lunch just after the summit of Leac Chorrach.
Gulvain and a bit of Loch Arkaig:
Aonach Mor and Ben Nevis:
Loch Arkaig from Leac Chorrach:
After negotiating a very small area of peat hags, the going up to the summit of Meall Coire Lochan was easy, over short grass. We came up against Coire Lochan very suddenly, with good views down to the Lochan, then straight into Loch Lochy.
Meall Odhar and Meall Coire Lochan from Leac Chorrach:
Grey Corries to the Ben:
Down to Beinn a Bheithir and Loch Linnhe:
Dad on the climb to Meall Coire Lochan:
Meall Coire Lochan and Meall na Teanga:
Loch Lochy:
From the summit, there is a nice section of narrowish ridge to Meall na Teanga - much nicer than the path up from the top of the Cam Bealach. Despite poor weather on my previous visit, I'd actually wandered over to Meall Coire Lochan and back as it looked interesting.
Ridge to Meall na Teanga:
Showers over Kintail - Am Bathach really distinct for some reason:
Descending NE ridge of Meall Coire Lochan:
...and up to Meall na Teanga:
Unfortunately, cold wind and a shower hit us on the summit, but the views were still extensive. We were going to have another stop, but it had been over 3 1/2 hours since we'd left the car and I needed to get a move on in order to include Glas Bheinn.
North to Sron a Choire Ghairbh:
...with Meall Fuar Mhonaidh sticking out behind:
Back to Meall Coire Lochan:
On the way back to Meall Coire Lochan, I left Dad and decided to move at a faster pace. We were both going to drop into the top of Gleann Cia-aig, but while he was just going to follow it back to the road, I had another 450m or so of ascent on the other side.
Meall Coire Lochan from the west:
The ridge out over Meall Odhar was delightfully grassy and easy going, and the descent into Gleann Cia-aig was straightforward. I climbed a deer fence at the bottom and crossed a bridge. One of our family walks when I was in my early teens had seen us do a complete circumnavigation of Glas Bheinn.
North to Loch Garry:
As a couple of forum users had mentioned in the past, Meall nan Tagraidh is probably the most impressive looking summit in the glen.
Meall na h-Eilde and Meall nan Tagraidh:
Sron a Choire Ghairbh from Gleann Cia-aig:
The wind had dropped, so the ascent of Glas Bheinn felt much hotter and slower, although it didn't really take that long at all. For some reason I didn't get onto the NE ridge properly, and ended up traversing upwards endlessly underneath it, which added to the illusion slightly.
Grey Corries from the ascent of Glas Bheinn:
There was a large herd of deer on the summit, but they scarpered onto the east face before I could get too close.
Approaching the summit of Glas Bheinn:
Light conditions were much better here than on Meall na Teanga, so I had another stop to admire the view down Loch Arkaig. The weather was looking rather threatening at the west end, but it still made me want to take another visit to Knoydart. That would have to wait for another week though.
Showers over Glen Mallie:
...and the whole south shore of Loch Arkaig:
Sron a Choire Ghairbh from Glas Bheinn:
Loch Arkaig from the top:
Beinn Bhan:
Meall na h-Eilde and Meall nan Targaidh:
I was unsure what line to take back. Dropping into Gleann Cia-aig seemed unappealing due to the amount of felling going on down there that I would need to cross. In the end, I spied a line of power cables going along the top of the treeline on the west side of the glen. This dropped down to the road through a firebreak. I decided to aim for that. I was running a bit late now, so I made a pretty quick descent.
Upper Gleann Cia-aig:
The break was easy going high up, but it soon got steeper and rockier, and became choked with old tree trunks and bracken. Eventually I popped out on the road immediately opposite the Glen Mallie track. Despite the last bit being tough, I had only taken 40 minutes to get down to the road from the summit. I was still short of time though, and knew that I would be late for dinner unless I ran back along to Clunes. I couldn't be bothered, so decided to walk instead.
Following the power lines to the road:
Eas Cia-aig:
I soon caught up with Dad, who had just come down a forestry track out of Gleann Cia-aig. He said that the forestry walks around the waterfalls had been covered in felled trees, and were practically impossible to follow now. We walked together down the Mile Dorcha, although the sun was now out and it didn't seem that dark at all.
Not-so-dark mile back to the car:
Once back at the car, I called Gill and made my usual apologies, then managed to put our meal back by half an hour. She wasn't too annoyed for a change. Then it was just a case of picking mum up at Laggan Locks and speeding on up to Drum.
I didn't even set foot in Ardgour (which had been my main aim this weekend) but it turned out to be a really enjoyable long weekend.
