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Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's


Postby Collaciotach » Sat Feb 01, 2014 11:08 am

Munros included on this walk: Càrn Dearg (Corrour)

Date walked: 30/01/2014

Time taken: 6 hours

Distance: 21 km

Ascent: 935m

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Coire Odhair is a place that has fascinated me for long as I can remember.

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Coire Odhair Steisan


In Gaidhealtachd terms it formed part of a boundary between the Clan Cameron and Clan Robertson lands , roughly where the West Highland Railway now makes its way from Rannoch Station to Corrour.

Tradition states that there were frequent clashes between the Cameron's and their Robertson neighbour's over the grazings in this now empty quarter , indeed Atholl's claymore still lies in the peat at the bottom of Lochan a Claidheimh between Rannoch and Coire Odhair .

A' rainig sinn aig ochd air leth uairean sa'mhadainn ...we arrived at 8.30am on the train from the black garrison to a very Wintery scene .

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An rathad sios


Our idea was to tackle Carn Dearg and Sgor na Gaibhre and be back for the train at 3.21pm ..... grand idea .....what could possible go wrong :wink:

My first inkling of doubt came as we trudged around Meall na Lice the snow was deep and tiring me out already !

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Meall Leitire Duibhe


Bha an iarmailt liath is dubh ca 'bheil na Grian ? ... the sky was very grey and dark with the summit fairly shrouded in thick white cloud as we crawled up Meall an Leitre Duibhe

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Sealltainn air cuil


We then hit a bit of luck there was a solitary figure about 20mins ahead of us ..breaking the trail :clap:

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lorg coise


Bha na sneadhda gle doimhneachd fhathast agus bha mi a fas sgith ..... still the going was very tough every time you lifted the foot a wee gamble ..knee deep or thigh deep !

Still an cu was making light work of it :D

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An Ghille Dubh


We reached the druim ...knackered and every step was hard work still maybe on the ridge the snow would firm up ?

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Sealltainn beaga


As we got higher the wind picked up and the atmosphere came to that white out without the snow kinda deal , very difficult to see so a good bearing and careful eye on the ground under your feet !

Air a mhullach aig ..... we reached the summit at 11.20am no views and a quick picture ,bearing to Sgor na Gaibhre and a thank you to the trail breaker who arrived just ahead of us :clap:

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Carn


I was beginning to question if I had time to capture the second of the day but only one way to find out ....off to the Mam Ban following the bearing directly so poor was the vision

We dropped down to the bealach by 12.00 and I started up the remaining 200mtrs to the summit of Gaibhre before reality dropped on me :D

I was never going to make this and catch the 3.21pm train was I ?

The alternative was summit and go for the 9.15pm train ,hang about for 4hrs or so at Corrour in January ,miss the last ferry and get home around midnight with work the following day ... no

We took an escape route down Coire Creagaich ,safe and not steep but boy the snow was deep :lol:

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Coire Creagaich


By this time it was clearing and the sun began to burn away the white as I stumbled ,sunk and swam my way down the coire and its copious amounts of the white stuff ...jeezo it was tiring !

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Na grian


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Boidheachd


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Air cuil


We eventually reached the tree line around 1.30pm hard, hard shift that was .....

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Sgith cuideachd


De a'nis ? ...... the long walk back up Loch Oisin to the station and boy is it a haul ,again ankle deep snow made it tedious going

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An rathad air a Lochan


Eventually we reached the top end of the Loch and time well it was very tight , I can hear that train a rolling down the track !

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An latha boideachd an drasda


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Air direadh ...... at long last we made it with 6mins to spare :shock:

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Dhachaidh !



Co dhui bha sin a latha againnsa ..... so that was our day , interesting to say the least and to be honest a complete rush !

I learned two things .. I'm over ambitious in snow and should have gone for Beinn na Lap but greed always gets the better of me , hills is like the booze always wanting one more :D

Bith mi air ais ... I ll be back !

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An cu
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Collaciotach
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby JimboJim » Sat Feb 01, 2014 12:57 pm

Nice report, photo's and your words struck a chord with me - hills is like the booze - or, perhaps a few other things I can think of - always wanting one more :lol:
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby monarchming » Sat Feb 01, 2014 4:51 pm

Great effort and well done! :clap: It's heavy going through the snow and glad you made your train on time :thumbup:
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby scottishkennyg » Sat Feb 01, 2014 4:57 pm

Nice one C and great timing for the train... :clap:
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby dogplodder » Sat Feb 01, 2014 8:15 pm

Think me and the mutt's'll keep this pair for the summer. 8)
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby PeteR » Sat Feb 01, 2014 8:23 pm

Some nice photos there :D I did these two from the Kinloch Rannoch road. Bit of a drive to get there, but a good alternative route :D

That soft deep snow you ploughed through can be a real grind :( Glad you got the one done and back to the train in time though :D
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby Johnny Corbett » Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:20 am

Good stuff. Thats the problem with relying on the train, it ain't gonna wait on you. I'm hoping to do Beinn a Lap & Leum Uilleum in between first and last train this year, preferable in Feb / March if we get a good cold crisp winters day. :D
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby Collaciotach » Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:32 am

Johnny Corbett wrote:Good stuff. Thats the problem with relying on the train, it ain't gonna wait on you. I'm hoping to do Beinn a Lap & Leum Uilleum in between first and last train this year, preferable in Feb / March if we get a good cold crisp winters day. :D


Aye Johnny tis a pain , Leum Uilleam looks a cracker :D
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby rockhopper » Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:11 am

Well done as it must've been tiring in the snow - even worse I guess when it brightens up later on but that's often the way of it. Enjoyed this area and do want to go back some time - cheers :)
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby Scotjamie » Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:49 pm

great report and photies...could feel myself reading it faster to see if you made the train
...what is Gaelic for knackered?
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Re: Coire Odhair s ' no fun the tale of two munro's

Postby Mountainlove » Mon Feb 03, 2014 3:37 pm

Oh well done for setting out :clap: and making the train back :shock: that would have been a disaster if you would have missed it...like you I know the feeling of being over ambitious in winter...snow can be sooo hard going!
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