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Parked up at the Lawers Hotel and the walked down towards Machuim. I had some difficulties here in picking up the right path and by the time I'd sorted myself out, I'd put extra, height, distance and time on my trip. Not clever! Once on the right track Meall Greigh 1001 (3280') and Meall Garbh 1118 (3661') were traversed easily, if monotonously enough. As I set off for An Stuc things improved somewhat. Mist swirled in and as I set off up the sleep slope on a narrow windy track where I needed to do some mild scrambling, it started thundering around me. Very atmospheric! An Stuc has a nice little summit 1118 (3643) and I reluctantly left it to decend another, though not as steep, slope down to the far col. Frankly, I didn't fancy the steep, very narrow track from there down to Lochan nan Cat at all. It was wet, visibility poor and I'd not been here before. I also suspect that it is a track that doesn't see too much use. On my own, and in these conditions, It felt a little intimidating. I'd seen just two other people all day. Taking my time, I picked my way down carefully between the little crags and it was with some relief that I dropped out of the mist to see the lochan below. Once reached, the going became much more straightforward and I made easy progress back to the Lawers Hotel. Another pint, meal and a different fine malt to look forward to. A short while after I'd arrived Simon, with whom I'd traversed the other peaks in the Ben Lawers range two days earlier, came in. He'd just done the same peaks, by the same route, just a short while behind me. Another excellent day.
