Attractive start to the walk
P1000225 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000226 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Waterproofs on and off we set, past piles of stony stuff and earth moving machinery. The track through the trees is steep and covered in fresh snow. We passed a couple of dinky little caterpillar tracked vehicles which had a retro James Bond villain type look to them. A break in the trees allowed some views up to Beinn a'Ghlo hills, before everything was swallowed in clag. As we gained altitude the depth of snow at the side of the road was a reminder about just how much has fallen high up this winter. Still enveloped in clag we came to the turn off point for the brief ascent to Meall Tairneachan but could see nothing on the way up, nor at the summit. Following our own footsteps we descended again to the track and headed down into the mines...
James Bond Villain Vehicles
P1000227 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000269 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Track
P1000228 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Towards Beinn a'Ghlo
P1000229 by 23weasels, on Flickr
A bit desolate...
P1000231 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000232 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000234 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Top of Meall Tairneachan
P1000238 by 23weasels, on Flickr
The stony road that heads down was covered in sheet ice - damn gritters obviously hadn't been doing their job this morning
I briefly thought about putting crampons on to get me down but decided that would be being a wuss. Got a bit lost as to which track to take in the quarry - no-one about at all, just an assortment of machines idling around. At one point a snow hare appeared from out of a block of quick-lime bags and scudded off into the mist. Trudging through snow, sometimes with enough of an icy crust to take our weight, sometimes not we headed on out of the mines, still on the track which became rougher before petering out altogether. GPS said we headed approx east into the clag. So we went off...snow drifts, heather and bog with the occasional stream to cross. The wind was steadily strengthening as we approached Farragon Hill and indeed, as we gained the final 50metres to the summit was strong enough to blow you over - I was glad that we'd been sheltered from the full blast for most of the walk. Up at the top we found a whole collection of small coloured stones and beads at the cairn. Ducked round to the leeward side to eat lunch then set about the return leg. As we headed back over the marshy terrain the clag steadily cleared, meaning that we could see where we were headed, rather than pushing blindly into mist. We could also, looking back, see Farragon Hill, which looked quite impressive. Ice road to the mines...
P1000241 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000244 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Trackless bog in clag...
P1000246 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Top of Farragon
P1000248 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Visibility improving
P1000254 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Farragon Hill
P1000255 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Back to the quarry, and with the mist lifted we could see even more bits and bobs of machinery. Also passed the opening of a mine shaft which we'd completely missed on the way past earlier, and I went in for a wee explore - Allison keeping herself out of bother at the entrance. Back along the track, views to Shiehallion opening up and even some sunshine on the banks of Loch Rannoch. Was turning into a better day than forecast. As we returned to the car, all the new snow along the track had melted and it seemed there was a major thaw on. Drove back to Coshieville then along the Glen Lyon road. Remembered that I hadn't packed any porridge for the morning and, seeing the Post Office / Shop at Bridge of Balgie decided to stop and see if they had any...after all it is described as "Inside an Aladdin's cave of all sorts of food, household items and gifts, as well as a post office. Gallons of tea at a very fair price and delicious almond cake - well deserved whether you have climbed a Munro or not" It may well have been, but a sign outside said "closed 5th November" so we didn't find out. Porridgeless we drove on along Glen Lyon, and very pretty it was too. Arriving at Pubil we could see a huge jet of water coming from the Hydro dam at Lubreoch Power Station. We parked in a layby just before the dam itself and found a suitable place for the tent, then walked down to investigate the dam. Great roaring as the water spewed out of the overflow. met some of the collies from the farm nearby, who effortlessly vaulted their fence to come and greet us. Headed back to the tent for noodles and chickpea curry.
Quarry road
P1000257 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000258 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Mine opening
P1000259 by 23weasels, on Flickr
inside
P1000260 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Sick "Scaredy-Cat Kid"
P1000261 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Windfarm in blue
P1000263 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Meall Tairneachan
P1000265 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Shiehallion
P1000266 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Loch Rannoch
P1000267 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000271 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Shop with helpful opening hours...
P1000273 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Dam
P1000275 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000279 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000280 by 23weasels, on Flickr
A very wild and windy night indeed - was worried that the tent might try to get airborne at points, but of course it stayed put. Didn't get much sleep however with the tent walls quaking under big buffets of wind. Managed to find some hot & spicy couscous to have for breakfast
and prepared for our walk. Up by the head of the dam and then up steep grassy slopes to join the track...to find that most of the height we'd gained was to be lost again as the path wound downward - don't you just hate that...More steep grassy slope ascending brought us up to flattish boggy area with big patches of soft wet sugary snow. The occasional deer watched on as we waded slowly forward. Got to the head of Coire nan Aighean and bum-slid down to the line of fence posts that would guide us up Meall Buidhe. Steady ascent over grass, becoming snow as we gained height. The wind also got up, with rain blasting into our faces it was goggles time. The final 30m up to the top of MB was entirely in white-out clag, where it was impossible to distinguish snow from sky. Finally sighting the cairn and posing for a pic, Sick Kid pipes up - "why does that cairn look higher?" and indeed there was another cairn a few metres higher up - just as well she spotted it. So summit selfie take two. Dam
P1000282 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000284 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Up the slopes
P1000285 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Watcher
P1000287 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Meall Buidhe
P1000290 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Towards Gleann Daimh
P1000291 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Summit MB
P1000292 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000296 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Heading back down to the bealach for lunch we could make out something of where we had to head next. Re-traced our tracks up to the 709m spot only to realise that we should actually have headed down into the valley rather than ascending Creag a'Chaorainn...ach well what's another hundred or so metres of unnecessary ascent over potentially avalanche prone terrain
Looking back over to Sron a Mhill Bhuidhe was could see a sizeable avalanche that had fallen. another bit of dodgy terrain coming over the north crags of Ca'C before starting on the slopes up to Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich - looked like we'd get most of the way up without having to track over dodgy snow. And the ascent was gentler than it had looked from lower down - just a steady pull up to the summit. Views to Loch an Daimh and the steep cliffs surrounding it. The it was just an easy stroll down the south shoulder of SaCC, little snow, quite a bit of bog. At one point we could crumbling cornice on Meallan Odhar, looking towards Stuc an Lochain. A pleasant saunter took us down to the Allt Phubhill and back to a concrete track, then through the settlement of Pubil itself. A short walk back along to the car, water still jetting from the dam overflow and a quiet drive back home. Quite pleased with the weekend - Saturday's hills were a good choice for bad weather, Sunday's were just a good walk.Avalanche
P1000298 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich
P1000299 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Nearing the top
P1000302 by 23weasels, on Flickr
To Meall Odhar & Stuc an Lochain
P1000304 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Loch an Daimh
P1000305 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000306 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000307 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Descent route
P1000308 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Collapsing cornice
P1000310 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Allt Phuibhill
P1000312 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Pubil
P1000314 by 23weasels, on Flickr
Gate ornament
P1000315 by 23weasels, on Flickr
P1000316 by 23weasels, on Flickr
hoping to do the glen lyon ones soon
