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To take advantage of what the Cluanie Inn has to offer on the food/beer side we decided to park the car in the car park alongside the pub, tell the powers that be of our intentions and then have our evening meal at the pub. So we walked to the beginning of this route along the road which added 40 mins or so to the W.H timing but it was a good leg warmer.
The walk uphill is a slog, there's no other way to describe it,
- It's steep but' wow!
but if you get yourself into a steady plod and just keep going you do eventually gain the ridge and from here the walk upto the first summit is pleasant and relaxing.
- Views opening up
We had mist yet again for this section but the path is excellant and even in the mist with the odd view it is really quite enjoyable.
At the summit the mist was well down and an enthusiastic breeze was blowing making it feel a bit on the cool side.
- Denise making sure that cairn does'nt move
From the massive summit cairn the path is really good for the remainder of the walk with no concerns about route finding, even in the mist.
- The way forward
- Zooming in on the mist
The route over to the subsidury summit of Stob Coire na Cralaig was plain enough all the way and there is a small pile of stones marking the top. From the top of this lump the path narrows and starts to become a bit steeper, if there were no clouds down here I can imagine this section of the walk being very scenic indeed and coupled with a wee bit of exposure quite dramatic as well.When you arrive at the Bealach above Coire Odhar you can spot the little cairn marking the top of the route down,as you pass this the path starts it's ascent up Mullach Fraoch-Choire, we decided not to tackle the pinnacles because of the mist so took the bypass path instead, this path looked like it was ready to collapse in parts but seemed solid enough when we walked on it but I can imagine that it may not hold after too many freeze/thaw cycles.All the way to the summit the path raises steadily never causing any concern, it is well worn and without the mist it's probably quite airy. The summit is soon arrived at and here there is another well constructed cairn and a well built shelter to have your lunch in.
- Summit cairn on Mullach Fraoch-choire
- And the shelter
Being sheltered from the breeze we took our time on top, the first time this week we felt no need to hurry, it was warm and kept getting brighter but still those pesky clouds refused to budge.
We eventually set off down,
- On the way down to the Bealach Odhar
found the cairn marking the top of the path and started on what was a loose and eroded path, soon this became more boggy and crossed a small snow field, from here there were signs of a path here and there but it only got more defined the lower we got.
- Our views on the way down over to Glen Affric
- Back to the pinnacles
- And we were being watched
When we got to the boggy bowl of Coire Odhar there is a better path, turn left and continue until a Landrover track is reached, follow this well constructed track all the way to the road and the start off point.
- The view back to Ciste Dubh
- The same viewpoint but at a much wider angle
There are some closer parking spots for this walk to shorten our version, infact there's a good one just by the bridge over the Allt a' Chaorainn Mhoir on the A87.
This is a really good mountain walk with plenty of variety, it has good paths with no problems,again, for us, the mist spoilt it as far as the views were concerned,but, so what,we were in a fantastic place and that alone made it for us.