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With only 1 day off work for John this weekend, we planned a trip up to Affric to meet up with Campbell (Meatball) for the central Munros in Glen Affric. Sue Back signed up shortly afterwards for her return trip to Scotland, then Campbell bailed lol So, with a plan to camp around Chisholm Bridge we arranged to meet up with Sue late on Friday night.
We arrived about 11pm and ventured up to the car park at the end of the road for a look. Lots of cars/vans/campers already parked up and some very nice public loos
We headed back down to the bridge, spotted a car matching Sues description, with a note on the windscreen addressed to me
Finally spotted her tent off down the track past the bridge, near the lochside. Since there were no signs of life and it was pretty late, we opted to just get ourselves a wee pitch and settle for the night. We had already arranged to set off around 7am.
First pitch of our tent, on long grass was a bit dodgy, John asked if I could smell death!
Worried there may be some small dead animal in or under the long grass around the tent, we shifted it nearer the track. (Got in to the tent and the smell may have been coming from the MILLIONS of dead midgies, not yet scraped off from the last trip lol)
Kit all ready for the next day and in the car, nothing for it but to open a wee bottle of beer/cider. Still very light and a breeze coming in from the loch kept the pesky biters at bay (for now) Bed before midnight.
Alarm went off about 6am, couple of snoozes then a wake up call from Sue on her way past to eat her porridge in the car, yep,,midges were out in force, we could see them mustering outside the air vents on the tent. Clouds of them.
Cleared the tent, gear in the car and brewed up a wee coffee with some munchies for breakfast. Leaving the tent to air a bit we could take it down before we drove home this evening. With a 2 car trick we left Johns car up at the end of the road for our return, save a couple of km on the road, with Sues back at the start. 7:34am, headed off down the track.
- On the track way in, Sue still guarding against the mighty midge!
The weather forecast was for cloud but no rain and it had certainly stayed dry overnight but with the wind down, midgy nets were on as we set out. Following the line of the Gleann nan Fiadh we passed through a lightly wooded area, by some lovely waterfalls then came out on to the open ground under Beinn a Mheadhoin. Bit of bog trotting here but the sun was out and the clouds were high. Good day in prospect.
- Path getting boggier
- Waterfall and a deep dark pool
As the path arcs round West our first target hill comes in to view. A quick check of the map and we could see our route up to a grassy shoulder before heading up to Garbh Bealach. Bit of a plod up here, climbing from about 550mtrs to around 900 at the Bealach. We had spotted someone behind us but they stopped more than I do lol so they didn't gain much on us.
- Sron Garbh hiding under the cloud as we head up to the bealach
- John on the rocky road
Reaching the bealach, we stopped for a snack, having been on the go for a few hours by now, then packed up and headed up the rocky slope to Sron Garbh. Looking up, it was very rough and scrambly but a good path wound its way between the rocks and fenceposts to bring us out on the 1131 top of Sron Garbh, pretty high for what is just a Munro top.
- Sue on her way up the last section to Sron Garbh
The clouds had dropped a bit and were blowing around us so the views came and went. Time for some navigation practice then lol Took a bearing to the West and a flat area at 1107 mtrs, red in the bed, checked the direction and yep,,cloud had cleared and we could see our objective.
The wander round the ridge was an easy one, ticking off the tops of Stob Coire Dhomhnuill, North to Stob a Choire Dhomhain, all over 1100mtrs but not feeling like Munro height. After a flat section, we climbed the last short slope to the West and up to Carn Eige.
- View over to Sgurr na Lapaich and our descent route
- On over to the pinnacles before Carn Eige
- Classy rock formations
- First views over to Beinn Fionnlaidh
The wind had been blowing in and had a touch of ice so we had layered up a bit, I left the gloves off but it took a while to get any heat back in the fingers. Reached the summit, highest in this region at 1183mtrs, with a cylindrical trig in a handy wee shelter. The clouds still swirling but we had great views over Tom and Tol the the East and to a recent trip to the North over Loch Mullardoch and pretty sure that was the Cuillin on Skye to the West.
- Top of Carn Eige and time for a sarny
No sign of the person behind us catching up as we checked the map and our route out to Beinn Fhionnlaidh. Descending North West we saw some tiny people (far away, not little
) on the top of BF and 1, then another come in under Carn Eige and head over towards Stob Coire Lochan, for remote hills, they were certainly busying up. I'm pretty sure there's a proper path all the way down to SCL but we ended up picking our way over a boulder field, as another person came round from the West below us.
- Over the boulder field to Beinn Fhionnlaidh
- Passing above Stob Coire Lochan
By the time we got to Bealach Beag, a couple of groups were on their way down. John stopped to chat to two gents about hills, where they were heading etc and I used this time to make up some distance, he and Sue wouldn't take long to catch me up lol. The distance to BF is longer on the ground than it looked from Carn Eige but its a clear easy path following the crags on the right.
- Loch Mullardoch
Reaching the top of the steeper section, the summit has a flat plateau with the cairn at the North end, 1105mtrs and the smallest of todays trio. Despite a crowd having already headed off, there was another group still there. On reaching the cairn, had a chat and found out they had been dropped off by Angus, the Mullardoch Ferryman and were heading over the hills to Affric. Lucky they asked us about skirting round the top ahead to reach Carn Eige, that top WAS Carn Eige lol close call to missing it. Nice clear views and another snack break.
- Lunch stop on Beinn Fhionnlaidh, John showing off his Ginsters lol
- Munro #95
- Can't beat a wee selfie
Our next target, Mam Sodhail was clear to the West of Carn Eige as we retraced our route back to Stob Coire Lochan. At this point we had seen probably up to 15 people in the bowl between the 3 hills and others up on the summit of MS and another couple appeared below us on their way up BF.
- 3rd target of the day, Mam Sodhail
Initially following the path we then spread out across the hillside like a search party, not sure if there was a path here but we just each picked our own way round what was quite a steep slope. A bit of a way across, the rain came on, looked like it might stick around so waterproof jackets out!! , wasn't heavy rain but better to stay dry. 2 figures came off the top and headed over to Carn Eige and the 5 guys from Beinn Fhionnlaidh were crossing in the opposite direction as we reached the ridge above Loch Uaine. The views to the South here were impressive.
- View south from the ridge between Carn Eige and Mam Sodhail
From here the climb steepens up to the cairn at Mam Sodhail, but was easily done on a zig zag path through the rocks. A group on their way down were doing our route in reverse and considering it was after 3pm and they were just coming off their first hill, they would be having a late one I think
Thankfully, as you reach the top of the hillside, the (HUGE) summit cairn is sitting right there. We heard the cairn could be climbed down into. I envisaged some sort of Mesolithic chambered cairn lol yes, its an impressive cairn, about 7ft high and very broad. On clambering up, the void in the middle is a 3-4ft deep square, great shelter I'm sure but I wasn't about to call Tony Robinson and the Time Team crew lol
- The crucifix pose on Mam Sodhail
- "I can see the pub from here!"
Few summit pics, more food and a great look to our ascent from the start of the day. Even better, as we headed off South West over the plateau top, the ridge of our descent appeared before us, reaching straight out to the Loch and Glen ahead. The map showed a path running under the ridge to the West, following the Allt Coire Leachavie but on two points, this would have brought us down much further from the car park at the road end and also, we would miss what looked like a terrific ridge walk. As we headed down towards Mullach Cadha Rainich, the cloud moved in from the West and obscured all views down the valley floor but our route of ascent was clear. So far, these hills hadn't really felt like the big hills they are but as we got better views of the rocky slopes of CE and BF, further in the distance now looking bigger from this angle, the Munros took on their proper status.
A great path takes you over the undulating ridge towards Sgurr na Lapaich where a strange formation shows a dropped ridge line which looked pretty steep and a bit daunting for the last part of the day (wasn't that bad though) Sgurr na Lapaich, was demoted from Munro status to a Top (at a mere 1036 mtrs!) by Sir Hugh Munro himself, in 1921 for his second reviewed edition. ( He died before completing this)
- Our descent stretches out before us
- Heading up to Sgurr na Lapaich
The trek up to Lapaich was the first time today I'd used my marker strategy, aiming only at the next prominent rock etc, to chip away at the distance to the top. As ever, this helps to cut the distance into manageable chunks and sooner than expected the ground levelled out and the cairn lay ahead. Quick touch and off again as the path heads South East. A bit of that low cloud kicked in here as we skirted the top of the North facing crags. John was on a mission now and was way off ahead. After a long day so far, my knee started to twinge a bit but kept an eye on it and didn't break into any mad runs lol. Sue and I picked our way down, initially on a path but eventually just making our way over the ground, some bog but nothing we couldn't stretch over. The ground here rises and falls a bit so like a wee boat on the sea, we lost sight of John between the waves, only to pick him up again as we rose to the top of the next crest.
Checking the map and the ground ahead, we could see a sharp curve of a light coloured track, heading down to Affric Lodge. This was our goal for now and we headed off behind John. A look back over our shoulders to the descent shows Lapaich as a fine big hill and I feel, still worthy of Munro status,, pesky Mr Munro lol
- Affric appearing under the cloud
John waited for us on the curve of the track and worryingly, as we arrived, he had the midgy net on but they were only a problem if you stood still,,so, guess what? we didn't stand still and headed off down the track. It meanders down and round the hillside towards the Lodge and associated buildings. On getting further down, this whole wee settlement looks pristine, very tidy, clear and manicured. Reaching the track at a little after 6pm, we were looking at an 11hr day. Walking down by the lochside, the midgies were on the prowl again so we all had the nets on again. The last 1.25Km from track to car was the only point where my legs started to suffer, tired and with a mind of their own lol. Saw the car park off through the trees and with a wee scoot down a path to the bridge and picnic tables, up through the trees, we arrived quicker than if we had stuck to the road. Back to the lovely public loo's very handy at this time of the day.
- Midgie net at the ready
Back to Chisholm Bridge to take the tent down, now raining which was quite refreshing but so much for airing the tent (and we had left the zip up on the front section!) Quick change of clothes, watched some others setting up their tents, god help them, under trees in the shelter of the bridge,,they will be EATEN ALIVE
Quick cheerio to Sue, nice to see her again and wished her well on her trips planned for the next few days and we headed off back to Glasgow. 4 hr drive (cheers John) after an 11 hr hill day. All round, a great day on smashing hills, didn't expect to see the large numbers of people out there. Another 3 blue balloons for me, up to 96 now and John has now hit 232, only 50 more to go John, the end is in sight.
