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Hello everyone, my first walk report on walkhighlands
Whoever I talked to about the 3 Munros from Newtonmore had the same thing to say: Prepare for bog fest and that there is hardly a walk in the highlands that boggy. Well, I have seen a bit of bog in my lifetime and was not really looking forward to a day filled with bog, peat hags and wet feet.
But there is a very good thing in being a Munro bagger.... You cannot give in to thoughts like "too boggy, can't be bothered"
So off I went, not long after the carpark and after a Stalker 4WD track that had already lulled me into believing I could be making good progress today I crossed the footbridge and through some bog, but nothing major, started climbing the hill. I later talked to a local who said that it is far easier to ignore the FB and continue up Allt a`Chaorainn before making for a more direct ascent of the first Munro of the day, A Chailleach.
I reached the and summit with my toes still dry, what a luxury!
I then did not bother with walking around the Allt Cuil Na Caillich and made almost a beeline for the summit pf Carn Sgulain. From then on, navigation gets easy - well, with visibility still good, it was easy anyway - and the route to Carn Dearg makes for lovely walking with lots of hare, an eagle (made the day special) and grouse for company.
When I reached Carn Dearg I was looking down into the maze of bog and peat hags that was meant to be the route back if I were to follow the route description.
Doggy looking at the peat hags too:
Over a well-earned rest I studied the map and found a route that looked good on paper and it turned out to be a bit wet underfoot in places but not boggy and I did not come across any peat hags at all: I walked S from the summit down to the Col between Carn Dearg and CarnMacoul , turned E and descended into Allt Ballach, forded the brook near the old farmstead and then followed the path back to the carpark.
What a fantastic day in fantastic weather conditions!
