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Meall a'Choire Leith & Meall nam Maigheach

Meall a'Choire Leith & Meall nam Maigheach


Postby yokehead » Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:52 pm

Munros included on this walk: Meall a' Choire Lèith

Corbetts included on this walk: Meall nam Maigheach

Date walked: 12/03/2009

Distance: 8.9 km

Ascent: 696m

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If, like I had last year, you climb Meall Corranaich but for some reason don’t get to Meall a’ Choire Leith on the same trip, this is a decent wee excursion to bag the munro and add a Corbett too. I started from the high point of the road just north of Lochan na Lairige. There’s parking space for 3 or 4 cars, walk back towards the lochan a bit and a rough path leads to the left into the boggy moorland. It was windy and showery as I drove and there was a heavy burst as I was changing, that was the last for a while though and the sun got through with clouds mostly above the peaks.

m1.jpg
the start

I contoured round Meall nan Eun then headed straight up the ridge to the Corbett, sloshing across bog and peat hags but it wasn’t too bad going. It is only a couple of km to go and ascent of around 220m to the Corbett so you feel like you’re cheating a bit. No, I didn’t feel like that really!

m2.jpg
joined photos of targets corbett left, munro right

The views that open out to the Lawers and Tarmachan ranges and the Glen Lyon hills are quite fine.

m3.jpg
Carn Gorm group of 4, Glen Lyon

m4.jpg
magnificent Tarmachan

m5.jpg
Framed Ben Lawers, An Stuc & Meall Garbh with Meall nam Maigheach cairn

There is a small cairn at the summit but there was no shelter from the wind so I headed straight down to the east. There were some large snow patches still about, especially on the steeper section halfway down so I put these to good use which speeded the descent and was good fun as ever. I headed for a bend in the river, directly below the summit of Meall a’ Choire Leith, intending a direct assault.

m6.jpg
heading down through the snow to the valley

However the river, whilst not wide, was fairly deep and fast flowing from the melt water so I walked about half a km upstream before crossing and stopping for lunch. It was completely sheltered from the wind here and a lovely spot in this valley, a perfect accompaniment to my chicken soup, sandwiches and scotch egg. Makes me hungry just thinking about it, food tastes so good in that setting! As usual I dallied for quite a while but finally hauled the sack on for the next leg.

m7.jpg
delightful valley burn

I must say that the climb to the summit seemed to be a real slog and not one that I much enjoyed. It didn’t look too steep on the map but was the sort of terrain where you can’t keep your foot flat so I resorted to zig zagging, side stepping and too many stops for breath, I want to get much fitter than this. The cairn did appear eventually but offered no shelter so a quick photo and I moved down since a squall was imminent.

m9.jpg
Meall a'Choire Leith cairn

I headed south west to contour around Meall Corranaich’s ridge, aiming for the faint path I’d spotted earlier. The squall arrived and I was lashed by an evil mix of hail and rain for about 10 minutes, this slackened a little by the time I crossed the Coire Gorm stream at the obvious spot. The path gives fast going and led to a small dam that isn’t marked on the map. The going was very wet; I flowed down the hill along with most of the hillside it seemed. The dam enabled me to cross the stream just below it otherwise there would have been a walk upstream.

m10.jpg
dam heading back

From here it is a squelch through the bog again, at one point I came across a narrow 2 metre deep hole with a stream at the bottom and half covered with drifted snow, showing that care is needed in this type of terrain. I regained the path and zoomed back to the car.
Last edited by yokehead on Fri Sep 07, 2018 10:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
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yokehead
 
Posts: 706
Munros:73   Corbetts:9
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Hewitts:118
Wainwrights:23   
Joined: Nov 13, 2008

Re: Meall a'Choire Leith & Meall nam Maigheach

Postby cjwaugh » Sat Mar 14, 2009 9:13 pm

Thanks that's a handy one yokehead i,m off to climb the two Munroe's tomorrow and was wondering if the single track road was clear of snow it looks fine another nice report cheers :D
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cjwaugh
 
Posts: 304
Munros:282   Corbetts:36
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Joined: Jan 23, 2009
Location: Whitburn

Re: Meall a'Choire Leith & Meall nam Maigheach

Postby yokehead » Sat Mar 14, 2009 9:15 pm

Yep road is completely clear, enjoy your day.
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yokehead
 
Posts: 706
Munros:73   Corbetts:9
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Hewitts:118
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Re: Meall a'Choire Leith & Meall nam Maigheach

Postby Freewheelin » Sun Mar 15, 2009 2:21 am

there's been a fair thaw in the last week - was doin' Tarmachan on 8th in gale, white outs, and spindrift that stung like hell.
Freewheelin
 
Posts: 307
Munros:184   Corbetts:32
Fionas:7   Donalds:21
Joined: Jan 23, 2009
Location: Motherwell

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