free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Last year I managed to catch my husband on his Corbetts, but one illusive Graham remained between us. Carn Gorm, the wee hill above Cannich. Kevin used to live in the village, so it's not a surprise that he had been to the top of this hill, not even realizing it was a listed summit. We've been planning a visit to Carn Gorm for a few years, but wanted to do it in winter conditions, as it's only a half-day's walk and just 20 min drive from home. Typical "quickie in the neighbourhood"
All guides suggest a route from Craskie or from the north (Strathfarrar), but we opted for the easiest approach straight from Cannich. This idea had been explored before by other walkhighlanders, so we didn't invent anything new here. Kevin said he remembered from his previous visits to the hill that it was "boggy moorland everywhere", but I hoped that the recent cold spell froze all the bog solid. We were ready for extensive snow coverage, but got more than we expected
The route started from the layby just outside Cannich. Walked 500m east along A831 to an open gate, where a boggy track starts up the hillside.
The entrance:
To begin with, it's easy going up the slope. In summer time this area would be overgrown with bracken, so just as well we came here in winter
The track follows the edge of the forest, after a short distance it takes a swing to the right, with views down to Strathglass opening up nicely:
Higher up, the track dives into the birchwoods and becomes quite a boggy adventure, tuft-hopping skills required. We reached a closed gate at about 250m. This one has a board with stalking info on it: official stalking season from 15 sept to 15 feb, good to know we were just past the shooting season
The track became even more bumpy as it continued up and through younger pine forest, eventually leading to a second gate - or what's left of it. Deer footprints were everywhere and I thought no wonder it's pure stalking country. Indeed, during our outing we saw deer popping out everywhere... We are so fed up with them that we don't bother photographing them any more
A single young male posing for Kevin:
Sad remnants of the second gate. From now on, it's just bog, heather, snow and hard workout!
Black Panther in white surrounding:
We continued our climb by following the boggy track for a short distance, but soon gave it up for easier marching on pristine snow... The world was so white as we gained height
Somewhere under that snow are running streams, we heard them but couldn't see them...
The higher we climbed, the more pristine the snow, it was like walking in the magic world of vanilla ice cream!
We aimed for Carn an t-Sionnaich for a short time, but as snow was getting deeper and our progress slowed down, we decided to go straight to the main summit and not waste our time on visiting outlying tops. Having reached the height of about 400m, we stopped for a short snack break. Kevin took the opportunity to play with panoramic option on his camera. At the moment we were still in a small dip created by the stream Allt Coillte, so the views were restricted to the surrounding tops:
We could see four different tops around us and even in good weather the landscape was confusing. I can imagine that in misty conditions finding the highest bump could be quite a challenge!
Lumpy bumps, bumpy lumps, but which one is the summit?
Windfarms!!!! Everywhere we go, there must be wind turbines in sight somewhere!!!
GPS proved useful in identifying the correct top to aim for and as we walked out onto the higher ground, views opened up to the western side, the edge of Affric hills:
Panorama:
Photo below: the right bump
Despite looking high enough, this is not the summit we're looking at, only the top of a shoulder leading to the summit, only 500m in height. The true summit lies further away, another 170m of ascent in knee-deep white stuff!
We slowed down simply because we were sweating. The snow cover was very deep in places and it meant hard work and occasional getting stuck like raisins in cake. Kevin complained about snow getting under his gaiters. We tried to follow the line of vegetation and in places it worked - at least when I posed for this picture, it seems that the snow is hardly up to my ankles:
...but the photo is misleading. From the 507m shoulder to the very summit of Carn Gorm it was more swimming in snow than walking
Especially on steeper sections we found the white stuff very unstable. Thankfully, this is a rather benign hill with gently angled slopes most of the time, so no avalanche risk. We giggled and joked all the way up
Summit in sight!
A few patches of cloud gathered to the north and west from us, but we were in bright sun for time being and with the white freshness of snow added to the equation... Just fantastic!
Looking west to Affric hills from the last dip before the true summit:
Lucy's 51st Graham!
It was a new summit for me, too (84th Graham) but a repeat for Kevin, who couldn't believe he has been caught by a panther
So now to the views. Carn Gorm might not be an inspirational hill, but it's nicely situated at the edge of Glen Cannich, with good position just east and south of the big ridges around Loch Mullardoch and Loch Monar. Especially the Strathfarrar Munros can be seen in their full splendour
In winter condition, as white as it was that day, we simply couldn't stop gazing at the surrounding mountains!
Happy Panther who caught her man by his Grahams
Glen Affric hills:
The north side of Glen Cannich, Sgurr na Diollaid in the foreground:
Zoom to the summit of Sgurr na Diollaid:
Strathfarrar Munros:
Zoomed:
Cloud passing over the white slopes:
Upper Strathglass:
We spent far too much time on the summit, but as long as we had good light and enough time to spare for the descent, we could linger and admire the white landscape. At some point, we noticed a large cloud carrying a nasty-looking snow shower approach from the west, but it missed us and passed over the other side of Strathfarrar:
Eventually, we began our descent, not bothering to find our earlier footprints, just running down the pristine snow, sometimes getting stuck in the soft powder
Overall, proper winter fun!
On the way down:
One last glimpse west to upper Glen Cannich - weather was coming in but we managed to get a hill under the belt without getting caught in the storm!
Hopping down the soft snow:
We returned to the broken gate and retraced our steps through the birchwoods, down to the road. It started raining just as we walked back along the tarmac to the car, we timed our little outing very well
......
It was a true winter wander, maybe not very ambitious but in given conditions last week, it was safer to pick a shorter route rather than risking getting into trouble on snow-covered Munros. I can recommend this Graham as a nice climb for a shorter day, but in warmer times it would be quite wet. Also, in misty conditions, the multitude of lumps and bumps might be confusing. Worth saving for a sunny day, as the surrounding views are breathtaking.
.........
It's been a week since and conditions have changed significantly. Snow is now rock-hard and much easier to walk on (steeper slopes require sharp crampons!). We were out again on Saturday and yesterday as well, so two more stories from me to come, more meowing on mountain tops, more Graham bagging, now on even terms with my other half
