Stay at home

[thorburn7]

With the weekend weather set to bring warm clear skies I though it was time to venture back to the Northwest highlands. This has been an area I've rarely visited since I started Munrobagging but having exhausted the great majority of hills south of the Great Glen I thought I should get up that direction whenever I can now.
My friends and I agreed on tackling the Loch Mullardoch circuit. 4 Munros in a day was a good pay off for travelling so far from home. We set off from Greenock on Friday and chose Beauly as our base for the weekend. The campsite at Beauly is great and its close to the town for food.

On saturday morning we left Beauly at 7am and drove to our starting point at the Loch Mullardoch Dam via Cannich. We got to the Dam about 8:15am which gave us plenty of time before our pre-arranged ferry service.
I had called Angus the boatman during the week to check availability of getting the boat to the opposite end of the walk and cut out a lengthy walk along the side of the loch in this circuit. £25pp is a wee bit steep but I really appreciated this later in the day.

First view of the loch at 8:30am. Angus met us with his boat here before the 10min journey up the loch to the drop off point.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Looking up towards An Socach after getting off the boat.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Bit of boggy ground to cover on the ascent up An Socach. Thankfully the last few days had been quite dry and this provided no issues.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Got to the top of An Socach about 11:30am.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Summit selfie on An Socach.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Great ridge walk on the cards today in perfect conditions.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Looking back at An Socach as we ascent An Riabhachan.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Onwards to Munro number 2.
Untitled by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Summit of An Riabhachan at 13:00.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Our highest Munro of the day in sight. Sgurr na Lapaich.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Was quite a slog up on the summit but well worth it for the views.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Summit of Sgurr na Lapaich at 16:30.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Spent a great deal of time on the summit taking in the landscape. Absolutely stunning.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Summit of Carn nan Gobhar at 18:00.
Loch Mullardoch Circuit by Matthew Thorburn, on Flickr

Was quite surprised to get back to the car at 20:00. We decided to drop down off the summit and meet the path on the opposite side of Allt Mullardoch.
Fantastic day out and very thankfull for the ferry service to cut out a great deal of walking which could easily have added another 2.5hrs on to the time.