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Day 1: Corrour station to Mullach Corrie nan Nead
We arrived at Corrour station just after twenty past eleven. There was heavy downpour, and just from walking to the station cafe (<50m away..) my head was soaked wet. In the cafe we had a quick coffee and a scone, then set off down the track toward Loch Ossian. The rain had passed and it was looking like a fine day. After following the estate track to the north of the Loch, we branched off and took the steep, faint path up the side of Beinn na Lap, stopping about halfway up to put on waterproofs as the weather had changed again. The path veers West just before the crest of the ridge, and heads on at a gentler slope towards the summit at 935m, only just over 500m of ascent from the station platform to the first Munro. We head off Northwestward, down the grassy and nearly pathless slopes of Beinn na Lap, descending to the River Ossian. Over the river was the towering Creagan nan Nead. This had looked passable on the map, and standing by the River we craned our necks upward to try and pick out a path up the steep slope, which turned rocky towards the top. Though there was probably a route that 'went', we didn't feel like such a steep climb with heavy rucksacks. After surveying our options on the map, we decided to head around the top of the outcrop, towards Loch Guilbhinn, and climb via the nameless corrie that drained into the Loch which would take us up to around 750m. The burn was a good spot to fill up with water higher up.
Once up to 750m we decided to make a final climb for the day to the two lochans west of Mullach Coire nan Nead. Clambering over the boggy, pathless hillside, skirting the Munro Top but not ascending over it, we finally stopped for the day, finding a nice camping spot near the first lochan. We took water from the lochan streams for cooking, but boiled it first as the lochans themselves looked a bit stagnant. After a good meal, we were asleep before sunset.
Day 2: Beinn Eibhinn and the rest
After a 6:30 start and a breakfast while watching the inversion over Loch Ossian burn off, we headed up and East towards Beinn Eibhinn
(The Delightful Hill). The delightful little cairn was perched high just above the precipice that dropped into
Lochan a'Charra Mhoir and we didn't linger long before heading around the edge of the coire onwards toward Aonach Beag
(The Little Ridged Mountain). The descent to the bealach between the two Munros was along a worn path, but covered in loose rocks and dirt, with some fairly exposed sections. We made our way down carefully to the bealach at 977m, and then up again to reach Aonach Beag at 1116m. Gael Charn
(The White Hill) awaited us next and the route took us over less precipitous terrain up to the highest point of the journey at 1132m. Gael Charn is atop of a vast looking grassy plateau that gently descends eastwards. (Anywhere here would make a great camping spot on a longer journey.) We came to the edge of the plateau and skirted the edge of the crags looking for the path down. We found it easily in the good visibility but this would have been a tricky navigational spot in bad weather - the plateau is featureless - and it drops away sharply near the edges. We found our way down another stony and exposed path to the bealach at 888m, and then headed up on towards Carn Dearg.
At Carn Dearg, we caught a glimpse of the Culra bothy and Culra lodge in the glen below, and stopped for a brew and lunch in the cairn and its shelter. We had made it to Carn Dearg (Munro 5 of the trip) before midday.
