by gld73 » Sun Oct 07, 2018 7:33 pm
Date walked: 23/09/2018
Time taken: 3.8 hours
Distance: 13 km
Ascent: 783m
Register or Login free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Done on way from Inverness to Glasgow. Parked in the same Ben Lawers car park as the previous weekend (when doing Ben Lawers) but this time headed the other way. Lucky with the weather, stayed out of the cloud all the way round. I had been unsure as to whether I'd do the straight up and back route to the summit, the slightly longer circuit down the next ridge down, or the full Tarmachan Ridge route described on the WH route - but thought I'd get to the summit, see what the time was like and what the weather was like, and make the decision then.
On the way up to the summit I passed a handful of people either heading up or coming down, some of whom had dogs; there was subsequently some drama when a dog chased someone, I could hear a lot of screaming and shouting and see the figures on the previous slope running frantically. Hope no-one was hurt, was difficult to see what happened.
Anyway, reached the summit on the good clear path and decided to continue, either to cut down the next descent route, or continue along. The clouds stayed above the summit, views were good, and I was making good time despite my late start, so decided to plough on and do the whole Tarmachan Ridge route. Glad I did. Didn't see anyone else past that point, but good visibility meant I could always see the route to take. One narrow bit of ridge, and 1 section of grade 1 scramble down (wouldn't fancy it in the wet, but there was a detour path if needed), the rest of the walk was nice and easy. No clear path once it eventually came to leaving the ridge and descending, but there were brief sections of worn route to aim for through this boggy bit. The rain finally came at this point, but still not heavy, just a bit showery, and gave me some nice views with rainbows. Came out on the track near the quarry, and just followed that all the way back round the southern slopes and back to the car park.
Really enjoyable walk, and only took me 3.8hrs, so doing the full route was definitely the right option on this day, anything else would have been far too short and quick!
Munro 90. Left car 1315, back at car 1700.
