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Glas-charn is a little known Graham on the north side of A830, just past Glenfinnan. If climbed during a longer excursion, it's usually added to either Sgurr an Utha (nearby Corbett) or traversed en route to more remote Grahams of South Morar. By itself, it offers a pleasant half-day walk in splendid landscape on the edge of true wilderness. On a good day, views from this hill are fantastic, despite its modest height of 633m. A walk with good panoramas in the western part of Scotland. Something we really longed for!
Because weather was rather capricious, we didn't plan anything longer than just a quick nip to the summit of Glas Charn. We had already climbed Sgurr an Utha, during our
previous visit to this corner. Our route of ascent for the Graham followed Allt Feith a'Chatha, on the way down we visited Sgurr a'Mhuidhe, a subsidiary top. The ground is mostly pathless and wet, plenty of rocky outcrops to have fun with, but all scrambling is optional.
The walk begins from the layby on the south side of the A830 just past the bridge over Allt an Utha. To access the lower glen between the two hills, we followed a wide hydro track through the forest, then into the land of grey and brown:
It all started nicely on a good track, but after less than 1km, we had to go off the beaten road and follow a very faint path along the stream. At least weather was holding. Mr Weatherman warned us against frequent showers, but so far it was just some grey cloud and even that was patchy. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad day after all...
Into the glen:
We stayed near Allt Feith a'Chatha till we reached the highest point of the bealach between Glas-charn and Sgurr an Utha. Then we turned west and tackled the wet-looking slopes leading to the summit:
When looking up, one might think that the true summit is within sight, but nothing more misleading. This hill is all about false summits, lumps, bumps and rocky outcrops. In the mist, it would be a nightmare to navigate, but as we had good visibility (and weather was actually improving), we just pushed up, hopping over boggy puddles and slaloming between boulders.
Not the summit, but no hard work:
As we gained height, we were rewarded for our effort with views north-east to Glenfinnan Munros, especially Sgurr Thuilm looking majestic:
The rocky labyrinth on the upper slopes of Glas-charn could be described as a navigational nuisance or as a grand playground for crazy cats:
A quick shower came and went in 5 minutes, leaving drops of moisture on our clothes and camera lens, but I was so fascinated with the beauty of the surrounding landscape, that I hardly noticed the rain...
Are we there yet? Just in case it turned out to be the highest spot, I climbed every outcrop en route...
...only to realize, after visiting numerous bumps, that the true summit was another 500m away:
We caught a sunny moment with blue sky above us. Still plenty of weather about, showers passing to the north and south, but it was good enough for us to enjoy the day
Sgurr an Utha and one of many lochans/puddles to avoid on the way up:
View north from near the summit:
South to Sgurr a'Mhuidhe, which we hoped to visit on the way back:
Somebody here spied a wee scrambling opportunity!
The summit cairn is small but there are enough rocks and boulders to hide from gusty wind if necessary. We posed for a quick snap. Our first new Graham in 2019m (no.107 for me, 78 for Lucy):
He's not very happy that he lost control of his precious camera
We spent some time on the summit, enjoying the views. I think on a clear day, every hill in this area is a good viewpoint, even a low Graham. Because Glas-charn is situated sort-of between Morar and Moidart, it offers great panos into both, also west to the sea, where, weather permitted, one can spot the outline of Isle of Eigg:
A wider panorama west, with the little lochan just below the summit in the foreground:
South into Moidart, the wild wild west:
Beinn Odhar Mhor and the more distant Ardgour peaks:
To get good views down to the secretive Loch Beoraid, we traversed a short distance north from the summit, to a rocky outcrop just above the steep northern cliffs of Glas-charn. This was quite a windy spot, so we didn't linger for too long:
A shower passing nearby:
Looking north-east from the summit:
The easiest way back is to retrace one's steps back to the col connecting Geal-charn with Sgurr an Utha (would be necessary if doing both hills in one go), but we preferred to concoct some kind of circular by aiming SE towards Lochan Sgurr a'Mhuidhe, then climbing an additional top of the same name. It means an additional 100m of ascent but is well worth the extra effort for superb views on the final descent, but we'll get to that later. First, we had to negotiate the wet, bumpy ground which dropped down to the lochan:
Another shower came and went as we walked, but it wasn't even strong enough to justify a stop for waterproofing. Plus we were rewarded with a lovely rainbow:
The last ascent of the day looked exactly the same as all slopes in this area: wild, rocky and bumpy. Something just right for a cat
The top of Sgurr a'Mhuidhe (562m) is another good viewpoint, but unfortunately it was raining again when we stopped by the small cairn, so, only a few quick snaps and we were on our way down. If weather permits, it's worth stopping here just to admire the great panorama of Nevis Range to the east. Sadly, Ben Nevis and friends were hidden in cloud today:
...but other mountains closer to us offered good enough vistas, like the neighbouring Sgurr an Utha (spot the small rainbow in the middle of the photo!):
Zoom to Loch Eilt:
As we began to descend back to Drochaid Allt an Utha, the rain stopped and for the rest of the walk we enjoyed relatively dry walking with great views, even regardless of the thick cloud on the eastern front:
The SE ridge of Sgurr a'Mhuidhe can be followed easily, we managed to avoid all the steep, rocky sections and took care on slippery ground. I was mesmerized by the wild pano of Moidart/Ardgour. So far, we have hardly scratched the surface of hill bagging here and there is still so much more to come, I can't wait to explore this wild world a bit more!
Friends from the hills:
Zoom to the Glenfinnan memorial:
Beware all you peaks of Moidart, the meowing one is coming!!!
The final descent back to the glen: looks mouthwatering
Another shower arrived some time later, but by then we were back in the car. Not a long walk and on a better day it would be logical to combine this Graham with Sgurr an Utha, but even on its own, this hill was a very pleasant surprise. And all those views made me crave for more western coast wanders and explorations!
..................
Sadly, the next few days were too wet and too windy on the western front to even anticipate a re-visit to this area, so we went east instead and enjoyed relatively good weather on the north-eastern Grahams. Two more TR's to come soon.
