Lancet Edge
Posted: Thu May 02, 2019 9:02 amBig Bobs "most excellent adventure" had us meeting at Dalwhinnie rail station, 7 of us set off on bicycles fro Culra on an overcast morning with a fresh head wind all the way along the loch side. Progress was steady it took just under 2 hours to reach the bothy, the route taken was along the shores of Loch Pattack on the land rover track, rather than the direct route across the peat, and we all waited at the shoofly bridge in the hope that one of us would fall in the river while crossing.
Met up with number 8 just after Culra, he had cycled in from Ben Alder bothy and had had two punctures, a front brake failure, and a pannier breakage, he dumped the bike as soon as he saw us.
Walking up the path toward the foot of the ridge was very pleasant, but we were aware of the cloud building up and feared for a wet afternoon. The ridge itself is a delight, steepening and narrowing as height is gained, lots of options for scrambling around on rock outcrops, but because of the weather it was straight up to the top for a sandwich.
From Sgor Iutharn a bearing was followed to Geal Charn, by this time the mist was down and it was apparent how featureless the summit plateau of this Munro is. The summit attained another bearing was take to the top of the ridge leading down to the col before Carn Dearg,this is one that you want to get right as there is steep ground on either side of the ridge, a fairly clear path forms about 100m back from the top of the descent, and we had no problems finding the right route but the descent is steep and hard on the knees. near the low point on the col we popped out of the mist and had second lunch.
The continuation to Carn Dearg was an easy stroll and afternoon tea was taken at the Munro summit.
The decision was made to save the knees by continuing east along the ridge for 1km before descending toward Culra and the bikes. After a puncture repair it was back to Dalwhinnie by the same route, and disappointingly no-one fell in the river again.
A grand day out.
Met up with number 8 just after Culra, he had cycled in from Ben Alder bothy and had had two punctures, a front brake failure, and a pannier breakage, he dumped the bike as soon as he saw us.
Walking up the path toward the foot of the ridge was very pleasant, but we were aware of the cloud building up and feared for a wet afternoon. The ridge itself is a delight, steepening and narrowing as height is gained, lots of options for scrambling around on rock outcrops, but because of the weather it was straight up to the top for a sandwich.
From Sgor Iutharn a bearing was followed to Geal Charn, by this time the mist was down and it was apparent how featureless the summit plateau of this Munro is. The summit attained another bearing was take to the top of the ridge leading down to the col before Carn Dearg,this is one that you want to get right as there is steep ground on either side of the ridge, a fairly clear path forms about 100m back from the top of the descent, and we had no problems finding the right route but the descent is steep and hard on the knees. near the low point on the col we popped out of the mist and had second lunch.
The continuation to Carn Dearg was an easy stroll and afternoon tea was taken at the Munro summit.
The decision was made to save the knees by continuing east along the ridge for 1km before descending toward Culra and the bikes. After a puncture repair it was back to Dalwhinnie by the same route, and disappointingly no-one fell in the river again.
A grand day out.
I was in that area a couple of times last year and pretty much did the reverse of your route. Love the Lancet Edge.
