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My first week of hillwalking was to coming to a close and the second one was starting. I had just spent 5 days in Killin tackling the Lawers and Loch Earn hills. I was having a fantastic experience but now it was time to move on up to the Glen Coe area. I had booked in to the Clachaig for 6 nights and planned to walk all those fantastic, iconic hills in the area.
Optimistic or what
I had decided to take shortish route on my transfer day and selected Creise and Meall a'Bhuiridh (just got to learn to pronounce them now)
I had a leisurely drive up from Killin, stopping several times to take pictures of the hills as I passed.
- Beinn Dorain from the car
Then I arrived at the ski centre with the sight of the Buachaille greeting me. Not the most glamourous picture of the big shepherd but still an icon.
As you can see, the weather was not very inviting for hillwalking. So I parked myself in the ski centre cafe and sat down in the comfy sofa with a roll with bacon and black pudding. I stared out at the clouds skipping across the Buachaille and thought how lucky I was to have this time off for myself, even if the weather was not at it's best.
I then turned my attentions straight uphill to the path starting Meall a'Bhuiridh. The big gash in the ground that the ski lift followed seemed steep. Cloud covered everything above the end of the first section and the mountain was not really visible. Then I got an idea. Why not take the short cut and use the lift to by pass this section and if the cloud level was just at the top of the lift I would just return down and try something else for the day. I am sure this is not for the purists but I didn't mind getting a leg up.
- Coming off the top of the ski lift
As I got off the ski lift, the clouds cleared a little and I could see the area around me and back to the road. The path that cut around the hill first and then headed up the line of further ski lift pylons was quite visible, so I started my walk for the day.
I could see a couple of people in front of me so felt safe the I could enter the higher clag with come company around the hills. The walk itself was straight forward but as I gained height the panorama back down to the ski centre and across the Rannoch Moor really started to open up. I was thankful that the cloud had lifted sufficiently to allow such scenes and felt the day was improving.
- White Corries Ski lift and Rannoch Moor
I proceeded up the grassy slopes and found the line of the ski pylons as described in the WH route guide. I followed it to the top ski station. I was really surprised at the condition of the ski station and the rust on the pylons. I have never skied in Scotland but never came across equipment in this condition in Europe. I believe the Atlantic salty air has a lot to do with the condition of the infrastructure but at the same time I couldn't help wonder if it was safe. Maybe someone could tell me if this higher station is even in use?
Just a short walk around the top of building was the summit of Meall a'Bhuiridh and great views down the steep glen and all the way back to Rannoch Moor, again.
- Meall a'Bhuiridh summit and back to Rannoch Moor
There was an almighty steep plummet into the coire below. I sat for a couple of minutes and had a snack staring into the coire and the small lochan below.
- Coire an Easain from Meall a'Bhuiridh Summit
Soon as I was ready to go again. I grabbed my walking poles and headed toward the track to Creise. I was not expecting a ridgewalk at this point and was pleasantly surprised, as I started to decend the bealach, to see the track stretch out in front of me.
- The route between the 2 Munros
I could now see the two men in front of me which I noticed earlier when I can off the lift. I soon caught them up and we started to walk the rest of the day together. Our first challenge was a short and easy scramble up onto the plateau which led to the Munro summit. I was not expecting any hands on but was grateful for the practice whilst sharing the company. the views back to Meall a'Bhuiridh were the last I would see for the next hour.
- View back to Meall a'Bhuiridh
As we pulled up onto the flat top and make our way across to the summit cairn, the clag drifted back in again. It was only about 500-600 meters across to the cairn but it was fairly featureless in the clag and navigation was not so straight forward. We all walked spread-out and followed loose paths across some stoney ground and picked the path up now and again. However, we arrived at the summit without any real diffilculties.
- Creise summit in the clag. Munro #10 for me.
We returned across the flat summit area searching for the exit gulley on the left that would take us back to the first Munro top and eventually to the return track. This was not as easy as it may seem. Luckily one of the guys recognized the small marker cairn. I must admit, it was nowhere near the place that I would have been looking, lucky for me
We made our way back across the connecting ridge, then down the line of the ski pylons, down to the ski lift and finally the steep gully back to the ski centre.
As it turned out, it was another great day and a lot of experience that would be useful down the line.
