Short, wet walk to the yellow trig point of Carn a'Bhodaich

[gld73]

The last walk report for this marilyn a short drive from Inverness was from 2014, so I thought there might have been some changes in the 5 or 6 years since then given the ever increasing number of windframs, hydro projects and estate tracks in the Highlands. It's not a hill I've done before despite living so close - I thought I might do Carn a'Bhodaich and nearby Meall na h'Eilrig on the same day sometime, but today I wasn't free until the afternoon, the weather wasn't great (low cloud, windy and showers) and so a short drive and a short walk was the only way I'd be reaching a summit today. Carn a'Bhodaich fitted the bill nicely.

There are ways to do this hill as a longer walk, but given the time, I took the short route, starting from the minor road which runs from Dochgarroch/Blackfold to Abriachan parallel to the A86, higher up the hill along the north side of Loch Ness There's a grassy parking area in Ladycairn a short distance south of where the rough track for the walk leaves the single track tarmac road, room for a handful of cars. Walked the short distance back along to the track start point [558387 approx on the OS map] - it seemed good initially, a stony track, maybe the tales of bogginess from earlier reports were out of date after all. I thought maybe I'd been too pessimistic wearing wellies.

Looking back at the start of the track, which starts opposite this house in Ladycairn

Carn a'Bhodaich hiding in a cloud, but at least the track is okay. Damn, should have worn hiking boots.

Ah, no. It didn't take long for my wellies to come into their own - I don't know what it's like in dry weather, but after a few days of rain, the track, though easy to follow, is a sodden marsh for much of its length. A lot of it can be avoided by walking on the heather at the side, easy today as snow wasn't covering any of the small streams or boggy holes that otherwise might have slowed my progress. I couldn't see the top of Carn a'Bhodaich because of the low cloud, but at least I could see where to go, even if the track did narrow and become a stream on the steeper section.

Feeling happier with my decision to wear wellies

I don't know if there's any kind of small cairn or marker further up the path to suggest where to turn off for the summit, but I had a look at my map as I got into the clag, decided I was pretty much due north of the summit at that point, so left the path and headed south up the steeper heather section. Once up there I wasn't entirely sure which one of the bumps to head up to get the actual 501m summit, but as I went up one, I saw the trig point on the adjacent one and so found it easily. After the muted colours of mud and mist the rest of the walk, it was nice to have an attempt at a bit of a colour from the trig point with its yellow lichen covering.

Carn a'Bhodaich trig point, nothing else to see today unfortunately

No point in lingering at the summit as views weren't going to happen for me today, so I just headed back the same way.

So if you've made it this far reading this uneventful walk report, it can probably just be summed up as "no change to the route or bogginess of the path from previous reports"!