On a cold and frosty morning - Strathfarrar & Loch Monar

[Jaxter]

A nice looking day with no wind – a choice between walking and cycling….so we decided to avoid any decisions and do both! We went for a plan that we’d come up with back in the summer but never got around to – Glen Strathfarrar We had a rubbishly late start and it was nearly 11 before we got started.

We cycled through the gate and then had to wait for Malky to dive into the bushes with some bog roll….fortunately the views were pretty good despite it being properly freezing
Beinn a' Bha'ach Ard

The road was pretty slippery but the bike tyres seem to be sticking to the road – hopefully we would be ok
Icy road

It was a really lovely cycle down the road – and there wasn’t even that much up and down (although there was more than Malky had told me ) As we got further down the glen the views started to open out
Sgurr na Lapaich

Is it forwards or backwards?
Malky trying to work out the route

Despite being after midday it was still really cold
Looking down the loch to Sgurr na Lapaich

Sgurr na Diollaid & Sgurr na Lapaich in Loch Beannacharan

I’d been thinking of going up Sgurr na Diollaid from this side by bike – looking at how steep it is I’m glad I went for the easier option
Sgurr na Diollaid

As we came over another wee rise we could see the Monar hills peeking through – we had a big discussion about what this was and in the end it turned out we were talking about the same thing
Monar hills peeking through

As we got down towards the end of the road the sun started to come out and everything looked amazing
Approaching the end of the road

This hill just looked amazing from all angles – definitely one I need to get up at some point
Sgurr na Lapaich again

Our potential second hill – the Marilyn Meall Innis an Loichel poking out
Meall Innis an Loichel

Beinn na Muice – our hill
Beinn na Muice

I had this shot perfectly lined up until Malky moved and scared the deer away. I was properly raging
Sgurr na Lapaich and some deer

Looking back - beautiful sunny Strathfarrar

The final climb
Sgurr Innis an Loichel

Sgurr na Lapaich

We had thought to climb up from the dam but when we saw a wee track leading into the corrie we thought that might be a better option and save us a bit of distance. We dumped the bikes and switched my trainers for boots (to his credit Malky had carried them all the way down the glen in his pannier – what a gent )

Heading up the corrie the ground wasn’t too bad; a bit slippery underfoot but nothing like as bad as I’d thought it might be. We were heading for the ridge – there were a few scrambly sections just before we hit the ridgeline but when we did it was certainly worth the effort
Climbing up gave us an amazing view down Loch Monar

Loch Monar and Sgurr na L & pals

Now on the ridgeline some of the walking was easier but there were a lot of slabs to scramble up or around. I was a bit blown away by the views to be honest – I’d seen Loch Monar from the other end when I did my mega adventure a few years ago, but a combination of seeing the dramatic stuff from this end and a bit of snow made it so impressive
Loch Monar and the Monar hills

Crags on Beinn na Muice

The end of the Strathfarrar munro ridge

Sgurr na L & pals

Malky climbing crags

We were well into the snowline now – it was all soft powder but it made it feel a bit more adventurous
Looking back down the ridge

There was a wee bit of cloud rolling in adding to the atmosphere Having both read at least part of the book "Isolation Shepherd" we were trying to work out which bits feature in the book, and agreed that it deserved a re-read!
Cloud rolling in over the loch

Skye
Skye!

Although the most part of the climb was done, there was a long relatively flat walk along the ridge – some of the puddles were hidden by snow which made for some interesting noises and care was required
Carn na Gabhar & Sgurr na Lapaich

But then we were at the summit and the views were even better. And it was definitely time for lunch
The Strathfarrar munros

Summit of Beinn na Muice

Summit selfie

The wind speed was so low that we didn’t realise we were getting cold until we were cold So it was time to get going – we had quite a long way back too
Looking back

It was getting even clearer
Skye getting even clearer now!

The Monar dam

We followed the ridge all the way back to the top of the craggy section – views still good
Loch Monar

Views down the loch

Malky waiting patiently for me to pee

Once we reached the crags we kept to the right hand side – less steep and less scrambling always easier on the way down!
Bit of red light hitting Lurg Mor

Red on Sgurr na L

Now out of the crags it was a bit slippery and squishy underfoot again – but looking up was impressive
Looking up - impressive

Back on the slippery bog

Back at the bikes I had another footwear change and we decided to cycle up to the dam for a wee nosey – it was definitely too late for the Marilyn
Monar dam

Looking down the loch

Monar Dam & Beinn na Muice

The light was already going and we were keen to get at least part of the way back down the road before it got any darker and before the track started icing up again…
Looking back

We both were loving how remote the glen feels – although it is accessible by car, especially in the winter it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere
Glen Strathfarrar

Although there was still a little bit of light in the sky, we were struggling to see so the lights had to go on.
Looking back down the loch - lovely light

There were bits of frost on the road and the side of the verge so we went a little bit easy and made it back to the car without incident – even the frosty cattlegrid, although I did get off and push across that one

A wonderful day out – and definitely one to do again

Beinn_na_Muice.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

44.5km, 443m ascent, 2 hours 55mins cycling

Strathfarrar cycle.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts