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Tuesday before last saw the morning arrive with a sky full of sunshine and I was not particularly looking forward to another day sitting in my North facing office. Fortune, however, was smiling on me for once as my daughter appeared to have been struck with a particularly unpleasant bug. Ill child = no nursery run! I rubbed her back as she vomited into her Hello Kitty bin and desperately tried to think of walks that required very little planning and could be reached quickly as it was already approaching 9 and I hadn't prepared anything. That's when I remembered the Munros on the East of the Cairnwell pass. I'd already been chased off Carn an Tuirc by bad weather a year or so ago, so I thought I'd give them another go. Nothing too technical or demanding so I didn't need to worry about my knee too much. I remembered reading a walk
report by Black Panther where she'd headed East from Cairn of Claise to take in Tomount Tom Buidhe and then headed down a North West ridge to bring her back to her start point. This seemed like a good plan to me, rather than taking in the more traditional Glas Maol and Creag Leacach and having to trek along the main road for several miles.
A quick packing of the rucksack and I was on my way, phoning the school on the way down the drive. It's possible I should have tried to sound less happy as I told them of my daughter's vomitous morning.
Deciding to see if Nissan's sat nav could get me to the Cairnwell pass quicker, saw me arriving a good half hour later than expected, but I was booted and on my way by 11:30. A little over an hour of relatively straight forward ambling and I was at the top of Carn an Tuirc, the first Munro of the day. I sat in the little shelter out of the wind and ate my now slightly soggy cheese and pickle Sandwich.
There's not a massive amount of sightseeing to be done from Carn an Tuirc, so post sandwich I ambled off East to see what Tolmount had to say for itself. This is where things went a little wrong. There was still a good coverage of snow, but only 3 to 5 inches maybe, but very, very slushy so progress was very slow. I kept trying to walk round the patches of snow but the ground was so boggy it was no easier to walk on. It looked like the most of the distance to Tolmount was going to be pretty hard going, although the ground towards Cairn of Claise and beyond looked a lot better. I really didn't fancy a five mile slog through slush and bog, so I decided Cairn of Claise, Glas Maol and Craig Leacach would be a better bet for the day.
The three remaining Munros are particularly easy as there is little descent and ascent between them. Probably not what you'd call a spectacular walk for that matter, but still a far better way to spend a Tuesday afternoon than sitting in an office. Once I'd reached Craig Leacach I looked at the remainder of the route as it descended a ridge to the South and onto the main road, but I really didn't like the idea of that so I retraced my steps back to the other side of Glas Maol and followed a ridge to the North West back to my start point, where my car was waiting, having not been stolen.
Another curious Scottish wall. It's a wonder that livestock never think to walk round them.
A stone shelter between Glas Maol and Craig Leacach. Inside was a large pile of snow, sheltering from the cold presumably.
A more ill positioned lobster pot than most.