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Just the weather for a nice steady single.

Just the weather for a nice steady single.


Postby martin.h » Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:40 pm

Route description: Meall Chuaich, Drumochter

Munros included on this walk: Meall Chuaich

Date walked: 29/08/2016

Time taken: 4.5 hours

Distance: 14 km

Ascent: 614m

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Day two of our long weekend was a much better day for the weather, we had planned to do our final Munro up the A9 around Drumochter, Meall Chuaich and, for once, my wish to do this mountain in something like decent weather looked like it was going to be granted, I had read and been told the hill itself is fairly unspectacular but the views from it are something else.

This one is nice and easy to get to, we set off from Perth heading for Dalwhinnie and layby No:94, it was a nice morning, cloudy but the further north we got the breaks in the clouds were getting bigger and when we arrived at our layby an hour later most of the mountains in our direction were clear of anything threatening and Meall Chuaich was actually bathed in sunshine, woohoo, yay. :clap: :D :lol:

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Meall Chuaich from lay by 94

On a pleasant day like today the initial part of this walk along the aqueduct is really quite enjoyable, you can see a lot of the landscape surrounding you, all very inviting, tempting you to get immersed in it, :D all the time Meall Chuaich getting bigger the closer you get. The hydro generating building didn't take long to get to, this track was made to cycle so I reckon you could shave a good lump of the time off this bit by using a bike making this a sub 3 hr Munro. Not that much further on is the little wooden bothy and the start of the climb up the mountain.

The lower part of the path is wet in places and a bit of bog hopping is required :roll: . Further up and closer to
Stac Meall Chuaich the path dries out quite considerably and starts to turn stony, on days like today the way ahead is always obvious so you can take your time and enjoy the views as they open up.

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Looking south.
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The path becomes more enjoyable and easy to travel over.

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There's a little steep section around the 850m contour, once over this its a nice stroll to the summit.

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Easy walking to the summit.

The summit cairn is pretty big, big enough to shelter out of the wind if necessary, today there was little wind so we were able to sit and look at the views in comfort, for us it makes it all worth the effort getting to the Munro summits.

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Summit arrival, big cairn.

Now some views.
From the south, panning West to North

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South
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Towards Ben Alder
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Eastish
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We spent a good half hour on the top, we were in no rush, we could savour the views for a change, soon tho' we had to set off down so off we went.

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Looking down to the A9 from the top of the little steep section.
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We were soon back at the little bothy and on the easy track back to the car.

On the way we stopped for a second lunch, the day had really improved by now so we took our time.

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Just beyond the hydro building there were about a dozen vehicles parked where there's a widening in the track, on the hillside above us there was quite a party of Grouse shooters and their flushers, they were'nt shooting yet but the butts were occupied so they were getting ready, by the time we'd arrived back at the car they were in full swing, I'm not a great fan of the Grouse season but at least it's sustainable.

We had a great day out and felt summer was with us, well, for one day at least. We are picking away at the outer fringes of the Cairngorms and I can see why people love them especially on warm summer days.
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martin.h
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Re: Just the weather for a nice steady single.

Postby Fife Flyer » Mon Aug 29, 2016 7:57 pm

Enjoyed that Martin, been a while since I visited that hill, it is my favourite in the Drumochter area by quite some distance 8)

You are spot on with the bike suggestion, you won't be surprised to hear I took that option :lol: :lol:
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