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This walk had been one of those we'd kept putting off for some reason or other, maybe it was the time it took or the distance, I had looked at peoples reports for the two and concluded it would take somewhere in the region of 7 hrs which isn't too bad, then I noticed a few people had added Beinn Iutharn Mhor and they were around the 8 hr mark, given a good day I reckon we could do the three in around 9 hrs, so when we realised the last day of our long weekend was going to deliver the goods weather wise we decided to give it a go.
Reading peoples reports, especially a recent one by bobble_hat_kenny, who were suggesting parking at the Dalmunzie Hotel where they have car parking for hill walkers at a very reasonable £2.50 for the day, (compared to the £7.00 min charge per day in the Lakes that's a bargain), that's what we did therefore shaving 2 km of the WH route.
We were reasonably early and managed to get off walking by 8:30, the sun was shining, it was warm so we were looking forward to the day.
Off we go towards Glenlochsie Farm.
We followed the track beyond the farm looking for the start of the old railway line but must have missed it,
it wasn't until a bit further along the track we could see it above us so we took a short direct detour up the hillside to get on it discovering we'd actually crossed the zig zags taking the line up hill so we weren't too far wrong.
We arrived on the old railway line here but missed the start of it.
But the way ahead was a joy.
This way up Glen Lochsie towards Glenlochsie Lodge is much more pleasant compared to the track, it's a bit wet in places but at least there's no loose stones to throw you about, we soon arrived at the lodge looked back and were surprised to see how far we'd travelled.
Looking back from the Glenlochsie Lodge.
From the lodge the track gets steeper for a while but its easy walking, the pace didn't slow much at all and we soon got to the point where the gradient eases.
Glen Lochsie from higher up
We got the first sight of Glas Tulaichan and boy, it looked along way off. A bit higher we could see Carn an Righ and that looked a good way off too.
The track up Glas Tulaichan makes for quick and easy progress, we met a big "flock" of Ptarmigan, 20 or more, not far from the point where the path to the summit leaves the track, they were well camouflaged against the heather and rocks around, we only saw them when we'd got too close for comfort, some scuttled away others took off, we've never seen so many altogether, t'was quite a sight.
Spot the Ptarmigan, they are there, honest
We reached the summit 2 hrs after setting off from the hotel, there's only a trig point, but what is nice are the views, from here you can see your next mountain Carn an Righ which still looks far far away, Beinn A'Ghlo the Glenshee mountains the main Cairngorms to the north in fact mountains in all directions.
Summit piccy.
Carn an Righ.
Beinn Iutharn Mhor.
Loch nan Eun and the mountains to the north and northeast.
On a day like today you can see the path leading to Carn an Righ it's tempting to go directly downhill from the summit to get to it but we resisted the temptation as we'd been warned it was boggy down there so we kept more or less to the WH route.
Looking up to Glas Tulaichean from the stalkers path, it is steep and it is wet at the bottom.
Once on the path it's easy going all the way to the summit of Carn an Righ.
On wards to Carn an Righ.
We got there 1 hr 20 mins after leaving Glas Tulaichan. From the top the way to Beinn Iutharn Mhor is plain to see, I can see why it's included with these two, its not far and for an additional 5 km or so its well worth including.
Summit, Carn an Righ.
The views were great
The next one, Beinn Iutharn Mhor.
Beinn a'Ghlo.
Glas Tulaichean.
Cairngorms.
Summit and Beinn a'Ghlo.
We stayed on the summit for a while looking at the views and having a bite to eat, there were quite a lot of midges on the top
they made it difficult to get comfortable and with Beinn Iutharn Mhor tempting us on we set off to get acquainted.
There's a path that traverses around Mam nan Carn and that's what we followed. This took us in the direction of the saddle between Mam nan Carn and Beinn Iutharn Mhor, it fades to nothing the closer you get but by then its pretty straight forward and once on the saddle there's an obvious path leading to the summit of B.I.M which makes for quick progress.
Near the summit it becomes stony so the path gets a bit sketchy we could see the massive cairn on the summit so just took a direct line towards it, after 1hr 10 mins from Carn an Righ we arrived at the summit of
Beinn Iutharn Mhor so its a similar distance to that from the 1st and 2nd Munros.
Beinn Iutharn Mhor.
Views.
Glas Tulaichean.
From the summit we backtracked to the saddle and from there we traversed the hillside heading towards the col between Mam nan Carn and Beinn Iutharn Beag.
Beinn Iutharn Bheag.
Beinn Iutharn Mhor from the traversing path.
From here Loch nan Eun can be seen, we could see the outflow where the path back to the hotel starts so we headed towards the west side of the loch hoping to avoid the wet bits and pick up the stalkers path that would take us to the outflow.
Loch nan Eun
Looking down Glen Taitneach we had a long way to go,
we knew it was a long walk out but, flippin' 'eck, it was further than I'd imagined so it was a case of head down and stick with it. At the top of the path there are some nice little waterfalls beside the path and these help to inject a bit of interest.
A long way to go, Glen Taitneach.
Water feature.
Once on the glen floor the path turns into a landrover track this helps you to quicken the pace so the distance soon gets eaten up.
The bridge over the Allt Ghlinn Thaitneich near the hotel is down but we went down to where it was and found some pretty stable boulders to use to cross it just a wee bit up from the bridge, what it would be like in spate I've no idea but on a day like we had there's plenty of places to cross and keep your feet dry.
Once over the burn it's a 20 min walk back to the car.
Ex bridge.
A memorial to Jeremy and Ann who must have loved this place.
This is a great day out over pretty easy terrain, there's nothing difficult about the distance and its well worth spending more time over.
