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It was going to be a wonderful day. Or at least we convinced ourselves it would stay nice and bright... After the disappointment of cloudy Beinn Eunaich we hoped for a day with nice views. Well, we got some, but later in the day, weather turned sour. Typical Scotland for you - ha ha no surprise.
The hills we planned were situated at the very head of Glen Lyon, quite remote location but the route itself starts from a tiny village called Pubil and follows mostly grassy slopes. On a sunny day in summer time this circular walk would be a delight. We still enjoyed it despite the company of cloud and rain
There is plenty of space to park on the grass verge of the road through Pubil. We parked up and got ready: weather was nice at the moment but we knew it might break later on. Yet the urge to bag a couple of new Corbetts was strong enough to make us go and we didn't really care about the prospect of getting wet. We had waterproof jackets and trousers packed in our rucksacks
WH route goes clockwise but we preferred to go anti-clock, up Sron a'Choire Chnapanich first then traverse to Meall Buidhe. Overall, it's easy going. Most slopes are covered in soft grass and moss. The col between the two is wet and peat haggy but the final climb to Meall Buidhe presents no challenge. The descent back to the road by the dam is steep in places and can be very slippery when wet, but we found a good line of descent on grippy underfoot (grass, heather).
Glen Lyon and River Lyon in the morning:
We walked a short distance on the tarmac road to a metal gate decorated with two sculpted eagles. Past the gate, we followed a track heading for a small hydro dam:
As we gained height, we could see Lubreoch Dam in the distance... And a large bulk of a mountain across the glen, which made me think - is it a Corbett, too? Later at home I checked, that it is indeed another hill from C-list, Meall nan Subh (seen here to the left). Just above the dam, to the right side in photo below, Beinn Sheasgarnaich, one of our 60 as yet unclimbed Munros:
The track makes for easy going, but it ends by the hydro dam at the height of 500m:
The remaining climb to Sron a'Choire Chnapanich was pathless but not as boggy as we were afraid, quite the opposite. I found walking on grassy surface very pleasant.
At some point I looked behind and noticed that weather was beginning to change. The forecast nasty front was coming in from the south-west:
We picked up pace, to reach the first summit before the bad front caught up with us. Wind was strengthening now so we stopped at some point to put on extra layers and looking down, I saw the peat-hag haven on Bealach a'Mhaim. Somehow, we managed to avoid all that!
About 100m below the summit, we were close enough to the eastern, steep side of Sron a'Choire Chnapanich to see the views down to Loch an Daimh:
Panoramic view of Meallan Odhar and Stuc an Lochain:
The final climb is excellent going on soft moss, easy navigation, too: just follow the rusty old fence!
We reached the summit before the rain arrived and hurried up to take some photos & videos. These turned out to be the only views from higher ground we managed to record. I must admit, this Corbett is a great viewpoint and on a better day it would be a superb place to linger, admiring the views down to Loch an Daimh... But not this time, sadly.
Corbett no. 136!
A couple of panos:
Beinn Sheasgarnaich now in cloud:
As we were packing up cameras, the rain arrived. We were prepared for the washout but thankfully, it turned out to be just a shower and it lasted maybe 15 minutes. We decided there was no point waiting by the cairn, just as well we'd continue to Meall Buidhe now.
The bealach between the two Corbetts drops to 616m and is quite peat haggy:
After a very comfortable descent from Sron a'Choire Chnapanich, crossing the wet peat hags was a reminder that Scotland is not all about soft moss and green grass!
Feith Thalain was in spate so we didn't consider crossing it now, just contoured the slopes on the left hand side, slowly gaining height. Going was not as easy now, we had to cross a few melting snow patches and streams rushing down the steep slopes. Kevin was leading the way, finding the least slippery path:
Panther prepared to cross another slushy snow patch:
We met another walker, a single bloke doing the circuit clockwise, we exchanged a few pleasantries and the usual info "How wet is it further on? How boggy? how many peat hags?"
Seems these are the most often asked questions in Scotland
Shortly before reaching the next col, we took a shortcut and crossed the stream (it was small enough to jump over now), to climb the grassy slopes of Meall Buidhe. The cloud lifted for a short time and we could even see some views south to Loch Lyon, but it wasn't going to last long...
The final meters of ascent follow another rusty old fence:
The summit now in sight. Shortly after this picture was taken, the rain came back and with more strength this time...
We climbed up to the summit ridge in pouring rain then followed a well-worn path to the top itself. My gloves were soaked and my hands felt cold, but thankfully, my boots stood up to the wet weather and kept my feet dry. Many thanks, Karrimor!
When we reached the summit, we discovered three separate cairns, each one loooking the same height. We checked all three, walking around like a pair of wet ghosts, eventually our GPS said that the highest cairn was the southernmost one. I posed for a quick summit snap (Corbett no. 137 but no celebrations):
It was still raining cats and dogs, so we only spent a minute or two by the cairn and quickly began to descend the southern shoulder of Meall Buidhe, back to the col at 709m. When we returned to the col, the rain eased off for a few minutes so we took a short break for a hot cuppa. Kevin squeezed about 5 liters of water out of our gloves... I tried to walk without them but the wind had a chilly edge and I found out, after ten minutes, that wet gloves are better than bare hands.
We continued to descend the waterlogged slopes. It was relatively easy down to about 600m, where the ground became much steeper. We were no longer in cloud but the rain returned once again. We followed a stream downhill, but soon we found out that the ground below us was far too steep to risk a slip, and we had to re-climb a little before crossing the stream above a deep gorge. The second line we picked turned out much less steep and we could carefully make our way down. We could see the track below us:
Soaked (but still smiling) Black Panther and Loch Lyon in the background:
One of many gorges to avoid:
It was a relief to reach the track. The rain turned to a drizzle but when we stopped for a 5 minutes rest, we discovered that despite rain covers, our rucksacks were getting wet. Kevin then went on to make a speech about how rucksacks should be waterproof themselves rather than just provided with rain covers
I was more concerned about Lucy the Lamb, she spent most of the day inside my sack yet she got soaked!
We walked past Lubreoch Dam:
Just as we were about to reach the car, the rain became heavy once again. We sprinted the last 100m or so and took shelter inside Black Arrow, happy to be somewhere dry and warm for a change!
......
It was a different kind of adventure: not a dangerous scramble, not a big distance walk, but a weather challenge
Kevin said he'd like to come back here one day and repeat this route as we didn't really do justice to Meall Buidhe and Sron a'Choire Chnapanich. Well, when it rains, it pours. Second day in a row of not-so-good conditions on the hills and we felt we needed a sunny outing just to cheer us up again...
.......
We got what we wanted on Saturday. It was still windy but the rain went away and clag lifted, so we visited a couple of super-duper Subs in Torridon. TR in progress
