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Peat Hag Party on Meall a' Chaorainn

Peat Hag Party on Meall a' Chaorainn


Postby Jaxter » Fri Sep 18, 2020 12:03 pm

Fionas included on this walk: Meall a' Chaorainn (Achnasheen)

Date walked: 23/08/2020

Time taken: 3.25 hours

Distance: 9.39 km

Ascent: 577m

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Another day, another Graham! A relatively decent forecast for Achnasheen - and this hill had a track a good distance up it and what looked like would be fantastic views from the top (the bit about the peat hags I was choosing to forget about for now...)

We were so late starting that we ate our lunch in the car at Achnasheen :lol: This also had the advantage of waiting for an (unforecasted) rain shower to pass... But before long we were heading up the track on the left of the burn
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I was tired and my chest felt really tight so we were taking it very slowly. Stopping for a moment we realised that the views across the glen to Sgurr a' Mhuillin were great - this hill looks good from everywhere!
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Looking towards Ledgowan we could see that the distance to the top of Strathconon was very short (but also probably very heathery!)
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Most of the track was very well graded - a steeper section just before the top looked a little bit like the yellow brick road :lol:
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Sgurr a' Mhuillin
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At the top of the track we reached the burn. We didn't need to cross it as we weren't including Fionn Bheinn in our walk today
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The next section was where it all went wrong... We had looked at a photo from above and had picked what we thought would be the best route across the hags. To be fair, it could have been worse, but I was feeling really tired and it also started spotting with rain...

A glimpse of what was to come persuaded me to continue...
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Meall a' Choarainn ahead
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Malky loves peat hags
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Our chosen route actually wasn't too bad, given what it looked like. There was a larger lochan to skirt around but the rest (other than a stream that demanded a wild leap) were small and easily bypassed
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Once across the hags the ground became very steep but much easier to walk on, and we dragged ourselves uphill without too many issues (other than the fact that it was uphill... :roll: )

Looking back :shock:
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Now up the steeper section it was a short walk across easy terrain to the summit.
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As the hill was a big grassy plateau, we wandered a wee bit further on to get the best views across to Lochan Fhada and the Fisherfield hills
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An Teallach
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The whole Fisherfield - from Slioch to An Teallach (and all the yummy bits in the middle)
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Sun hitting the ridge below A' Mhaighean
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Sun on Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair
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Amazing Torridon - Liathach, Beinn Eighe & Meall a' Ghiubhais
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Although we could just make out the Western Isles, it turned out that my camera wouldn't quite pick it up, without the big lens.

We shared a flask of tea and a few snacks while taking in the view. Despite being a bit overcast it was magnificent 8) Eventually we got going - it was a bit chilly. We wandered around to get the view down to the loch...
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Sgorr Ruadh & Beinn Liath Mor
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Strathconon hills with Monar hills behind
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Bit of sun on Liathach
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We approached the steep down - and took another look at what we had to cross...ughh....until we spotted a sort of bank that was raised above the hags. It led to the edge, so we could end up having to off-piste back to the track but at least it would get us past the hags...
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Sgurr a' Mhuillin looked even better now the sun was out
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Malky looking forward to peat hags
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Once we had dropped onto the wee bank we discovered there was actually something of an ATV track along it, so other than a few annoyances we followed it easily across the hags to the edge of the plateau.
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Strathfarrar hills in the sunshine
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Even better, we then noticed that the track continued and dumped us onto the track we'd come up at the start! It was a bit mushy but so much better than the way we'd gone up - so highly recommended!
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Sunlight hitting the edge of Beinn Liath Mor
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Now back on the track we plodded down back towards the car - very tired but glad to be free of the hags at last :lol:
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Jaxter
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Re: Peat Hag Party on Meall a' Chaorainn

Postby Alteknacker » Sat Sep 19, 2020 11:40 pm

Love those long distance shots :clap: :clap: :clap: .

But who's the long-haired hippie in some of the pix???
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Alteknacker
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Re: Peat Hag Party on Meall a' Chaorainn

Postby Jaxter » Tue Sep 22, 2020 10:47 am

Alteknacker wrote:Love those long distance shots :clap: :clap: :clap: .

But who's the long-haired hippie in some of the pix???

Thanks - I thought it would be a good viewpoint, but just how good kind of took me by surprise (probably still scarred by the peat hags :lol: )
Shhh I love the longer hair! He keeps threatening to cut it but he's too lazy to be bothered :lol:
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Jaxter
Wanderer
 
Posts: 1486
Munros:217   Corbetts:139
Fionas:90   Donalds:49+13
Sub 2000:129   Hewitts:69
Wainwrights:81   Islands:35
Joined: Aug 8, 2011
Location: Glasgow/Inverness

Re: Peat Hag Party on Meall a' Chaorainn

Postby rockhopper » Tue Sep 22, 2020 11:56 am

Good to see that "the hairy one" is continuing to help you recover by taking things easy.... :shock: :crazy: :wink: The lower hills do often seem to give the better views. Best wishes for a continuing recovery - cheers :)
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rockhopper
 
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Re: Peat Hag Party on Meall a' Chaorainn

Postby Jaxter » Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:53 pm

rockhopper wrote:Good to see that "the hairy one" is continuing to help you recover by taking things easy.... :shock: :crazy: :wink: The lower hills do often seem to give the better views. Best wishes for a continuing recovery - cheers :)

Thanks dude - that is definitely one of the best things about lower hills (not sure if it balances out the peat hags, heather, bog and other crap though :lol: )
At least "the hairy one" carries most of my stuff even if he leads me into peat hag hell :shock:
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Jaxter
Wanderer
 
Posts: 1486
Munros:217   Corbetts:139
Fionas:90   Donalds:49+13
Sub 2000:129   Hewitts:69
Wainwrights:81   Islands:35
Joined: Aug 8, 2011
Location: Glasgow/Inverness

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