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Another bike/hike combo. Some say Meall Chuaich has a reputation as too easy to access from the A9 and rather boring. This route from Tromie turns that on it's head with a nice approach cycle followed by a walk that feels nicely remote.
I can't post links yet but you can read a blog about this route by someone else if you google simonking bike meall chuaich
Warm up with a steady cycle up Glen Tromie. I've done this a few times and still curse my apparent lack of fitness on a seemingly level riverside track. Free wheeling most of the way back makes you realise it's not so level after all! It's about an hour from Tromie Bridge/Drumguish to the start of the walk at Bhran Cottage, 20-30 min to get back.
Part of Bhran Cottage isn't locked but that space is clearly used by the estate for storing materials (bat nest boxes last time I looked) so I choose to leave the bike lying in the heather out of sight off track, with lock on the wheels so it can't be ridden away by any passing ne'er-do-well .... LOL not that you'd see any people at all!
Here's the route from Glen Tromie, up the hill on the right, cross the dip in the middle, then down the hill on the left.
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- Route
The walk starts on a stony estate track. After about 15 minutes I saw an adder sunning on the track. Of course it had slithered away by time I'd computed what I was seeing and had got my phone out for a snap. You can just about see it in this pic.
Glen Tromie is being rewilded by Anders Povlsen which means investment in good tracks where the landscape restoration is taking place BUT it also means removal of the smaller tracks. The stone track ends sooner than is shown on the OS map.
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- OS map shows the track carrying on. The rewilding works have restored the bog here!
Here are some pics of works to stabilise the peat and recreate bogland. Big white bags scattered over the landscape.
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- materials
There are a few indistinct paths and a couple of false summits but the ascent is easy if a little steep. Here's Meall Chuaich looking towards the Cairngorm range.
Then follow the line of fence posts off Meall Chuaich down to the pass. The vegetation is very short so it's a very easy 30 min stomp down. The heather gets a bit taller towards the bottom so harder to find a route through. There are also several upturned lumps of peat with lab trays secured on top, any ideas what they are for?
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- fence posts
While on the descent look across the valley to assess the zig zag path up the other side. There are several paths so look out for which one you'll need and where it starts at the bottom of the hill. I found the OS Map App to be accurate for making sure I zigged and zagged at the right places to avoid being taken on a path that contours along the slope. Near the top the path heads south just below the summit plateau, you'll need to scramble the last hundred metres to the summit plateau.
Bogha-cloiche isn't quite a full Corbett but at 898m it certainly feels like one! It's a pretty featureless summit with two small cairns, then head north west aiming at Meallach Mhor opposite.
At this point I was following my nose, also greed took the better of me aiming for the estate track when it came into view. Looking back at the hill I could have been further to my right (east or left on this pic) to take advantage hint of a shoulder to the hill. Never mind, sometimes going straight down is a little more exhilarating!
From there it's a yomp back to the bike, red circle below. Fortunately down hill on a well made track and looking forward to freewheeling downhill back to Tromie Bridge. It really is a lovely way to end a walk with wind in your hair.
Bike's still here .... if you peer closely! Shortly after this I met the only people I saw that day, a couple of cyclists heading up the glen, presumably to camp overnight before a walk the next day. I was freewheeling rather fast on a steep bit while they were slogging their way up so we didn't stop to talk.
