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the mullardoch round

the mullardoch round


Postby mgmt! » Mon May 02, 2011 9:51 pm

Munros included on this walk: An Riabhachan, An Socach (Affric), An Socach (Mullardoch), Beinn Fhionnlaidh (Càrn Eige), Càrn Eige, Càrn nan Gobhar (Strathfarrar), Màm Sodhail, Mullach na Dheiragain, Sgùrr na Lapaich, Sgùrr nan Ceathreamhnan, Toll Creagach, Tom a' Chòinich

Date walked: 01/05/2011

Time taken: 72 hours

Distance: 53 km

Ascent: 4712m

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a friend of mine enlightened me to the mullardoch round, a 53km walk around loch mullardoch taking in 12 munros, a true scottish classic. myself and mountain thyme were joined by dave gordon a fellow member of the lomond mountaineering club. we set of on thursday evening camping by the river just below the dam, after an eternity deciding what to leave out the heavy rucksacs we were of around ten on friday morning. we passed a cairn on the north end of the dam and headed west along a path to bridge over a burn. we had a decission on which way to go and we opted on the steep slopes of mullach na maoille. this was a slog in bright sunshine and heavy packs but in no time we were over this top and up the slightly easier slopes to the 1st munro of the day carn nan gobhar
P4290004.JPG
lokking across to carn nan gobhar from mullach na maolle

the sun was out and visability exellent as we made our way down to the beallach na cloiche duibhe, the ridge to the next munro looked imposing but the path was good and after a little bit of scrambling we were sat on top of munro number 2 sgurr na lapaich
P4290006.JPG
the ridge to sgurr na lapaich

the route takes us west again dropping to another bealach before ascending the ridge of creagan toil an lochain, a lovely ridge the views all around were fab as we crossed a little top before the summit of munro number 3 an riabhachan. the wind had started to pick up and was really buffitting us on the high ridges.
P4290008.JPG
the ridge heading west

from the summit we desended again skirting a little top and down again to the bealach bholla. another rise took us to our last munro of the day an socach. hats and gloves were on as the wind was constant, must have been about 60 or 70 mile gusts and it was very cold.
P4290011.JPG

we were camping at the west end of the loch so from an socach we headed south west to a bealach and south over meall shuas to set up camp at the river side. it was a bit boggy but we found a spot on the south side of the river, the food and wine was a fine reward for our days walk.the wind didnt stop all night and mt and dave were tired at breakfast not looking foward to the day ahead.
P4290013.JPG
campsite at the west of the loch

day 2 started with a 750 long ascent along the west side of the allt cam, passing a few little waterfalls before gaining the ridge and top of mullach sithdh. its only a small dip and rise to todays 1st munro mullach a dheiragainn.
P4300015.JPG
the short dip and rise to mullach a dheiragainn

with great visability we set along the ridge south west before climbing the steep ridge of the next murro sgurr nan ceathreamhan, this is as far west we go and even the strong winds cant dampen the pleasure we were having on this expedition.
P4300017.JPG
dave and mountain thyme ascending sgurr nan ceathreamhan
P4300020.JPG
the way east to an socach

this walk has a lot of high ridges and we headed east dropping and rising to the next munro an socach. on reading up for this round it was suggested to camp at the next bealach, but we were all in fine form and decided to camp at the bealach beag. this ment we had a long ascent up over the 4th munro of the day mam sodhail, this was tiring with legs weary and heavy rucksacs we passed a little shelter just short of the summit were we sat and soaked up the sun.
P4300022.JPG
mam sodhail
P4300023.JPG
shelter on mam sodhail

we headed down northward to a bealach and skirted round the west slopes of carn eige, picking up some water for our camp, to set up the tents on the bealach beag. the wind was fierce, after pitching the tents ( it was 7 10pm )we decided to walk up beinn fhionnlaidh, this was a joy, no rucksacs, it took us 20 minutes to the top
P4300027.JPG
carn eige from beinn fhionnlaidh, our campsite is almost directly in the centre of the picture

we got back to the tents and made dinner and watched the sun setting over toward torridon and the cullin, bliss.
P4300030.JPG
sunset

the wind was relentless and as we settled down i was concerned iof the tents could cope. morning came and the tents made it, all be it i lost my tent bag blown away in the night. it was clear skys again so another cracking day ahead as we started of. 45 minutes later and we arrived at our first munro carn eige. this was a special munro for mountain thyme, and as i waited on her at the summit i arranged some rock to celebrate her 200th munro.
P5010032.JPG
well done mountain thyme

from carn eige its east over a nice rocky ridge, past an lethchreag, steeply down and up again to the next munro tom a choinich
P5010034.JPG
ridge east from carn eige

the end was in site, down steeply to the bealach toll easa and a long tired slog in the heat up to the summit of toll creagach
P5010038.JPG
toll creagach

we took the final summit snaps and sat again in sunshine and wind eating what was left of our grub, knowing it was all downhill.
P5010039.JPG
our final summit pic

we headed down eastward trying to keep high on the east of the coire aiming for the dam. it was a long slog my feet were burning as we hit the tarmac road that took us back to the car.this was a fabulous round, one of my best hillwalking outings, the weather ( apart from the fierce wind ) was fabulous, sunshine all day, mountain thyme and dave were great company and i would recomend this round to any one.
P4300014.JPG
does this look equal ?

ps, this is mine and mountain thyme,s ruck sacs, can you guess who,s is who ? and do you think they weigh the same ? no prizes on offer but is it just mt who thinks they are the same ? :lol:
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Last edited by mgmt! on Mon May 02, 2011 10:15 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby Left Behind » Mon May 02, 2011 10:01 pm

"Time taken: 3 hours" - Bloomin' heck! Good going! :lol:

Jokes aside, that looks a great round and the weather looked a treat also.
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby Johnny Corbett » Mon May 02, 2011 10:02 pm

Wonderful, you lot must have really enjoyed that round. MT isn't half getting you round these Munros :D . A candidate for trip report of the month i think and congratulations on reaching the 200 mark MT.
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby kinley » Mon May 02, 2011 10:06 pm

:shock: Too much for me - would definitely breach the "Fun Barrier" :lol:

Looks idyllic in the pictures - the wind never shows in those :lol:

Cheers 8)
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby tamw51 » Mon May 02, 2011 10:10 pm

Looks braw :D :D good stuff!

And good to see it before i set out on it in a couple of weeks, hope i get the same blue skies! :D
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby malky_c » Tue May 03, 2011 5:44 am

Looks like some great weather for that - my favourite local hills these :)

I've been meaning to do this round for the last couple of years now, but keep finding other things to do. It's a hell of a long day though! :shock:
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby Phil the Hill » Tue May 03, 2011 11:20 am

Good effort and well done to MT on reaching 200.

TR of the month for May is looking like a tricky decision already, what with this, Kinley on Rum and Liathach on fire.

If anyone doesn't fancy carrying heavy packs round all these hills, we avoided it by biking in from the West via Iron Lodge to establish a camp at the West end of Loch Mullardoch, then biked out and walked the round from the dam in the East. Still had to carry the tents up the final bit of the path from beyond Iron Lodge though. Particularly satisfying to come down off the hills on the first day to find the tents all pitched and waiting. Requires two tents, unless you stay in a hotel at either end of the round.
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby mountain thyme » Tue May 03, 2011 9:17 pm

mgmt! wrote:..
P4300014.JPG

ps, this is mine and mountain thyme,s ruck sacs, can you guess who,s is who ? and do you think they weigh the same ? no prizes on offer but is it just mt who thinks they are the same ? :lol:



haha...it is well known that women can pack bags and cases better than men!!! i will show you how the next time!
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby LeithySuburbs » Tue May 03, 2011 10:14 pm

Great stuff :D ! My wild camping is of the walk-in/camp/climb/walk-out variety as I really dont enjoy lugging tent/sleeping bag/stove up munros :lol: !
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby weebookil » Tue May 31, 2011 9:10 pm

Great report and some great pics too. A very well done to you 3 climbing 12 munros over a weekend and carrying your packs too. Well done to MT in reaching 200! I fancy doing this round too but i dont know if i could manage it over a weekend. :)
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby mgmt! » Tue May 31, 2011 11:18 pm

cheers weebookil glad you liked the report, we took 3 days and im sure you could do the same
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby monty » Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:12 pm

Excellent report on one big munro round. Missed this first time round. Good description of the walk and the terrain. A woman managed all that? Geez :lol: :wink:
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby mountain thyme » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:40 pm

hey monty... you know me!!!
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby Nigels3011 » Wed Dec 18, 2013 3:06 pm

I did this round back in 1995 after it appeared in TGO magazine. They had it as a 2 night camp but I did it in just two long days (11 and 16 hours). I made day two possible by camping at about 890m just before reaching the summit of Mullach na Dheirgain (GR082267) meaning I was already up high at the start of the day. I had fantastic weather which made for constant worries about finding water up on both ridges. And the descent back to the dam was very hard going with no path. Finally got back to the car just after half nine on the second day. I parked at the hotel for the weekend after asking permission. I drove up from Bedfordshire for a long weekend to do the round. I was back at work on Monday thinking - did that weekend just happen? But the aching legs served as a perfect reminder.
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Re: the mullardoch round

Postby mgmt! » Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:08 pm

hello Nigels3011, thanks for reading and posting on what was for me, a great weekend in my halcyon days of munro bagging. doing the round in 2 days is no mean feat, i got the idea from a older guy in our club David Foster who was one of the first people to put the round together back in the 70,s i think. if i was to do it again i would like to do it with a small tarp and bivvy high on the ridge. thanks again for posting.
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