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Started from a cold damp lay-by before the devils elbow, having left two cars at the other lay-by past the ski centre (knocks 5K of the walk
). I wondered if the weather report was going to be correct as it seemed wetter & colder than MWIS suggested.
The initial path from the lay-by is very obvious, which was nice. Once some height was gained we struck a line for the bealach between Meall Gorm & the 932 point. Once at the bealach headed up to point 932 & then a little further to the summit of Creag Leacah. Whilst heading up there was a cry of deer on the ridge, much grabing of cameras, then oh look the deer have a dog with them, then oh look its people. Dohh
From Creag Leacah to Glas Maol is straight forward enough, follow the wall past a cairn, then leave the wall & follow the fence posts past the cairn marked on the OS map, which brings you to the summit in an arc to avoid losing height.
From there to Cairn of Claise you pick up the land rover track, which actually had a land rover on it(no keys), you could follow the wall but the track is easier on the tootsies.
Once below the summit leave the track & head up the scree. Nice cairn & shelter. Had lunch here by the wall as the shelter was taken by a nice family (if you are reading this Sol apologises for the phallic display with the cairn stone)
From here you can see Tom Buidhe & Tolmount & not quite believe it.
Three quarters of the way up Tom Buidhe there is a visible track taking you towards Tolmount, left my rucksack here for the wee 10 mins to the summit.
Back down & over to Tolmount from were you get great views of Dreish, Mayar & the rim of the corrie fee.
From here its best to retrace your steps a bit to avoid to much height loss especially as unlike Tolmount from Tom Buidhe, Carn an Tuirc looks bleeding miles away. Also best to take a bearing as summit disappears from view not long after leaving Tolmount & as the whole plateau is similar you could add on some unwanted K’s
From Carn an Tuirc to the lay-by is fairly quick & painless for a walk out.
The whole route is boggy, but a good day out if dry the views are great in a flattish for miles sort of way, but you can see Broad Cairn, Lochnagar etc.
Hats of to MWIS as the weather was spot on.
- Above the Meall Gorm Bealach
- Creag Leacah Summit
- looking back to Creag Leacah
- Glas Maol Summit
- Looking east from Glas Maol
- Hares
- Heading to Cairn of Claise
- Cairn of Claise Summit
- On the slopes of Tom Buidhe looking back to Cairn of Claise
- Tolmount from Tom Buidhe
- Tom Buidhe Summit
- Tolmount Summit
- Dreish & Mayar from Tolmount
- The Cairnwell & friends from Carn an Tuirc
- Carn an Tuirc from A93 lay-by
- Creag Leacah from A93 lay-by start point