Meall Chuaich ,a nice wee plan B

[pigeon]

A bit pushed for time this week so needed to find a quick walk that would allow me to be back in time for a night on the ale,plan A was Ben Vane,but the forecast for the west was really grim,rain all day and gale force winds said all the forecasts,the east though looked a wee bit more promising ,so plan B was made.Meall Chuaich was a hill we had been keeping for a winter walk ,so met Ian at layby 94 on the A9 just before 8,it did not look good ,rain was belting down and the wind was strong even as we got ready at the cars Soon as we set off though the rain stopped and we could see the top of meall chuaich from the track

It's an easy walk to the chuaich power station and then on to the stalkers hut at the bottom of the hill where a big owl flew out of the heather just in front of us ,tried in vain to get a decent picture of it but the camera was just no up to the task

a bad picture of a big owl

The climbing begins just after the hut ,it's an easy climb ,a bit boggy at times but we were up in about 2 hours

loch chuaich

no entry to fifers

decent views looking back

cairn comes into view

Good views were had up until about the last hundred metres but the wind was mega strong, struggling to stand up or hold the camera steady so no hanging about ,got a summit pic and then headed back to the hut for some heinz's finest

ian and jake

shaky summit pic

grub time

Even though it was blowing a gale we had managed to stay dry and we spoke to a few walkers at the hut who were just heading up,hope they avoided the rain as well ,back to the car in 4 hours 15 mins and due to a severe lack of watering holes in Dalwhinnie it was back to blair atholl for the customary pint

this week's customary pint venue

So not the most spectacular of hills but we enjoyed it,just glad to get out ,no sure what the weather was up to in the west but we thought we had made the right call and managed to stay dry and upright(well i did,ian managed to fall on his arse again )Must be one of the easiest munro's but a good one if your pushed for time or looking for a simple winter walk

[EwaMH]

Did this one just today, I'd agree with all you said! It's a lovely one and nice for a wee walk in the (now official) winter. Shame you didn't get the best of weather, we had some actual sunshine up in the hills for the first time in weeks today Hopefully there's more winter sunshine to come.

[pigeon]

Did this one just today, I'd agree with all you said! It's a lovely one and nice for a wee walk in the (now official) winter. Shame you didn't get the best of weather, we had some actual sunshine up in the hills for the first time in weeks today Hopefully there's more winter sunshine to come.

Cheers Ewa, glad you got a good day for it,we knew the forecast was better for sunday but had a night out on saturday so no way i could drive sunday morning Will be back up in the area soon to catch the 4 hills on the other side of the road so hoping for a nice crisp autumn day

[pollyh33]

Nice one Pigeon again. Don't know about the photo of the giant owl, I couldnt see anything!!!!

Glad to see the soup was on the menu again

Didn't fancy the bothy too much, much prefered the Bothy Bar!!!


PS Love Jake's coat

[pigeon]

Nice one Pigeon again. Don't know about the photo of the giant owl, I couldnt see anything!!!!

Glad to see the soup was on the menu again

Didn't fancy the bothy too much, much prefered the Bothy Bar!!!


PS Love Jake's coat

The giant owl is the light brown lump just right of centre ,was thinking of sending the picture into the bbc's wildlife photo competition,what do you think of my chances

[pollyh33]

Don't think Michaela will be all that impressed!!!

[rockhopper]

Nice to get out even if the weather wasn't great Seems to be a feature of this area - can recall it being very wet at the end of May when it was supposed to be summer ! As you say, it's an easy enough walk in but still enjoyable nonetheless - can also be biked to save a wee bit of time though doing this resulted in my dropping and breaking my gps on the track I'd tend to agree with you on the winter bit - could make qite a nice walk in snow especially if new to winterwalking. cheers

[ChrisW]

Great stuff Pigeon, your wildlife photography may need some work but it still tells a tale, maybe even more so as it makes me squint trying to identify said owl

[pigeon]

Great stuff Pigeon, your wildlife photography may need some work but it still tells a tale, maybe even more so as it makes me squint trying to identify said owl

Think it was a barn owl Chris ,this picture is much clearer

Nice to get out even if the weather wasn't great Seems to be a feature of this area - can recall it being very wet at the end of May when it was supposed to be summer ! As you say, it's an easy enough walk in but still enjoyable nonetheless - can also be biked to save a wee bit of time though doing this resulted in my dropping and breaking my gps on the track I'd tend to agree with you on the winter bit - could make qite a nice walk in snow especially if new to winterwalking. cheers

Cheers Rockhopper ,this is good area for getting some winter practice ,had a great day down the road a bit on carn na caim and a'bhuidheanach beag last winter on hills which would normally be pretty dull,waiting for a good day to tackle the 4 on other side of road

A'Bhuidheanach Beag in january