The morning began with me dispensing a large quantity of alcohol.

Particularly, methanol, in the screen wash the car had used up. Then I hopped in and drove to Luichart Power Station. It was time to march on the route described by malky_c. I started the walk thinking I was just going to repeat the walk exactly as told - but over time, I decided I was making enough changes to warrant a proper report.

Speaking of marching, what's an ideal walk for March? I'd say something where the snow had melted but the bracken that would bury everything later hadn't grown yet. Would these two hills fit the criteria? Let us see!




On the actual steep part below the 506 m top, though, I was surprised to find an honest-to-goodness path leading up the heather. Maybe I'm wrong, but at the moment of writing this, Sgurr Marcasaidh 'boasts' 63 visitors; on Munros, they're counted in the thousands. Still, what I'd taken for an off-the-beaten-path Sub was very much on the beaten path - and I wasn't going to complain about that!







The big loch ahead was the other end of Loch Luichart, whose dam I started the walk from. The one I was heading for, though, was the one on the left: Loch Bhad Ghaineamhaich.

This was actually a part of the reason why I extended the ridgewalk to Sgurrachd Ire. Malky_c's report cuts through the plantation above Loch a' Chairn Duibh, and though he mentions the trees being spread out, that report dates back to 2012. I wasn't sure how much the trees could have grown since then, plus I wasn't that thrilled about the idea of climbing over deer fences. Towards the loch it was, then.





The Meall had tussocks and higher heather on the steeper parts, and there was the occasional boggy bit to avoid, but nothing too bad. On the shoulder about halfway through, the foliage shrank for a moment, before perking up again as the incline increased. For a strange reason - though possibly just because the angle of the ascent was similar - I was reminded quite heavily of the (longer) way up Leum Uilleim from the Corrour station.




This ridge was quite bumpy, and there was a time on Meall a' Choire Leith when I didn't feel like going up either bump around me so I walked in between them (and then had to stick close to the left one, which I might've been better off ascending), but I reached the summit of Creag Loch nan Dearcag. Exactly 2 hours since Sgurr Marcasaidh - so Naismith was correct on this section. It was getting a little windier now, but was warm enough that the wind was more refreshing than a hindrance.



Malky_c mentions he thought this ridge would be hard going but turned out okay. As far as I'm concerned, it was hard going. Tussocks, heather, bogs, the ridge had it all. Including an awkward sliding-down-on-the-bum-while-holding-onto-heather moment when the drop from Carn a' Mhearlaich was steeper than I'd expected. Could be a fun challenge, sure. But when I got into the mindset of 'I've bagged all I planned to' and developed a vision of dinner in my eyes propelling me forward, I didn't really have the patience for stuff like that.



Half a minute later, I was quickly backtracking from the idea, heading back up and continuing on the ridge where it descended more reasonably. The ridge then met a fence, which I followed down to the forest. It wasn't so bad while it was flattish, but then...


Fear no harm
We're marching on
Into the dawn
Of your tomorrow
Burn the sorrow
To be free

Honestly, the weather, the conditions, were perfect, irrespective of the actual place where I was walking. So if March would offer walks like this, then yes, please, keep Marching on. (And thinking that way, I really didn't expect it would take me until mid-May to write this one up.)

Anyway, with the song playing on repeat in my head (since by this time I'd decided on the name for this report), I found a kind of path once I entered the forest, and followed it mindlessly after it turned left. After all, left was where I wanted to go. Except the path didn't really feel like it wanted to connect to the road.

Well, I shouldn't have gone that far left. The gradient looked okay if I'd just continued straight on towards the road, but where I currently was, it was rocky and mossy and steep. Rejecting the very idea of backtracking, though, I climbed down some slippery rocks and more ferns and joined the road.

Reaching the car, I realised the last section - the descent from Creag Loch nan Dearcag - should've taken me 1.5 hours, but it took me a full 2. Was it fate? Was this walk meant to take 5.5 hours no matter what? Or did Naismith just hit upon the serendipity some Maths/Physics teachers show little regard for: using the wrong formula to arrive at the correct answer? Take your pick.