Saturday 4 May 2024
Creag Meagaidh (1130m) and Beinn Chaorainn (1052m)
Friday 3 May 2024
Creag Each (NN652263, 673m)
Looking at the map this morning, the most obvious contenders for my attention were the two Corbetts up Glen Kendrum (one or the other, not both), but after the last couple of days, and given my current level of fitness, I thought that a shorter outing would be more appropriate*. The problem is that I've already picked off the easier options that lie on our route north. Over breakfast I spotted that Creag Each fitted the bill and being just 5 miles away, it was within the realms of a reasonable detour.
There are two laybys right by the start of the track up Glen Tarken, and we chose the empty one not on the lochside. There I left Mick, who did a small mischief to his back yesterday, as I strode off in the direction of my hill.
Immediately after the third gate on that track (including the one right by the road in that count), I paused and contemplated whether to continue along the track to the burn that carved its way down from near the summit, or to just head up from where I stood. I opted for the latter, which involved a gateless fence crossing and a small amount of ground steep enough to make me think I hadn't chosen the best line. The going was, however, mainly firm and free of heather and dead bracken, and all of the little crags were easily get-aroundable. In complete contrast to yesterday, I soon shed my gloves, and at one point had to roll my sleeves up too, although I wasn't so rash as to take my windshirt off - the breeze on top was cool enough to need it, but nothing like the arctic blast from yesterday.
A small gathering of deer on the top as I ascended
Having stood on the summit for a short while admiring my surroundings, I opted for a slightly different way down, going via a cairn on a nearby prominence (of which I failed to take a photo), then finding myself descending steeply down a boulder field. That wasn't fun and utmost care was taken.
Considering the wetness of the year so far, and that so much of this outing was off-piste, it was surprising that I managed to get the whole way up and 7/8th of the way back down to the track without getting my feet wet. Even when I did, it was only one careless step on each foot that filled my shoes with water.
Mick had the kettle on for me when I got back to Bertie after a remarkably pleasing outing. Dare I say, that I enjoy relatively easy pathless hills like this one, especially when they don't involve forest but do involve fantastic views, more than the more popular ones with paths eroded into them?
(*Small aside: last week I dragged my bike out of the back of the shed, where it has resided since 2019. I got it back into working order, then put in in Bertie's boot. We then decided it was taking up too much room, considering everything else we needed to fit in for this trip, so it got taken back out and the Brompton was put in instead. If I'd had a mountain bike to hand today, I probably would have cycled in to do one of those two hills.)
Sgiath a’Chaise and Beinn Earn (NN583169, 644m & NN601158, 813m)
My route. There was no need to go such a long way around to reach the forest track (see Mick’s route below).
Mick’s route – same outward route as me, but taking a longer route from summit to upper forest road, then shorter way from lower forest road to car park.
I gave Mick the choice as to whether he wanted to do the Corbett or the Marilyn with me this morning and to my surprise he opted for the latter. Happily, he didn’t show any interest in doing both, which is what allowed me to do the linear route.
Other than taking a slightly longer route than necessary at the beginning, our progress to the upper forest road was uneventful. I had read reports as to the best way to get from the upper forest road to the summit, but on our way to the track junction at NN573179, we came across this new track at NN 57357 16812:
An engineered track, although a rough, low-quality one.
We couldn’t see how far it extended, but decided it was worth a punt that it would take us either to the top of the forest, or near enough as to make any subsequent bashing worthwhile compared with the much longer route I’d intended to take when we set out (the route Mick took on the way back – see map snippets above).
There’s more than one new track up here…
…complete with new bridges
It was steep in places, but steep on a track is relatively painless (versus, say, through knee-high tussocks), and our decision to go that way was borne out as we got higher, crested a rise, and could see that the track did indeed continue.
It came to an end at NN 57967 16922, just before we got out of the forest, but there was only one slightly dodgy manoeuvre required on our chosen line up the edge of the unharvested area, then up between two crags. The downside of this route was that it didn’t conveniently land us at a gate in the deer fence.
Summit selfie
Mick came with me a short distance beyond the summit, so that he could see where I was going next, then once I’d rummaged around in my bag for my waterproof (for warmth, although a shower was seen approaching; it turned out to be hail/snow), Mick turned back and I continued on.
The descent was steep but doable, and at the bottom I had a choice: to continue down the glen for 750m to pick up the baggers’ path to the Corbett of Beinn Each, or to just attack the hillside ahead of me. I could see what looked like a good line ahead, so opted not to do the longer distance. Looking at the map again now, had I been making that decision based on the map alone (e.g. in poorer visibility, without being able to see what lay ahead) I wouldn’t have gone that way, as I have a general rule that if there are only two intermediate contour lines shown between the 50m contours for more than 100m, then it’s too steep. As it went, the terrain was firm, cropped grass so whilst steep, the going was easy. I intercepted the baggers’ path at an altitude of around 570m.
By 700m I couldn’t help but notice not just the strength of the wind, but also the chill that it bore. Pausing to send Mick a message once my phone signal returned, I estimated the windchill to be around -10. I later looked up the MWIS forecast, and that’s exactly what it predicted. Whilst it was only my hands that got cold (or never warmed up; they were cold when we set out), even with the steep ascents, the first time I felt truly warm on this outing was when I descended back below the 300m contour (I had on a long-sleeved baselayer, a windshirt and my waterproof, plus a buff and buffalo mitts).
Another summit selfie
There was clearly another Marilyn over there (Munro too, as it turned out when I looked at the map later), but I wasn’t in a position to nip over to it today.
As I left the summit I messaged* Mick with an ETA of 1255 at the layby where he was meeting me. I arrived at 1256, which wasn’t bad, I thought, considering I’d taken a small accidental detour in the final kilometre (missed a turn) and then encountered a few blow-downs across the path.
An excellent morning out and encouraging that I felt good the whole time.
(*I discovered yesterday that my phone has lost the ability to make phone calls. It occurred to me today that could be a problem should I find myself in a pickle. It’s still letting me text and WhatsApp.)
Beinn na t-Sidhein (NN 547 178; 572m)
18 April 2024