| Date | 22 Sep 2024 |
| Route | Link to Route |
| Enjoyable | |
| Difficulty | |
| Conditions | Cloud Inversion!!! Cool at times, but dry and sunny all day |
| Summits | ✔ (T) Carn na Caim South Top [Mullach Coire nan Cisteachan] ✔ (M) Carn na Caim ✔ (M) A' Bhuidheanach Bheag ✔ (T) Glas Mheall Mor |
Not quite such an early start as we were staying overnight at Kennacoil, but did have to fend off our evening meal from a local pheasant who tried to nab our nan breads!!
Parking for these Munros is in a small layby on the busy A9, luckily only a few cars when we arrived. Once you cross the road its a short walk to a gate that gets you away from the traffic and started on a gravel track.
It is a fairly relentless slow climb over one and half miles to reach the main plateau; we took a bit longer than we wanted, but this was Ailidhs first hike in a while. However our reward was a fantastic cloud inversion, that remained for most of the day!
From here we turned north east and quickly reached the first top of the day, Mullach Coire nan Cisteachan, and from here the Munro, Carn na Caim is a fairly easy trek. There is a nice view of Loch Cuaich just a short walk to the north.
The next Munro is a fair distance away, start by returning to the top of the ascent path, then take the south fork until you reach the cairn of A' Bhuidheanach. From here don't make the same mistake that we did by continuing to follow the track, instead to the east you will see a very small marker cairn that indicates the top of a better path to descend this hill, before it heads up towards the Munro. Once you ascend, you will find a fence line, follow it south to reach the summit of the last Munro of the day, A' Bhuidheanach Bheag.
We settled down for a while and had some lunch while taking in the great views, especially of Schiehallion poking out of the clouds.
Ailidh wasn't keen on the trek across to the last top, but was happy to sunbathe while I headed over myself. There is no clear path that I could find, so just followed my pre planned route through some nasty bogs, luckily mostly dried up today. The last pull up to the summit of Glas Mheall Mor would have been easier if at that point the wind hadn't died and the sun was beating down. The detour took only an hour.
We returned over the same path, this time taking the easier route onto A' Bhuidheanach and then back to the top of the starting ascent path. The descent from here was tough on the knees and feet, I'm sure they will be protesting tomorrow!
Overall a great day out, made all the better by having Ailidh out with me again.
