TGOC 2014 - Day 6: Chalybeate Spring to Newtonmore

Wednesday 14th May 2014 

An excellent high-level day over two Munros on the edge of the Monadhliath Mountains 

Distance: 29.5km; Ascent: 680m; Dry and sunny, followed by showers; Mainly with John B

See tracked route in new window

I woke at around 5am this morning due to the cold - there was a heavy frost outside and ice on the inside on my flysheet!  Therefore I added an extra layer and soon was back asleep for a couple of hours.  The vast majority of the other challengers camped at Chalybeate Spring were heading east from here, whereas I was planning on detouring to bag a Munro: Geal Charn.  This therefore meant that I set off walking alone at around 9am and followed the burn southwards to reach Loch na Lairige, which looked like it might be a pleasant spot to camp.

Camp by the Allt Mor

The Crom Allt below Loch na Lairige

The outflow of Loch na Lairige

Loch na Lairige

From Loch na Lairige I followed the Allt an Iuit up past several large snowfields to eventually reach the NE shoulder of Geal Charn, where I picked up a faint path through the moorland.  Around here I bumped into John Braide again!  He had just come from the summit, but opted to turn around and retrace his steps with me to the large summit cairn of Geal Charn (Munro, HuMP), which we reached at around half past eleven.

Snowfield SE of Loch na Lairige

Looking back to Loch na Lairige

Snowfields above the Allt an Iuil

On the summit of Geal Charn

Geal Charn summit cairn

John & I both had the same route planned for the next few hours, so after a short break we set off walking together in a north-easterly direction over the gentle rolling hills of the Monadhliath.  There were excellent views in all directions as we passed over the summit of Carn na Criche (Corbett Top) and the summit of Cairn Ewen before reaching the summit of Carn Odhar na Criche (Corbett Top), where we picked up a line of fence posts.

Looking NE from Geal Charn

Carn Odhar na Criche

From here we dropped ESE to seek some shelter from the brisk wind for a spot of lunch, before continuing on over Beinn Odhar and the former Munro Top of Sneachdach Slinnean before bumping into Chris Townsend and Tony Hobbs again.

Superfluous gate on the west slopes of Sneachdach Slinnean

Looking towards Carn Dearg from Sneachdach Slinnean

We walked together to the summit of Carn Ban (Munro Top), before continuing on to my final hill of the day: Carn Dearg (Munro, Marilyn), whose summit we reached at around twenty past three this afternoon.  As we reached the summit the threatening clouds finally started to rain, so we didn't linger long here.

John, Chris and Tony heading for Carn Dearg

Carn Dearg from the NNW

One of the remaining snow patches on Carn Dearg

Gleann Ballach from Carn Dearg

Summit cairn of Carn Dearg

We retraced our steps back to the bealach, where John left to continue on his high-level route through the Monadhliath for another day, whilst Chris, Tony & I descended NE into the coire at the head of Gleann Ballach.  Here we bumped into a team of balloon herders, also known as Andy, Alan and Phil, whose cheese and wine party I had attended last night.  After stopping for a chat, they continued down Gleann Ballach whilst Chris, Tony & I crossed over into the next glen to the east.

Alan, Andy & Phil in Gleann Ballach

Footbridge over the Allt Fionndrigh

After missing the start of the path shown on the OS map, we had a steep descent down to the Allt Fionndrigh, which we boulder-hopped across before finding that there was a bridge a few hundred metres further downstream.  By now it was around 5pm and as I was due to be meeting Martin in Newtonmore for a pub meal I picked up my pace and headed off down the vehicle track towards Glen Banchor.

Looking back up Glen Banchor

Soon after joining the minor road, I came across a welcome sign tied to a nearby tree - free tea, coffee and cakes! :-)

A welcome sign :-)

The River Calder NW of Newtonmore

Spurred on by the thought of this, I continued along the minor road into Newtonmore to reach the excellent Newtonmore Hostel, where I found Martin and I were sharing a room.  Martin headed out to the pub shortly after I arrived, whilst I enjoyed tea and cake before unpacking, grabbing a shower and heading over to the pub to join him.

I enjoyed a most sociable evening in the Glen Hotel with Martin, Markus, Philipp, Laura, Louise, David, Ali & Sue amongst many others :-)

TGOC 2014 - Day 5: Fort Augustus to Chalybeate Spring

Tuesday 13th May 2014 

A day mainly on tracks up Glen Doe and on into the heart of the Monadhliath Mountains 

Distance: 27km; Ascent: 1020m; Dry and sunny, with a brisk breeze; Mainly with John B

See tracked route in new window

I had a relatively easy day planned, almost entirely on tracks, to take me from the Great Glen into the Monadhliath Mountains today - therefore I was in no rush to set off from Fort Augustus this morning!  I enjoyed a breakfast of porridge in the hostel before chatting to my daughters using Skype via a somewhat more reliable WiFi connection than yesterday evening!

After packing up I wandered down into the town centre to pick up a few supplies and post my Knoydart BMC map home.  I finally set off walking that morning shortly before 10:30am and followed the B862 out of town around the southern end of Loch Ness before ascending steeply to around 200m to reach the start of the hydro road up Glen Doe.

Fort Augustus locks

Loch Ness

Entrance to the Glen Doe Hydro Road

I soon passed SSE's "Soft Peat Storage Area", which was surrounded by warning signs - I wondered what they were storing it for?  Around 500m up the hydro road I stopped for a quick break to apply suncream and re-hydrate - it was turning out to be hot and sunny today!  Here I met John Braide, Chris Townsend and Tony Hobbs, and it was good to chat to them all as we continued on past a small lochan and on up into Glen Doe.

Soft Peat Storage Area!

Soft Peat Storage Area!

Lochan below Borlum Hill

John and I continued on up into Coire Doe at a slightly faster pace than Chris and Tony, with increasingly good views back to the snowy peaks of the north-west highlands as we ascended along the track.  Soon we caught up with Alan & Phil, whose cheese & wine party I was heading for this evening!  John and I opted to stop for a lunch break part way up the steep ascent of the head of Coire Doe to enjoy the views on this lovely sunny day :-)

Phil & Alan on the hydro road in Coire Doe

View back to the snowy NW Highlands from the Glendoe Hydro Road

Whilst we were resting, Alan & Phil and Chris & Tony passed us on their way to the reservoir.  After we felt suitably refreshed, we continued on ascending via a series of broad zig-zags to reach the highest point of the hydro road near Lochan a'Choire Ghlais.

Snow poles on the highest part of the Hydro Road

Lochan a'Choire Ghlais

It was now noticeably windier and less warm than on the way up Glen Doe, and the sky had also begun to cloud over.  We descended south along the track to reach the memorial cairn above the new Glen Doe reservoir, where we met many other challengers: Chris, Tony, Alan, Phil, Andy, Vicky & Toby, most of whom seemed perplexed that John & I were walking in shorts today!

Approaching the Glen Doe Reservoir

Andy, John, Toby, Vicky, Phil & Alan by the Glen Doe Reservoir cairn

Alan & Phil by the cairn

John and I continued to walk together as we headed east along the northern side of the reservoir heading further into the Monadhliath Mountains.  There had clearly been a lot of work done around here in relation to the construction of the reservoir, as most of the burns we encountered appeared to have been canalised, presumably to increase the water flow into the reservoir so as to maximise the hydroelectric output.

Glen Doe Reservoir

New wetland at the east end of the Glen Doe reservoir

My original plan for the day had been to detour off to the south to bag the Corbett of Meall na h-Aisre, however I was still feeling tired after my three long days Munro bagging in the NW highlands at the weekend so I instead opted to skip this hill and stick to the track instead.  This therefore meant that a few kilometres east of the reservoir, John and I parted company as he headed off into the hills to the south for a remote overnight camp.  I instead continued eastwards along the reasonably level track to catch up with Alan & Phil.

Looking ENE over the Monadhliath Mountains towards Glen Markie

Phil & Alan heading for the Crom Allt

We chatted as we continued walking east, with Alan telling me what the area was like before the construction of this very long vehicle track through the wild land.  It's a great shame that this was likely to have been my last opportunity to walk through this area before the construction of the controversial Stronelairg Windfarm, which is due to cover a large amount of this remote mountain and moorland landscape.

Allt an Dearg Lochain

The Crom Allt

We crossed the Allt an Dearg Lochain and the Crom Allt to reach a track junction on the far side, where we headed SE for a little under a kilometre to reach our planned campsite for the evening just beyond Chalybeate Spring at around 6:15pm.  Here we met several other challengers and soon there was a collection of green, yellow and grey tents scattered around a lovely grassy spot near a stream confluence.

A gathering of tents at the cheese & wine party

The cheese & wine party

More challengers arrived over the course of the next hour or two and we enjoyed a very sociable evening with plenty of cheese, biscuits, wine and whisky :-)  After the sun had set the temperature dropped dramatically due to the clearing skies, so I soon decided to retire to the warmth of my tent for the night.  Yesterday and today had certainly been a pleasant change from my first three days of my crossing when I hardly met any other challengers at all!