Carn Liath, Stob Poite Coire Ardair and Creag Meagaidh, 24th July 2016
Unusually for the three hill amigos, we were actually able to motivate ourselves at short notice to get out and bag a few Munros. Plans were made through the week and I had agreed to drive, so I left my house at 7am and headed over to pick up Steg and Paul in Hillington and Paisley respectively.
The weather was dry and we made good time, heading up the A9 and then left at Dalwhinnie and when we pulled into the Aberarder Car Park at 10am, we spotted that there were a few other walkers in the vicinity, getting ready to head off.
We headed off at Big Paul speed but we missed a turning point which should have taken us up a rough track towards the summit of Carn Liath. When we realised the main track would take us away from there, we decided to make an ascent right up the slope. It was sweaty business, but it got us most of the height we needed.
We made the summit of Carn Liath at 11:50am, just in time for a quick sandwich and a micro-dram:
The views were tremendous, and the mist only added to the drama.
Next it was a small drop then another climb up to the summit of Creag Meagaidh, or so we thought. We made Mad Meg's Cairn at 2:15pm, and couldn't see any further than that, so without checking, we headed back down.
We made the true summit of Creag Meagaidh at 3:10pm, which was still pretty good going for 3 Munros.
The weather was dry and we made good time, heading up the A9 and then left at Dalwhinnie and when we pulled into the Aberarder Car Park at 10am, we spotted that there were a few other walkers in the vicinity, getting ready to head off.
We headed off at Big Paul speed but we missed a turning point which should have taken us up a rough track towards the summit of Carn Liath. When we realised the main track would take us away from there, we decided to make an ascent right up the slope. It was sweaty business, but it got us most of the height we needed.
We made the summit of Carn Liath at 11:50am, just in time for a quick sandwich and a micro-dram:
The next stage is a high level walk across to Stob Poite Coire Ardair, which is the highest point of the cliffs around Coire Ardair.
We reached the summit of Stob Poite Coire Ardair about 1:20pm, and found a great little cliff ledge which was just dying out for photos to be taken:
Next it was a small drop then another climb up to the summit of Creag Meagaidh, or so we thought. We made Mad Meg's Cairn at 2:15pm, and couldn't see any further than that, so without checking, we headed back down.
As we dropped down, the mist started to clear and we could see the cairn we had visited. Something about it didn't make sense, so we took a bearing of the cairn from where we were and discovered that it wasn't the summit of Creag Meagaidh. We had to make a decision, and since we had plenty of daylight and it was quite remote, we decided to go for it, so we trooped back up the slope.
We made the true summit of Creag Meagaidh at 3:10pm, which was still pretty good going for 3 Munros.
We tracked back down the way we came (again) and then headed for The Window, which is the lowest point of the corrie wall, and was our way out to the loch.
It was rocky going, but as soon as we got out of the way of the steep slope, we were onto a decent path again.
As we did so, the rain started to come on and it got heavier. By the time we were on the last kilometre out, we had started to get quite wet. We reached the car at 5:50pm and headed home in worsening weather.
Stats:
3 Munros
15.24 miles
7hrs 42 mins
1349m ascent
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