An Socach, Beinn Iutharn Mhòr and Carn bhac, 1st August 2020

I have a bit of extra time afforded to me just now with a variety of things being on hold. Weekends are a bit freer so I'm able to plan out some hills. I wanted to complete yet another section of the Munro book and Beinn Iutharn Mhòr and Carn Bhac were the last two hills to complete in the West Mounth section. I'd been looking at them for ages, wondering if I'd need a night away or if I could make it in a single day. In the end, with the long nights just now I decided I could, as long as I took my bike with me.

I put the call out, but everyone else was busy or had done them before, so I figured I'd just do it myself, with an early start. I was up at 0530 and it was still lightly raining in Glasgow. The previous day had been roasting and we had thunderstorms the night before. I popped the bike onto the roof of the Mazda and headed off up towards Inverey at 0620.

I arrived at 0845 and the car park was already quite busy, and a few MTB'ers getting themselves ready. I got myself ready quickly, had a sip of coffee and then headed up Glen Ey at 0900.

The cycle was a bit steeper than I expected at the start but the views were lovely and the day was fresh.

I reached Altanour Lodge just before 1000 and dropped the bike behind some heather, out of view.

Then it was time to start the walk. I'd decided early on to include An Socach after a discussion with Toezi the previous week, so I nipped over a burn and started the steep ascent up the NE shoulder.

I came across a few Cloudberries, dying off.

As I reached the plateau of the shoulder, I could hear the low rumble of hooves, and this herd of deer ran right across my path.

I made it to the top of An Socach at 1115, and then plotted my course over to Beinn Iutharn Mhòr. I stayed high and skirted the contour round to Loch Nan Eun.

Loch Nan Eun is lovely and sits 790m above sea level. From there I rounded the loch to the small tributary and onto the bealach between Beinn Iutharn Bheag and Màm nan Càrn. I arrived at the summit of Màm nan Càrn at 1231 and had a bite to eat - it had been a long day already.

From Màm nan Càrn, it was a fairly easy climb over the back and onto Beinn Iutharn Mhòr. I arrived there at 1300 and stopped for a while to admire the views.

I rounded the big corrie and there was a stunning view of the Cairngorms, with the Lairig Ghru front and center. The wind coming up the corrie was wild. The little Lochan Uaine gave a great foreground to the scene. This little lochan sits 860m above sea level.

Finding a path down to the flatter area was difficult and a few early paths were close to tempting me onto ground that would have been far to steep. I continued round the corrie edge and the contours flattened out. It was still a challenging descent on scree, but I lost height quickly and was glad to get to the end of it.

The next part was less than pleasant, flat, peat hags and heather with no paths for a good few kms. It was slow going and I frightened a good few grouse along the way. Eventually I made it to the 920m point and then followed a path onto the summit of Carn Bhac, at 1450. The views to the Cairngorms were stunning.

That was all the climbing done for the day. I'd met a family on the top and stupidly decided to wander off the same way they'd come without checking my map. When I realised I couldn't match the features on the map to reality I had to reassess where I was. I'd caught the error in time and took a bearing to the Alltan Odhar and followed that down into Glen Ey, breaking into a run for the last couple of kms.

I made it back to the bike at 1550, then it was a brisk downhill cycle with a tailwind. What took 48 mins on the way up took just under 30 mins on the descent.

Here's the Relive of the Cycle in

Relive 'The cycle in from Inverey'

And here's the climb itself:

Relive 'An Socach, Beinn Iutharn Mhòr and Carn an Righ'

Distance: 20.7km hike / 18.2km cycling

Time: 5hrs 52mins hike / 1h 16mins cycling

Ascent: 1042m hike / 158m cycling

Munros Completed: 167 (I'd already climbed An Socach)