Beinn Dearg and Meall nan Ceapraichean

 It's been a rocky start to 2026, but I have been very fortunate to be getting out in some local hills that aren't just the Kilpatricks for a change. I managed to get some time off work this weekend, and I headed off just after midday on Friday to get a start on the long drive north to hills I've not done.

I decided to break up the drive with a run at Glenmore, so I rolled into Aviemore and up the wee road and parked just at the Reindeer Centre. I headed up past Glenmore Lodge, where I passed my Mountain Leader in 2024 (did I tell you I'm an ML?😉) then up to An Lochan Uaine. I had shorts on, so it was pretty nippy. Next up was a flying visit to Ryvoan bothy, which I've never had to myself, but fortunately it was empty, save for a couple of rucksacks, so I got a proper look around. It's a nice wee place.

An Lochan Uaine

Ryvoan Bothy

Inside Ryvoan Bothy

I headed back down to the van and got a quick change. A few messages were exchanged and I discovered I had friends Stewart and Stuart staying in their lodges at Coylumbridge. Given the option was some good company, a cuddle off some dogs (Cally and Ralph) and a free dinner courtesy of Michelle or the alternative of a chippy and a few hours in a cold van, I knew which to choose.

After some chorizo and bean stew and potatoes, I headed up the road to Inverness and then into my favoured spot at Silverbridge, just outside of Garve.

I spent an hour packing my rucksack for the morning, making rolls and getting everything ready to just get up and moving early doors. I knew I had a long day in store. I hit the hay just after 2200, and drifted off to sleep quickly. Unfortunately I had a horrible dream that someone was banging up and down the sides of the van and I woke in a panic. I am pretty sure it was a dream... but that fed into the next vivid dream where I realised I'd driven through the night to arrive just north of Glasgow and discover I'd been going the wrong way the whole time. So I dropped into a shop to ask how to tell if I was dreaming and they said you should tie your shoelaces and if you can, you're not in a dream. I could tie my shoelaces, so that was confusing. Far too much information for a hillwalking blog, so feel free to skip. Anyway, back in the real world, the alarm was going off at 0530 which is decidedly too early for anyone....

I got up, packed the bed away, got the hot water and coffee on. I had breakfast and was away about 0615 to head for Inverlael. It was still dark when I got to the car park, so I put my winter boots on and my headtorch and was over the style and gate just before 0700. It felt exciting to start in the dark. The sky was cloudy so it took a long time to lighten and that was all through dark and unfamiliar forest, but on good tracks.

Dark start

Eventually, I reached the end of the forestry and then was onto a decent but narrow stalkers path on the open hillside. I wasn't cold, but I was out of the wind down there. Up on the stalkers path, I could start to feel the wind whipping down the long shape of the valley towards me. Within a few minutes, I had to put on gloves. The views up Gleann na Sguaib were spectacular, even with everything above 800m enveloped in a thick white fog.

Views up Gleann na Sguaib

As I climbed up the glen, I encountered numerous hinds and some older calves. I guess there's nothing to eat in their high summer pastures, so it's down to 600m to munch on the heather and deal with hillwalkers saying hello to them. I got up to the snow line about 700m and it became considerably colder, so I put on my waterproof shell and trousers, put the poles away and swapped them for the ice axe and donned my crampons once it became clear there was enough snow to use them.

Snow filling up the gullies

Ross up a mountain again

Frozen Lochan Làthail

The only hint that the smaller lochans on the map existed were small areas of completely flat, white ground which I just knew were dangerous, so avoided those completely.

Evenutally I made it up to the flatter ground just after 1000. It was extremely windy there, so I took a bearing and headed for the wall feature that goes directly up the easiest ridge on Beinn Dearg.

Although the snow was hard, there was a lot of rime ice around and the wall just seemed to be a lot of white shapes appearing in the mist. The climb was exhausting - normally I can just bounce up a slope like that but with winter boots, crampons, a heavy rucksack and the snow giving way beneath me, I found myself getting out of breath quickly and having to stop frequently.

Rime ice

Eventually I made it to the end of the wall which meant only a few hundred metres of distance to the summit. I didn't even see the cairn until I was almost right at it. In the snow like that there's no up or down - it's very hard to see anything.

Summit Cairn

I made it to the summit at 1100 and had some food out of the wind. This had taken me just over 4 hours to get to the first top and in a day where I still had a drive back home to do, another 3 Munros in these conditions seemed like I'd be taking risks that would leave me very tired. I did some rough calculations and it made sense to go for Meall Nan Ceapraichean. I can always come back here in summer and nab the other two summits in a lot less time.

I text Isa to let her know the change of plan, and Toezi and Steg too, just for insurance purposes. 

Getting back to the flat piece of ground was quite a bit quicker than I'd expected, good grippy snow and following my crampon marks helped. I headed to the west side of Lochan Uaine and then took a line which kept me far away from the steep ground. There didn't seem to be any cornicing, but when you can't see anything you need to be super-careful, especially on your own. I made the summit of Meall Nan Ceapraichen at 1150. A smaller cairn again meant that it was hard to find, but was prominent enough. The cold wind was still brutally hitting me from the East, so I didn't hang about.

Meall Nan Ceapraichean

I took a look down at my axe and you could see that a layer of ice from moisture in the wind had formed around where my hand hadn't been.

Ice from the R down

It was all very exciting but the wind was constantly bitter against my cheek. I was glad when I got down to the flat ground and dipped down the valley out of it for a bit. Walking on the ice and snow was fun and the crampons did their job perfectly.

I made it down to Lochan Làthail again at 1225 and the snow started to peter out, so I dropped the axe and crampons and realised that the sole of one of my boots had come off. Nightmare. Fortunately it was still attached at the toe, and my gaiter strap was bravely holding it together. I had quite a distance left to cover and I wasn't really sure how I'd manage it.

Lochan Làthail

Lochan Làthail looking down Gleann na Sguaib

I made much quicker progress on the way down despite the flapping boot sole and it fortunately held it together. There was even a brief few minutes of sun out of the wind and it didn't feel like midwinter anymore.

I made it back to the van at 1445 to assess the damage to my boots and it was not a pretty sight.

Ol' Flappy Soles

I'll get them re-soled hopefully. It was a long drive home with a stop at Pitlochry for dinner but I was glad to make it as far as Aviemore before it got dark. I was home at 8pm and it was a case of leaving the van to unpack tomorrow. I was glad I didn't go for the other two Munros.

Hike Distance: 27.56km

Hike Time: 7h 43m

Ascent: 1310m

Munros Completed: 232 (50 to go!)