|
This weekend with the club was amazingly
last minute, but proved to be a big success. Although I was swamped
under university work and commitments I found the reasons to go and
headed on a train to Stirling on the Friday afternoon where I met Diane,
who gave me a lift to Laggan. We stayed in the Pottery Bunkhouse, a nice
and reasonably priced place and stayed for the next two nights.
Beinn a' Chlachair
First hill of the day was Beinn a' Chlachair and it's a fair way in to
get to it. So we headed off from Glen Spean and southwards with
Chlachair in view. It was still miles away, although at this point I
wasn't even sure I'd do it. Today was a do-what-you-want day - Diane did
one Munro, Iain and Dougie did two and I went around all three
frantically trying to catch them up.
After a few miles, we came out on Lochan na h-Earba - hills, peaks,
trees and cliffs on both sides of the loch. It looked very Lord of the
Rings. If you took a tent and got the weather, it would be a great place
to camp. It's not the done thing, but if you get a fire going on the wee
beach at the head of the loch, you'll be on your way to a great night.
It's just so scenic and quiet.
We took a moment to rest sore feet, but got on our way. The path headed
up to the hills, and then we were encircled by the three Munros. Near
the Bealach Leamhain, I split from the group and started towards
Chlachair itself. I was a big nervy about heading off alone then trying
to catch the others up but went anyway, reaching the Bealach itself, a
great point to look out upon the wild and lonely lochan that also bears
it's name.
I headed up the boulder/snow slopes then onto the wide summit ridge
where I had a long walk around to the summit. I was happier now though -
the weather was looking bright and progress was good. The trip out to
the summit was long, but I'd expected so and I reached the top tired but
ready for more. The views south across to Alder and Geal-charn were
stunning - even though the snow is melting, these peaks still held a
wild, alpine look. The plateaus are still snow covered and cornices rim
the corries.
Geal Charn
Geal Charn is a little smaller in height
than Beinn a' Chlachair, but from Chlachair it looked really small
because it was so damn far away. Back over the summit ridge I went,
dropping down the steep boulders/snowfields (rather tricky and
dangerous) to Bealach Leamhain. I didn't know where the other guys were,
but I followed the path around the north side of Geal Charn to a good
starting point then headed up the slopes towards the summit. I met Iain
and Dougie as they were on their way down and said the summit was still
maybe 20 minutes away. I wondered if it would be shorter but in the end
it took 20 minutes to reach the huge cairn, with a columnar trig point
hiding behind. The summit area looks quite quirky from the approach -
the actual top a nip rising from the surrounding flat high ground. Sadly
though the wind had got up somewhat and made the top freezing. I wasn't
sticking around for this, and headed off again.
Creag Pitridh/Descent
This hill barely looks Munro-like. It's tiny, but kind of nice and
not only because it's littleness means little ascent from Geal Charn.
Since I'd got off Geal Charn sharp because of the wind, I headed fast
down the slopes and bombed the 100 vertical metres onto Creag Pitridh's
summit. The side looks cliff ridden, but a faint path winds up among
them and drops you straight on the summit, which I did and was met with
no wind, spectacular views down to the lochs and the presence of Diane,
Dougie and Iain.
Well, I finally caught them up. It was cold but warm enough to sit down,
so I dried out my feet at the top before we set off down towards the
approach path. And then it was a rather long walk out... Feet were a bit
sore on the way out but I felt surprisingly good. The walk ended after
27km's and I felt okay in the legs although as I said, feet were sore.
Iain headed south home although Dougie, Diane and I had a nice night in
the Laggan bunkhouse. Home the next day - they're in Edinburgh so I took
a train home from Haymarket.
Panoramas
360° panorama from Beinn a'
Chlachair
360° panorama from Geal Charn
360° panorama from Creag
Pitridh
|
