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Following Beinn a' Ghlo a couple of weeks
previously, Colin invited me out to Glen Shee to do some hills behind
the Spittal. Five Munros are spaced around Loch nan Eun, three of which
we climbed: Glas Tulaichean, Carn an Righ and Beinn Iutharn Mhor. The
remaining two, An Socach and Carn Bhac are more anonymous hills placed
northward in the wedge of high ground between the River Dee and Glen
Cluanie. Located away from the Glen Shee honey pot, the hills of
Tulaichean, Righ and Iutharn are rich in huge, wild scenery. Their bulk
and size set them high above the empty miles of peat and heather,
especially to the west where uninterrupted views run straight into the
huge interior of Atholl. In this area, sightlines extend to the horizon
without a road to break the view. The enormity hadn't been
expected.
In the morning,
I met Colin and Faye at Anniesland and we drove through the Spittal and onto Dalmunzie Castle. They allow hill
walkers to park their cars here for £2 and it cuts 5km off what would
already be a long day.
Glas Tulaichean
We set off from Dalmunzie Hotel under promising skies that could swing
either way. Glen Lochsie doesn't have much going for it in views, except
the scenery back out to Glen Shee. It wouldn't look out of place in the
Southern Uplands, but the difference here is our target hill -
Glas Tulaichean - rises to 1051m. This large, broad hill casts arms out
like tyre spokes, all whalebacks of springy heather. As views
opened up and the bulk of Beinn a' Ghlo pulled into our leftward view,
we arrived on the long south-east ridge of Glas Tulaichean. At some time
of year,
I expect they are the green hillocks the name speaks of, but they looked
more like ochre today. We climbed onto the Top Creag Bhreac and kept
walking onto the south-eastern arm of Glas Tulaichean.
Further up the ridge, we stopped out of the wind (but on open ground that is very
hard to do!) to take a break and have something to eat. The summit
didn't seem far away now, but in true distance it was still a mile away.
Then just as the skies and weather forecast had seemed variable, cloud
lowered towards
the summit and visibility was bad enough that I couldn't take a 360°
panorama when we got to the summit. With sandblasting hail, we didn't hang
around and walked off the other side in the direction of our second
mountain, Carn an Righ.
Carn an Righ
The northern slopes of Glas Tulaichean drop to Gleann Mor in a 300m
sweep. We battled our way off this in hail and wind and worked our way
down grassy slopes, to the river and back up the other side to a track.
My guess is it's a stalkers track, and we stopped for a rest on the
white boulders. I was feeling low on energy, but we'd been doing fine so
far. 9kms were in the bag and there was still a lot to go. It was cold
when we stopped, but the hail had blown itself out and the sun was
back. This would be the sign of things to come for the rest of the day.
So when we were feeling fit to go on, we walked the remainder of the
distance to the foot of Carn an Righ and began the climb to it's summit.
We were moving fast, and did the 250m in sub-30 minutes. In addition to
our speed, the day was very positive - it was just
great being out in the mountains, with huge views everywhere, in the
middle of nowhere. The summit was windy but it didn't prevent us staying
for ten minutes. In view, everything: Beinn a' Ghlo, Tilt, Tarf, the
Cairngorms, Glen Shee... At the time I failed to notice Fealar Lodge,
the remote settlement 20kms from the nearest public road, sitting at
550m between Carn an Righ and the head of Glen Tilt. I learned of it's
existence in Martin Moran's The Munros in Winter, and only
realised that we had seen it when at home, I found it's
cluster of pink buildings nestled in the bottom of my pictures. It is in
the Carn an Righ panorama.
Beinn Iutharn Mhor
A quick descent from Carn an Righ began where we met a few guys going
up. We picked up rucksacks at the bottom, chatted with some others and
headed up Beinn Iutharn Mhor. It had seemed busy for a
moment, but we wouldn't see anyone else until the end of the day. The
track climbed the side of Mam nan Carn then faded out to let us make the
remainder of the distance to the top. Rucksacks were dumped below Mam
nan Carn (though I kept mine again) and we climbed the remaining height
to Beinn Iutharn Mhor. Again, this was another beautiful viewpoint with
unrelenting high winds sweeping the summit. I felt dizzy when I crouched
into the summit windbreaker - I'm guessing this had something to do with
walking through a crosswind, ears and pressure... Who knows. I took a
panorama while trying to stand upright, and tried to soak in the views.
This would be the last big summit of the day.
Top bagging: Mam nan Carn and Beinn Iutharn Bheag
Well I wasn't done quite yet: leaving Faye and Colin to contour round to
Loch nan Eun, I headed up Mam nan Carn, a Munro Top. Going at full steam,
the climb was short and quick and afterward I headed eastward to the loch where
I'd meet them again. Tempted by one more summit, would they mind if I
made a dash up Beinn Iutharn Bheag? That was fine, and Colin offered to
take my pack. I continued with camera in hand and jogged then walked to
the summit. This would be the last summit of the day, the last of a
fantastic round. I thought it a shame to leave so soon,
but I guess it was the first of many trips here... At the top, I noticed that the cloud had
cleared off the distant Cairngorm plateau. Braeriach was in view, still
holding a lot of snow...
Descent
Prior to the walk, I hadn't been looking forward to descent.
Measure it out on the map and the walk down Gleann Taitneach is an 8km
walk stuck to the end of a 20km day. If I'd wound up cursing 8 kilometres
of damp, sore feet, the walk-out would be a disaster.
Actually, it was the exact opposite. It began with a great jog down to
the west bank of Loch nan Eun, where I picked up rubbish in the peat -
old Tennants cans which it would seem had been there for nearly 30
years. Loch nan Eun is a beautiful loch set in a remote location. I met
Colin and Faye relaxing by the loch outflow, which drains into Gleann
Taitneach.
Gleann Taitneach is roughly the 'peaceful glen' and this first view of
our exit route was astonishing. It looked all that the name suggested -
beautiful and amiable and a great example of a glacial U-shaped valley.
We crossed to the east bank and followed a path down by the river.
Someone was camping at the top of the glen, others were walking up -
lower down we would find their bikes.
While it was a long walk out and sore on the soles, it wasn't suffered
through. I had sandals in my rucksack but didn't feel the need to change
for the 4WD track. And although I was completely knackered when we
arrived back at the car, it had always stayed a very fun day. One to
remember.
Panoramas
360° panorama from Carn an Righ
360° panorama from Beinn Iutharn Mhor
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