Steadily closing in on that elusive last Munro! The final quest has been plagued by one of the most unsettled early summers for years. Finding good weather days that coincide with work-free days has proved to be a challenge. And so, needing only two more good days, the long weekend of Selkirk Common Riding looked like an opportunity. I was working in Glasgow on the Wednesday, and Anne wouldn't be free until 3pm, so we planned to meet up in Stirling at 7pm. Anne travelled up by bus and train; I drove up from Glasgow after my meeting.
We had a lovely run up via Loch Lubnaig, Tyndrum, Rannoch Moor and Glencoe, and reached Spean Bridge where we had booked B and B at The Braes Guest House. In addition to the comfy room, friendly welcome and good breakfast, this proved to be an inspired choice, as the lounge provided panoramic views to the Grey Corries and the bedroom to Aonach Mor ....
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| Aonach Mor from Braes Guest House, Spean Bridge |
But, before "compleating" on Aonach Mor, I still had to climb A' Chralaig and Mullach Fraoch-Choire above Loch Cluamie, so that was the immediate target.
So, on Thursday morning, we set off from Spean Bridge; we were a little later getting to the starting point on the shore of Loch Cluanie, as road works meant a diversion round by Fort Augustus and Invermoriston.
So it was 10.50am when we set off from the tiny car parking area, crossed the road, walked 10m up the track, and then struck off right at a cairn up a small and initially rather damp path, heading directly up the steep slope ahead. Behind us, the views across Loch Cluanie opened up nicely, and the overcast sky started to show signs of breaking up. Loch Cluanie itself was like a sheet of glass.
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| view across Loch Cluanie to the South Glen Shiel ridge |
The path quickly climbed out of the damp lower ground, and started to climb steeply up alongside a small burn. We continued relentlessly upwards on the path until it reached the broad southern ridge of A' Chralaig ("the basket") at around 750m. An hour an a half into our walk, and most of the hard work was over!
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| gradient lessening as we reached the ridge - view across to Am Bathach |
By now, the summit was in view, about a mile away, up a broad, stepped, grassy ridge.
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| on the ridge of A' Chralaig at about 800m |
We continued over a couple of minor bumps on the ridge; although I usually like to visit any Munro tops, I decided against a detour out to A' Chioch ("the breast"), a Munro top on a long grassy ridge out to the east, which didn't look very enticing, and would have added a tiresome re-ascent. Maybe I'll come back and visit it some day!
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| on the path round the rim of the eastern corries, before the final rise to the summit of A' Chralaig |
Despite the earlier patches of blue sky, the clouds were beginning to build up, and there were clearly some showers around - hopefully, they would all miss our hills. Two and a 1/2 hours from the car, we arrived at A' Chralaig's massive summit cairn - reminiscent of the Three Brethren back home!
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| Anne at summit of A' Chralaig |
Time for a rest and a bite to eat, sitting on a nice ledge of flat stones with our backs to the cairn. As we sat there, the clouds were rolling up behind us, and the first few wisps of mist started to catch the summit. It was time to move on.
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| Anne sheltering while the shower passed over |
The ridge ahead to Mullach Fraoch-Choire ("hill of the heathery coire") looked good, and we set off along it, descending slowly at first, then down a few rocky steps.
Less than ten minutes after leaving the summit, a squally shower caught us - wind and cold rain. Fortunately, there was a handy sheltering place behind a little rock wall to the right of the path, so we "cooried doon" there for 10-15 minutes while the shower passed by.
The sun and blue sky re-appeared, but there was still a cold wind, so we kept on our extra layers as we descended down to the next bealach, then made a gentle ascent to the next top, Stob Coire a' Chralaig. From here, the full profile of Na Geurdain ("the jaggies"), the south ridge of Mullach Fraoch-Choire, came into view. Looked like fun!
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| Na Geurdain from Stob Coire na Cralaig |
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| looking back towards A' Chralaig from Stob Coire na Cralaig |
First, a short descent down a narrow ridge to the next bealach at 950m, then a short ascent up to the start of the pinnacles. A traverse along the crest itself would have been tricky in places, but it was straightforward to follow the path all the way as it wound its way through the pinnacles, first on the right, then crossing over to the left.
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| A' Chralaig from Na Geurdain |
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| Anne on the split rock just before the final climb to the summit |
The walk from Stob Coire na Cralaig to Mullach Fraoch-choire was definitely the best 40 minutes of the day! Once past the final pinnacle, a short climb up a grassy slope led to the summit - with another (not quite so) large cairn, and a circular stone shelter.
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| summit of Mullach Fraoch-choire - 2 to go! |
The weather had improved again, so we found a comfy spot to sit an enjoy the view down Glen Affric and eat our second instalment of lunch. Only 2 more Munros to go!
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| Glen Affric from the summit of Mullach Fraoch-choire |
After half an hour on the summit, we headed back along the pinnacled ridge - making a few detours this time to explore the crest.
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| on the way back along Na Geurdain |
At the bealach, we decided not to take the path down into Coire Odhar, but climbed back to Stob Coire na Cralaig, and descended down its SW ridge - grassy all the way, but quite steep lower down. This gave good views of the waterfalls of the Allt Coire a' Ghlas-thuill, but was quite a tiring descent. Perhaps Coire Odhar would have been a better choice.
Eventually, we reached the valley floor right on the watershed, and followed the boggy and intermittent path south until it joined an old metalled track, which led down An Caorainn Mor to the car - about 3 miles.
An excellent day. The big question: would the weather hold for "compleating" on the Aonachs tomorrow?
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| Aonach Mor from the Command Monument above Spean Bridge |
A check of the on-line weather forecast at 7.30pm showed persistent rain and low cloud for tomorrow and Saturday, so we decided the celebrations would have to wait. Who wants to get soaked on their last Munro?!
Looks like the weekend of 2-3rd July will be the next opportunity! Maybe see you then?
2 Munros + 1 top (twice!)
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Stob Coire na Cralaig (T) | | |
Mullach Fraoch-Choire (M) | | |
Stob Coire na Cralaig (T) | | |
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