Sharon, Colin, Andy and myself headed to the Mullardoch dam Friday night to do some of the Mullardoch munros. Tents pitched under the dam, we retired to top of the dam for the breeze to escape the midges. A pre-booked 9AM boat took us up the Loch 9AM Sat morning. The group split for Saturday as I has 5 hills to bag vs the three the others had. For Saturday evening a high camp was planned on the nose of Meall Shuas (732M) with views over Loch Mullardoch. Sunday we did the 4 Munros to the north of the Loch together: An Socach, An Riabhachan, Sgurr na Lapaich, and Carn nan Gobhar. Weather: Superb Sat, much less so Sunday, drenched by the time we reached the cars at ~6:45PM. Long drive down the road! Knackered!
The Boat Ride
The Boat Ride
We paid the £25/head as we reckoned we had enough walking to do already. Once we landed, we dropped the bags and went our own ways for the walk, me having more Munros left to get.
Mullardoch Horseshoe
Mullardoch Horseshoe
The boat dropped us as far up the loch as it could get due to low water level, we stashed the bags and went our separate ways. I had 5 Munros to do to the south west of the Loch - Beinn Fhionnlaidh, Carn Eighe, Mam Sodhail, An Socach & Sgurr nan Ceathramhnan. I tagged the Munro Mullach na Dheiragain on the end, done previously, but it seemed rude not to complete the horseshoe! I set off direct up the steep, unrelenting slopes of Beinn Fhionnlaidh, in superb weather. Cold on the top of Carn Eighe as some remaining low cloud passed over before disappearing for the rest of the day. Mam Sodhail with its massive cairn. Running out of water, and finding none high up, I descending under a Coire to get to the bealach 'Bealach Coire Ghaidheil', finding water on the way. Next up was the minor lump of An Socach at 921M the lowest Munro on the ridge before the big climb up to Sgurr nan Ceathramhnan (passing the 'B-team' on their way to An Socach on the way). From here is was down the north ridge of Ceathramhnan to pick up the summit of Mullach na Dheiragain (done previously so known as 'hereagain'), before descending to the glen and the bag drop. I was about an hour behind the others (we had walkie talkies for comms!), and could see them climbing the slopes of out intended overnight high camp 'Meall Shuas'.
Saturday Night High Camp Meall Shuas (732M)
Saturday Night High Camp Meall Shuas (732M)
After collecting the bags from the Sat morning bag drop, the plan was Meall Shuas (732M) for the overnight camp. Unfortunately, there was very very little water on the hill so this plan meant carting dinner/breakfast/following day water up the hill along with the full packs. The others filled up at the stream, I was knackered and forgot all about it, finding a trickle higher up to fill up with! The others got to their bags faster than me after their walk down the Glen, I was about an hour behind after coming via Dheiragain. I misunderstood the location of the camp, and it was with a sinking heart that I realised there was 500 rather than 300 vertical metres to get to the camping spot! Thankfully, Colin was persuaded that 732M was high enough, and I finally rolled into camp at 10:30PM about an hour behind the rest. Sharon was pleased with the lads knackeredness as we had no energy for any laddish behaviour or chatter! Beer, chocolate cake and the best tasting re-hydrated food ever ensured we were ready for the next day. (pics are actually from the morning)
Sunday: An Socach, An Riabhachan, Sgurr na Lapaich, and Carn nan Gobhar
Sunday: An Socach, An Riabhachan, Sgurr na Lapaich, and Carn nan Gobhar
Given the late arrival at camp and not getting in bed until near midnight, we did well to set off at just gone 8AM. The 1st hill An Socach was a right slog, but easier than the slog up to camp the night before with water, beer, food and knackered legs). Unfortunately, the weather was poor and it was on/off with waterproofs until about 2PM, when the weather set in for good and the winds started to rise. A nice ridge walk, and a blighter of a re-accent brought us to An Riabhachan, and our lunch stop. At Sgurr na Lapaich we had company in the shape of a dog (Colins best mate), its owner (from Kintail MRT) several mins behind. A final slog brought us to the last Munro, Carn nan Gobhar. Our route off differed from what was suggested in the guides as we spotted a new hydro track off to our left through the clag which offered an easy exit back to the cars in the worsening weather. A grand weekend!