When a fella gets told a story about a 10hr mini-epic traversing all five of the munros around Creag Meagaidh, involving toils in howling gales, whiteout conditions and very tired legs, they normally smile benignly, put the kettle on......and reach for the maps!
And indeed that is what Mike did, when Andrew regaled him of his story that took place on a very unseasonable early June day in 2015. The only difference was that Mike chose a rather later date, trusting that the weather would be rather better, and he was right.
We set off early from Stirling on a lovely summer's morning, and by the time we dumped two bikes at Roughburn, the designated end of the walk, the midges were in full bite. Wasting no time, we hurried back to the Creag Meagaidh car park, and onto the hill.
The colours at this time of year are spectacular, with the purple hue in full bloom. Add to that the smell of the heather, the bog myrtle and the pine, and it was a heady concoction as we ascended the first of five munros. The ascent was steady and efficient, and that set the pace for the day. We were hit by some surprisingly strong gusts of wind as we crossed the broad ridge from Carn Liath towards Meagaidh, but that slowly abated into a nice cooling breeze.
After posing on the weird Mad Meg's Cairn (According to local legend Mad Meg’s cairn, one that is often mistaken for the summit cairn on misty days, marks the grave of an 18th Century suicide who was denied burial in the local kirkyards. Her family apparently buried her up here, high on Creag Meagaidh, covering her grave with stones and sandy soil. Source - Cameron McNeish), it was onwards and over Meagaidh itself and the long descent towards Beinn a'Chaorainn.
After losing much height, we made good progress towards the central summit cairn, which I had pointed out to Mike as the true top. As we got towards it, I could see the higher cairn beyond the nearer one, and made a beeline for it, and there we rested. Mike fiddled with his GPS, and pointed out that the co-ordinates were wrong, and I quickly realised that despite having discussed it only a matter of minutes before, I had gone to the wrong one - Carelessness due to being over-relaxed as I had good visibility and conditions! The 'real' summit was only a couple of minute away, and we nipped over it before the even longer descent towards Beinn Teallach.
The pull up to the modest 915m summit seemed endless, though it only took us 45 mins. There we discussed yet again a second summit cairn, that is NOT the proper one, but looks again more substantial - Munroists beware! After a quick snack, it was time to drag the tired legs downwards.
We made it to the bikes in a very respectable 8hrs 15mins, for nearly 30k linear and 2200m of ascent and descent. A big day, done at a very steady pace. All that remained was the brutal 7 mile cycle back to the car, which properly finished off our legs.
A very satisfying day, five big munro ticks in glorious weather. Thanks for the company Mike.....and thanks for the GPS vigilance!
And indeed that is what Mike did, when Andrew regaled him of his story that took place on a very unseasonable early June day in 2015. The only difference was that Mike chose a rather later date, trusting that the weather would be rather better, and he was right.
We set off early from Stirling on a lovely summer's morning, and by the time we dumped two bikes at Roughburn, the designated end of the walk, the midges were in full bite. Wasting no time, we hurried back to the Creag Meagaidh car park, and onto the hill.
The colours at this time of year are spectacular, with the purple hue in full bloom. Add to that the smell of the heather, the bog myrtle and the pine, and it was a heady concoction as we ascended the first of five munros. The ascent was steady and efficient, and that set the pace for the day. We were hit by some surprisingly strong gusts of wind as we crossed the broad ridge from Carn Liath towards Meagaidh, but that slowly abated into a nice cooling breeze.
After posing on the weird Mad Meg's Cairn (According to local legend Mad Meg’s cairn, one that is often mistaken for the summit cairn on misty days, marks the grave of an 18th Century suicide who was denied burial in the local kirkyards. Her family apparently buried her up here, high on Creag Meagaidh, covering her grave with stones and sandy soil. Source - Cameron McNeish), it was onwards and over Meagaidh itself and the long descent towards Beinn a'Chaorainn.
After losing much height, we made good progress towards the central summit cairn, which I had pointed out to Mike as the true top. As we got towards it, I could see the higher cairn beyond the nearer one, and made a beeline for it, and there we rested. Mike fiddled with his GPS, and pointed out that the co-ordinates were wrong, and I quickly realised that despite having discussed it only a matter of minutes before, I had gone to the wrong one - Carelessness due to being over-relaxed as I had good visibility and conditions! The 'real' summit was only a couple of minute away, and we nipped over it before the even longer descent towards Beinn Teallach.
The pull up to the modest 915m summit seemed endless, though it only took us 45 mins. There we discussed yet again a second summit cairn, that is NOT the proper one, but looks again more substantial - Munroists beware! After a quick snack, it was time to drag the tired legs downwards.
We made it to the bikes in a very respectable 8hrs 15mins, for nearly 30k linear and 2200m of ascent and descent. A big day, done at a very steady pace. All that remained was the brutal 7 mile cycle back to the car, which properly finished off our legs.
A very satisfying day, five big munro ticks in glorious weather. Thanks for the company Mike.....and thanks for the GPS vigilance!
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