Early start for Maoile Lunndaidh...

After the exertions on Liathach earlier in the day, and waving goodbye to Michael and Eric, I settled into my overnight accommodation at Ledgowan Lodge bunkhouse. I was initially dismayed to learn that I would be sharing a room but my roommate Andy was a lovely old bloke as it turned out. There were another two blokes in the bunkhouse when I arrived, Phil and Pete, and they were good company for the evening as the four of us monopolised the dining room and stayed up well later than expected as we swapped stories of walking adventures and life stories.

After the usual restless night away from home I awoke at 05:30 and decided it was pointless attempting to sleep any longer, so just got up and showered and left for Achnashellach station a couple of miles along the road to tackle Maoile Lunndaidh.

I left the car park at 06:30 and headed across the A890 to the level crossing and carefully crossed the rail tracks (well, have you seen the advert where the girl gets splattered by the train!!) to access the track up the glen. I have been on this track once before, when I bagged the two Sgurr's last summer. I would be following the same track all the way past them but it was oh so different from last year as there is a huge amount of excavation work going on now at the Allt a Chonais gorge as part of the Green Highland project.

The view along the track is dominated by Sgurr nan Ceanaichean, a Corbett which lost it's Munro status in September 2009. The cloud was low lying, as forecast, and there was a slight chill in the air as I continued onwards. As I turned the various twists in the path, passing through a deer fence and passing lots of Hydro activity (even at this time in the morning) I could only hope that there would be a change in the weather as the day progressed. I passed the turn off on the track for Sgurr Choinnich and Sgurr a'Chaorachain and kept going on a track that was starting to feel like forever (26k for the day) without even seeing my Munro yet.

I don't recall exactly when it dawned on me that I had left my sandwiches behind in the fridge at the bunkhouse, but like a light bulb going on in my head a stark reality hit me that I had nothing but a small packet of dried fruit and some jelly babies to sustain me through the day in my ruck sack. All I could think of for the next couple of kilometres was the tightly wrapped bundle of sandwiches remaining in that fridge for weeks, slowly decomposing and the owners of the lodge tracing them back to me and banning me from returning!! I elected there and then to ensure that I stopped at the lodge on my return journey and removed them from the fridge...providing I didn't forget again!!

My first sighting of Maoile Lunndaidh came around 8k in to the route as I turned another corner in the path, I could see her eastern slopes protruding from around the side of Sron na Frianich. I carried on the path for a few hundred metres then turned off east as the path continued north-east, across a sea of bogs, crossing a slow moving stream that required careful negotiating as it was deeper than it initially looked. Around a kilometre later, veering south, I reached the Am Crom-allt, which was easily crossed on stepping stones, and then faced a choice of ascents.

I could have carried on south and then south-east to ascend the extremely steep looking wall of grass/heather leading up between Fuar-tholl Beag and Fuar-tholl Mor to come out on the minor summit of Carn nam Fiaclan...or I could save that route for my descent later in the day and continue east on a bearing across boggy ground that would lead to a path on the west side of a narrow gorge that would bring me out on less inclined slopes at 680m. I elected for the latter route and horsed on through the bogs, thankful for the lack of recent precipitation which meant that they were mainly easy to cross, to reach the gorge on the far side.

As an unexpected treat there lay a clearly defined path waiting for me, once across the stream running down from Fuar-tholl Mor, which I ascended with ease. Once up on the higher reaches of the plateau however the path disappeared and I returned to heather slopes which really slowed my progress for the next 200m or so as my legs felt like they had lead weights attached. The final 130m was through rocks and boulders and this seemed to speed me up again...of course this could all be just my imagination, perhaps it only felt like the heather slowed me down and the boulders were faster to ascend, but it's how it felt at the time.

From a distance I could make out the large summit cairn of Maoile Lunndaidh 1007m ahead of me on the wide open plateau. The weather was staying kind for me again but not so kind as to give me unhindered views into the outlying Munro groups around me, a low cloud was lying above like a blanket smothering the surrounding peaks. There was also no view of Loch Monar to the south as yet, indeed I would have to walk across the plateau to the 2nd cairn to get that longed for view. I took a couple of pictures anyway, including the master poser himself on the cairn, and scoffed down the bag of dried blueberries and blackberries in my ruck sack, followed closely by some jelly babies, before heading across the wide open grassy summit to the next cairn. On this cairn I was afforded better views as the cloud appeared to be lifting above the summits and I could make out a number of familiar peaks. I could also see down the length of Loch Monar into Glen Strathfarrer and across to Mullardoch. 

I followed the crest of the wide ridge around to the final summit cairn and indulged myself in some pictures of the corrie beneath me to the north-east and of Sgurr a'Chaorachain to the south-west. I traversed the top of the ridge NNW through rocks until the ridge turned north-west and started down the steep grassy/heather strewn slopes that I had elected to avoid on the ascent earlier. This descent really slowed me down as I had to take care with each step so as to avoid the usual pitfalls associated with heather slopes. I arrived at the bottom of the slopes with only one slip to report, a minor one where I ended on my arse with a walking pole almost piercing my side, so no harm done.

Once back at Am Crom-allt I only had to locate the spot I had crossed at earlier, yet surprisingly found an even better one. By now the weather had cleared and blue skies were the order of the day, and increasing heat which seemed to bring flies and midges out of the bogs ready to feast on my delicate skin.

I returned across the bogs to the outward path and resumed the trek on gravel once more. There now left a 9k walk back along the same path to return to the car park, except this time it would be done in increasingly searing heat as the skies above cleared completely and the mid-morning sun beat down on me.

I passed a group of four girls heading out the way as I passed Sgurr nan Ceanaichean and another couple as I passed the deer fence, I had earlier spotted three mountain bikes at the path heading off to Sgurr Choinnich, and when I returned to the car park there were a number of cars suggesting a busy day on the surrounding peaks.

It was still only 13:00 when I arrived back at the car park so I elected to be rather cheeky and jump into a shower when I arrived at Ledgowan Lodge as well as collect my sandwich from the fridge, that way I could be fresh for the drive home, as well as not needing any tea when I got there. 

 

All in all I had a successful trip away this week, three new Munro's bagged, some good company along the way and some cracking pictures to bring home...roll on the next adventure. 

 

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