Meall Chuaich...a re-appraisal..

Meall Chuaich from the approach path.

Meall Chuaich does not have the best reputation in our house. Claire has not impinged it in any way, shape or form - however both Mum and I have told her all about it.

Many years ago, Mum and I were in the NW of Scotland for a couple of days. I spent mine at Shenevall bothy - doing Beinn Dearg Mhor and the 'big 6' Fisherfield Munro's. On the way home, going through one of my hapless munro-bagger phases, we stopped off and did Meall Chuaich - about which I can remember nothing.


To be fair - most of the guidebooks are not that complimentary about it either! Claire and I were in Scotland having driven up on Friday in Suilvan - resplendent with his snow tyres, he has been getting lots of presents recently. Saturday we rested and went for a stroll around the lovely Glenmore Forest, before driving down to Achlean. We went to Achlean as our intention at first was to do Mullach Choir a' Blair the next day. Speaking to some hardy looking walkers who turned up at the car-park with tales of white-outs on top and 2' snow-drifts  - coupled with the lack of daylight and our lack of fitness - convinced me it would be cutting things a little fine...ergo Meall Chuaich.

It was not an auspicious start - one of my trekking poles has been playing up a lot recently and decided to muck around YET again. We have a set of these poles and the other 3 have been perfect; this one has been back to Black Diamond once and had been fixed by the wizzo's in Needle Sports on two other occasions - as I write it has gone back YET again to BD to try and fix. This not withstanding, we got out and started to walk towards the dam.

One positive aspect of Meall Chuaich, which makes it excellent for short autumn/early winter days - is the ease of approach. The march is actually some way - around 4km to the foot of the hill - but it is on a rough road that goes to the Hydro station and then turns into a very well constructed stalkers path. The Allt Chuaich bothy is now locked and not a bothy any more - shame as it has a nice fireplace and plenty of wood around!! and the path up had some sheet ice in places. It was a slow but steady climb to the top and for most of the way the sun was trying to get out and move the clouds - regrettably the clouds won and by the time we reached the very large cairn on top - the clouds were down and we were denied a view. [We were almost denied a map when a gust blew it out of my hand, however Claire managed an excellent save with the point of her trekking pole].

We descended by compass bearing as the path was largely snow-covered for the first few hundred feet, and it shaves a little close to some craglets for safe-keeping. As it turned it out; I steered us a little further south than anticipated, which caused a little confusion when the mist cleared for a bit. However, trusting the compass paid off as we descended and hit the stalkers path we had left some time before. This path encircles the south side of the hill and makes clearing the hill straightforward. However, the terrain is a desolate wasteland (Macbeth's witches would feel at home) so once again this is a mountaineering expedition as opposed to a mere walk - I have long held the view there is no such thing as winter walking in Scotland anyway.

After a quick drink we were back on the walk-out; quite nice to stretch the legs before the drive home and Claire's tick in her book!!!

nb: Claire does NOT collect Munro's - the fact she ticks them off in her new Munro's book is pure coincidence!!

The decline of the Thai...

Claire and I discovered the Royal Thai in Penrith by accident one saturday night in January 2011...we were looking for somewhere to eat and everywhere was heaving. The Thai had been an Italian restaurant back in the day but it had closed...we found the new Thai and it was superb.

The place has had its ups and downs over the couple of years, with a couple of change of managers. However it has changed hands again, and does seem to have finally succumbed to ordinariness....what a shame...

A moment of silence for what was the best restaurant in Penrith in its day.

A'Mharconaich and Geal-Charn..

http://www.photoboxgallery.com/3436739 are where the photo's are...a taster here...

Claire and I had headed north in Suilvan for the weekend - with a glorious day forecast for Sunday and seemingly a fair bit of snow. We arrived in our usual layby on Friday evening and settled down for the night in Suilvan (who had come back from the garage with a new battery to help him start in the cold mornings). It was the first time that we had used the insulating covers for the front windows as well to try and keep some of the heat in - the forecast was for cold.

So it transpired, Suilvan started first time on Saturday morning but we had trouble getting out of the car-park. We then had a half-hour at the bottom of the ski road as a vehicle had left the road. The plan for the day was to have a day of ice-axe braking practice - THE essential skill for anyone who wants to go mountaineering in winter (I contend there is no such thing as winter walking in Scotland). However it looked like the snow might be far too soft to allow any practice. So it transpired when we arrived at Coire Cas to find a very strong wind and light snow showers..so we decided to drive back down and have a wander in Glenmore Forest...at least that is what we had in mind.
Suilvan, unfortunately, couldn't get any traction at all...so some frantic digging with ice-axes and pushing followed, eventually we got him away. The drive back down was ok and the walk in the forest lovely, lots of snow to play in and time to recharge the batteries. An early night was had -  we all looked forward to next day.

Sunday dawned - no problem getting out of the car-park this time and we tootled into Aviemore for breakfast at the mountain cafe - this being a short walk there was not a huge amount of time pressure. This being done we drove down the A9 to Balsporran Cottages where we parked. Quite a few cars were there including a couple with ski's, which I thought was a little optimistic.

Geal-Charn is 'only' 917m (one of the smaller Munro's) and the start is at around 425m so the first part of the day was not too taxing. There was a good path all the way up and lots of footprints to follow. Claire set a lovely pace on the ascent and we were on the summit by 11.45. The skiers had been able to use ski's for the last third of the ascent and were now preparing to descend to the col between the two peaks. The view from the summit was pretty impressive (as can be seen from the pictures), with the hills of Ben Alder forest looking VERY appealing.

Our descent to the col was not quite as smooth - there was a lot more snow on the leeward side and I struggled to find any rhythm on the descent. The subsequent climb was a bit better, although the snow was certainly deeper than the ascent of Geal-Charn. Upon reaching the summit ridge, which links the hill to Beinn Udlamain - we turned right and wandered slowly along to the cairn on top of A'Mharconaich. I had done these hills before - many years ago on a day of low cloud and no views, so it was nice to do them again and to be able to see something!!

The start of the descent route is quite steep - so it was great to see that Claire's technique and confidence had improved so much she could tackle it whilst munching a sandwich!! Once down this it was quite a long descent down to the valley - with the river crossing being negated by using the railway for 50m and back to see Suilvan after a 4 3/4 hr round. To cap off a lovely day, the drive back was one of the best we've ever had - a quick 5 hours or so saw us back in Cumbria.

Left alone...again...

although at least I have been taken out for a spin....the humans and I are back in Aviemore, last night I was covered in snow -which was nice...not so sure the male human enjoyed having to push me out of the Coire Cas car-park mind you - I'm sure he'll whinge (blog) about it in due course!!!

Now I am in the car-park they are going to stay in - and they've gone to the bar....bloody humans!!!

Suilvan