Monar hills overnighter

Date 20 & 21 August 2016

Hills: Maoile Lunndaidh, Sgurr a' Chaorachain & Sgurr Choinnich

After our night out on the Aonachs, we looked at the map for another challenge. Sadie pointed out that we still had five Monar Munros left to do. She also intimated that she might be up for a two-camp trip this time. (What she actually said was wrrrfff! but we knew what she meant.) So, after a rest-day bimbling northwards, we found ourselves booting up in the car park at Craig late on a Saturday morning. The plan was to head out east to Maoile Lunndaidh, then circuit the Munros around the head of Loch Monar, eventually walking out to Strathcarron and a train back to Craig. Well, we all know how to make God laugh, don't we? That's right, tell him your plans!

So here we are…

…rehydrating Sadie after the long grind up to Pollan Buidhe. I must admit, this track has never been a favourite of mine. We did it on foot, and although I'm normally grateful of the bike to venture into remote hills, I've never fancied it on this track: too steep on the way up, too steep on the way down. Hell's teeth! - how middle-aged did that sound?

Round the corner to…

…Glenuaig Lodge, where we headed down to cross the…

…River Meag. Gorgeous weather. I often think that August is under-rated.

We took a line towards the bealach between Creag Dubh Mhr and Maoile Lunndaidh, and plodded up the featureless slope…

… to the top.

Walking across the plateau of Maoile Lunndaidh it felt like…

…a Big Sky day.

This is the view back to Carn nam Fiaclam…

…before the last drop to the Drochaid Mhuilich, from where there was a lovely sweeping view…

…down to Loch Mhuilich and the north Mullardoch Munros beyond.

So, where to camp? The shoulder of Sgurr a' Chaorachain, Sron na Frianich, looked inviting. A quick clean up in Lochan Ghaineamhaich, a short hike…

…up the slope, and…

…there we were in paradise. Sort of. The fact that C has her hood up tells a bit of a tale. Yes, the breeze decided to drop, and for an hour or so paradise flipped onto its back, waved its little legs in the air, sharpened its miniscule fangs, and became hell. I sometimes think that August is over-rated.

At least this hell wasn't eternal. Later on the lil' critters disappeared, and left us free to gaze…

…at some bigger ones. This was…

…Paradise Regained!

Yes, in the background there you can just pick out…

…An Teallach. We were on the wrong side of the hill for a sunset, but the following morning the auguries…

…were good. You would have bet your life that this dry-ice being pumped around…

… Bidean an Ein Dearg was just a teasing prelude to another blue-sky belter of a day, wouldn't you?

WRONG! We plodded upwards and over Sgurr a' Chaorachain and Sgurr Choinnich, all the while waiting for the clouds to vanish. They never did. In fact, the closest we got to clarity was…

…this murky shot down towards the Bealach Crudhain. Worse, it grew stuffy, clammy and before we knew it, Mervyn and Melissa Midge were about their business. Somehow, having early promise unfulfilled makes clag harder to take than if it's there from dawn-to-dusk. A few walkers coming up told us that the forecast from the previous day had changed completely, and this was the best we could now hope for. At which the cry went up, run away! All the way back to Craig, in fact.

The day didn't get better once we got back to the campervan. As we pulled away in the car-park, our Fiamma bike rack - complete with bikes - fell off. The iron mountings at the top had completely rusted away. Why iron? Had no-one told Fiamma that iron rusts? I'll leave a little fuming space hereŅŅŅŅ…..in which you can imagine my opinion of Fiamma. The good news is that our bikes fell off onto pine needles in an empty car-park - it doesn't bear thinking about if this had happened on the M74. The bad news is that by the time we'd crammed both bikes and rack into the van, it didn't leave much room for living. So that was us off back home. Still, as we headed off south C pointed out that I still had holiday left over, and that we still had the other Monar hills to do…