[Trip Index] [Munro Index] [Home] 22nd May 2008   Maol Chean-Dearg Map Still dry today but rather hazy with a uniform, indistinct cloud overhead. The tops were all clear though so I drove from Kyle to Coulags - a couple of outbuildings which wouldn't merit a name in any more-populated area - and set off up the path along Fionn Abhainn at 9.00. The start of the walk After passing through a small wooded area the path led onto open, grassy countryside and followed the course of a river north for just under 2 miles before coming to a wooden bridge. I crossed over the bridge and continued past an unoccupied bothy as far as a large stone, shaped a bit like a pointing finger. This was 'Clach nan Con-fionn' the stone where the Celtic hero Finn is said to have tethered his hunting hounds. The bothy Clach nan Con-fionn Five hundred yards past the stone the track splits and I turned left up a well-made path which wound this way and that on its way towards the col between Maol Chean-Dearg and its southerly Corbett neighbour, An Ruadh-stac. All at a fairly easy angle. From the col there is a shingly-rocky path, a bit unstable in places, leading steeply up to a rocky plateau which extends for maybe 1/4 mile. At the far end of this plateau the ground angled steeply upwards again over a great bouldery slope to the summit. Descending this slope were 2 blokes from Glasgow with 2 Scottie dogs. Whilst passing the time of day one of the blokes remarked that his wife sometimes accompanied him but that her knees were not very sound. Because of this he would bring her halfway up a Munro and then finish it off himself. At this point his less talkative companion observed that if he could bring his wife halfway up a Munro he'd leave her there. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not. The path disappeared and reappeared as I slogged up this section, carefully clambering over the boulders but eventually I reached the summit (12.00) where a couple of stone windbreaks had been built onto the side of the cairn. To the north of the small summit plateau the land dropped out of sight quite precipitously whilst to the East I could see my nemesis from February, Sgorr Ruadh, leering menacingly at me. The drop to the north By the summit cairn All was very hazy though and not so good for photos. I sat and ate and contemplated the tranquility for 5 minutes until a party of 4 turned up - 3 men and a girl. I liked the unabashed munro-bagging attitude they all had, for one of the first questions they asked was 'how many is this?', just assuming I'd know what they meant. One of the men was on 155 whilst another had done just the 14, 12 of them in the last week. We swapped notes on various hills we'd done, took each other's summit photos and then at last I set off back down at about 12.30. All very straightforward: back down the boulders, across the rocky level stretch, down the stony/shaley slope to the col then an easy return along the inbound path, all the way back to the car (14.45).