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Meall Greigh Meall Garbh An Stuc Map It looked a bit like rain but I hoped for the best and decided to try the three Ben Lawers munros I'd missed the previous year when I did Ben Lawers with Andrew. Trisha dropped me at Machuim on the A827, by a shop selling souvenirs made from horn. She drove off to investigate the delights of Killin and I set off for Meall Greigh (9.00). It was fine at this point but clouds overhead. I walked up to the lower slopes along with a couple from Helensburgh - they were from Bristol really but had been living up in Scotland for the last 18 years. Then they left me behind when we got to the steeper, grass/heather covered slope. Spot of rain but it soon passed and easy enough otherwise - reached the top at 10.45. Then suddenly there was bitter-cold, fine hail/snow blowing directly into my face and I had to stop to don fleece, anorak, gloves & balaclava. Quite painful to the eyes but it stopped after 10 mins. I caught up to the Bristols again at this point and overtook them as they stopped to take their coats off again. I carried on and gained the top of Meall Garbh (11.55) without any difficulty - there were fine clear views but still lots of cloud overhead. I was sitting having a sandwich and making some notes there when the Bristols arrived at the top and as I put the notepad away 2 loose bits fell out, were grabbed by the wind, and were gone. I caught one in time but the other, with addresses and telephone numbers wafted off down the hill. The Bristols wanted their photo taken so I hurriedly did that but I could still see the paper and it had stopped about 150 ft lower down. I charged after it with Mr B. yelling 'left a bit..' etc and managed to retrieve it. Good views from the top of Meall Garbh - could see Carn Gorm and the other Meall Garbh over to the north-west, which I'd done with Andrew in 1998. I walked on south-westwards towards the next peak, An Stuc, came over a crest and saw it there facing me - a daunting great triangular mass, horribly steep and with no visible path up it. 'How the devil am I going to get up that!' I thought. It loomed larger and larger as I made my way down from Meall Garbh and a freezing wind behind me made me put all the warm stuff back on again. Once at the base of An Stuc and you can actually see the path climbing up the face of the mountain - very steep and over loose shingly rock which didn't look like making very secure footing. (It didn't). I caught up with the Bristols again a short way up and stopped to remove extra clothes as I was now getting hot and sweaty again from the effort. I carried on some of the way with them, Mr B in the lead, and then we came to a difficult bit. Mrs B had stopped and was watching Mr B inching his way up a 'route' which looked distinctly dangerous to me. 'Aye, well, time to find your own way, Alan,' I thought, so I cast about to the left round an outcrop of rock and found what might be a path - hard to say. I went up it anyway, listening expectantly for the 'Agghhheeeeeee!' of the late Mr B any minute but shortly after he appeared below me, having seen sense and come left too. Not that it was easy this way either - at one point I dislodged a large rock which unfortunately bounced off and nearly brained Mr B - oops - I expect he saw the funny side. The rest of the ascent continued steep and unsure but eventually we all got to the top. 'Well I sure aint going back that way', I thought to myself, although that had been my original plan. At the top (1.00) we met 2 blokes coming the other way and chatted for a while. Also a bloke and his daughter arrived having come up from the Glen Lyon side. The Bristols were humming and haaing about returning down An Stuc but I wasn't going to so I left them to it and set off (1.15), continuing along the ridge towards Ben Lawers hoping to be able to strike off east at some point and make my own path across to the Lawers Burn. Sometimes that ends with you stuck in horrible boggy wastelands but this time it all worked out well - I reached the bealach between An Stuc and Ben Lawers, turned left and descended a steep grassy hillside till it levelled out a bit, passing to the left of the lochans (where I saw 2 deer) making reasonably good time. I didn't see the Bristols coming down the other side and their car was still there when I got back to the road. No sign of the 2 men either - all taken by the Cloud Monster I guess. I got back to the road and met Trisha who'd just turned up there and was chatting to the man in the Horn Shop (3.00). We stopped in Kenmore on Loch Tay for a coffee. |
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