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Mullach Clach a' Bhlair Sgor Gaoith (No 100!) Map With the weather looking uncertain I set off from Aviemore and reached the car park just north of Achlean, a small farm, by 8.55. I walked on down the road towards the farm for maybe half a mile then took the path which leads off to the hills - it's marked by a large stone with an arrow on it. The path takes you past a plantation and through heather up the hillside - it's a good, well-laid path with stone and grit for a lot of the way.
Leaving the plantation behind, the path splits into a high road and a low road, which come together again just near the top. I took the left hand, 'high' road. It follows the contours pretty much so although it's a fair distance it's not hard going - in fact I didn't need to stop for a rest all the way up to the plateau. The final few hundred yards of the path is over bare, stony ground as you approach the edge of the plateau, the Moine Mhor or 'Great Moss'. There's a Top named Carn Ban Mor there, more or less exactly between the two target mountains, the route being like a T shape - ie you go up the stem of the T to Carn Ban Mor, down one arm to the southern Munro, Mullach Clach a' Bhlair, then retrace your steps and traverse the northern arm to Sgor Gaoith. After that it's back to Carn Ban Mor yet again to return down the stem.
Anyway, on reaching the undulating, grassy plateau of the Moine Mhor (10.30) I skirted to the right of Carn Ban Mor and headed due south for Mullach Clach a' Bhlair whose summit appeared in the distance as an undistinguished, rounded rise in the ground - maybe 2.5 miles away. The tops were all clear with even some blue patches of sky, and it was dry but a bit cold and windy. Good views over the plateau to the east, south and north. The going was pretty level, just some small ups and downs. I passed the Coire Garbhlach, a steep-sided gash in the western cliffs, then followed a cart track - someone's bulldozed a few tracks up there - towards the summit. Eventually you have to leave the track and walk directly to the top over the last few hundred yards. The top is a gentle, round raise in the ground topped with a small cairn (11.30) - good views though. Looking over to the north you can see a tiny horn shape projecting up - that's Sgor Gaoith.
From Mullach Clach a' Bhlair it was a straightforward yomp across moss, short grass and occasional peat bog - not too boggy though - following a cart track for a good part of the way. There were a few light showers now and the cloud kept closing in then clearing so I couldn't always see very far. I circled east past Carn Ban Mor this time and then when the track bent away to the right I left it and struck off across grass and heather directly for the peak. I came to the head of the Coire Odhar where the land falls away towards Loch Einich, and picked up a path there which wound clockwise around the edge, on and upwards over stony ground to the summit of Sgor Gaoith (1.25). Just then a couple of blokes fortuitously appeared to take my photo.
It was my 100th Munro. The weather was dry again now and the views fair but darkened by low, glowering cloud. The descent was a direct trek across the grass, following a path when you could make it out, to the top of Carn Ben Mor (2.00). This was the first time I'd set foot on the actual summit - there's a windbreak there rather than a cairn. From there it was a fast, easy descent down the way I'd come, reaching the car at 3.25. | |||||
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