Sunday, 8 May 2016

Ptarmigan May Meet (Creag Meagaidh Circuit)

(8.5.2016) Creag Meagaidh Circuit:  6hrs 36min. 21km

Myself, Tim & Rory were dropped off at the car park and headed NE up the path en route for Creag Meagaidh. We missed the cairn and the path uphill so headed up the steep, rough ground West of Na Cnapanan. Met up with the path & headed NW up to the summit of Carn Liath 1006m & a new way up this hill for Tim. The SE breeze picked up but luckily we were heading W along the broad slope to Meall an t- Snaim 970m. From here we headed SW along the ridge following the rusty fence posts to point 963 then a short descent & reascent by the trench like dip of Min Choire to Sron Coire a'Chriochairein 991m. We then headed W along the broad ridge to the second Munro of the day Stob Poite a'Choire Ardair 1053m. We got here in good timing just over an hour from the first Munro. Descended SW near the window, had lunch & took in the views. From the window we followed the path up SE onto the plateau & West to ‘Mad Meg’s Cairn before the defined ridge to the summit of Creag Meagaidh at 1130m. There was a fair amount of snow leading up to the summit, a foot deep at times but it was soft. The original plan was to head back via the window but Tim suggested he prefers to stay high up thus taking the high level route back. This turned out to be a great plan with stunning views into the corries.  At the summit we took a bearing to make sure we were heading in the right direction. Descended SE off Creag Meagaidh down to the 1026m mark. An advantage of doing this route anti clockwise meant we had enough time & therefore could wander around the corrie rim. We happily plodded over to peer into Moy Corrie/Lochan Coire Choille-rais then over to Puist Coire Ardair 1071m. We headed E & NE over to Sron a’ Ghoire 1000m with impressive views to Coire Ardair & Coire nan Gamhna. The Munros may be over the other side but the tops & Corries this side are by no means inferior. We descended by the Belach a’ Ghoire & followed the Allt Bealach a’ Ghoire SE back to Aberarder. A great day & the weather breezy wit ha 20-30mph SE breeze.














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