Climbing Carn Liath: map & data
Total climbing: 844 m
Total time: 06:31:40
6 mile walk in 6h30 from 10.00 to 16.30 – average 0.9 mph
The plan for our second day in Laggan was to climb one of the many Munros in the area.
Off to Creag Meagaidh
We left the cottage at 9am and drove on the A86 to the Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve car par.
The lovely drive from Laggan to the Reserve along Loch Laggan is about 11 miles.
9.48 – The Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve
The weather forecast for today was mixed, with rain on and off, and some broken cloud. All in all, we didn’t have much wind, except close to the summit when it blew with a vengeance.
From the car park we headed for the path that’s supposed to take you to Carn Liath, our Munro.
That’s if you’ve done it before and know where to turn right. Otherwise, you’re in for a rather steep climb, as we soon found out.
10.20 – Footbridge in the Aberarder Forest
Munros are Scottish mountains of more than 3,000 feet (roughly 914 m). There are a total of 277 Munros, of which we’ve climbed about a dozen so far. This time we chose the elusive Carn Liath.
Carn Liath means ‘grey peak’ in Gaelic, and this is how you pronounce it: /kʰaːrˠn ʎiə/. If you can, that is.
A winter landscape
We looked back at Loch Laggan and saw a humble sun peeping through the winter fog.
10.38 – Loch Laggan in the winter fog
Carn Liath is one of the three Munros in Creag Meagaidh.
Creag Meagaidh, the name I’ve put in brackets in this post’s title, is the massif that Carn Liath belongs to. According to the guidebook, this imposing group of mountains is fringed by some of the largest cliffs in Scotland.
Alas, we never saw any cliffs. They were hiding behind the fog.
10.46 – Simon strolling along an easy path
The three Munros, Carn Liath, Stob Poite Coire Ardair and Creag Meagaidh, are often done in one day, in the summer. In the winter, when you’re fighting the elements, Carn Liath alone is plenty.
11.04 – Looking back at a disappearing Loch Laggan
The climb up Carn Liath wasn’t what you’d call straightforward.
We kept an eye for the cairn that’s supposed to mark the beginning of the path, to no avail. We even retraced our steps, and asked a couple of wakers, with no luck. The mysterious path never materialised until it was too late.
11.04 – Stob Poite Coire Ardair engulfed in cloud
Eventually we gave up on the promised path, and improvised our climb through the heather.
A very steep climb
11.20 – Abandoning the path
It was steep, very steep, specially at the beginning.
11.25 – My first sight of a Scottish lizard
Almost from the start I was panting, puffing, groaning and moaning, but I wasn’t going to give up just because the climb was nearly vertical.
That went on for about an hour. Then we found something resembling a path and the climb got less steep.
11.53 – A steep climb through heather
The cloud was coming in. At first we could see Loch Laggan and the hills around us, but finally they disappeared behind the cloud.
12.17 – A more gentle climb
As you get closer to the top, Carn Liath becomes a lot flatter.
12.28 – Our first snow of the day
Around here we started to see some snow on the ground. Then it got thicker, but it was never enough for crampons.
We had high hopes we’d be able to use them, but in the end they stayed in our rucksacks all week, unlike last year in Bridge of Orchy.
12.37 – Boulders & more boulders
A bit about the Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve
According to the information board at the car park, the Reserve stretches from Loch Laggan to the top of the Munros.
In winter you can see red and roe deer, ptarmigan, snow buntings and, if you’re lucky, even a golden eagle might show up.
I’d have loved to see some ptarmigan again, like that time when we climbed Beinn Dòrain, a Munro near Bridge of Orchy.
13.01 – Simon near the top
This time, we didn’t even see the usual nosy sheep. They must have been camouflaged by the fog.
We were pretty much on our own all day. We’d seen some walkers in the car park, but all of them had headed for the other two Munros.
Reaching the top of Carn Liath
Finding the cairn at the summit was a challenge. We were surrounded by low cloud and there were no landmarks.
Simon, however, persevered with his map and compass, and we also had the occasional help from some previous walkers’ footprints on the snow.
13.16 – Maria conquering Carn Liath (Creag Meagaidh) *
Carn Liath is a popular name in Scotland for hills of all heights. The Carn Liath we’re most familiar with is the Munro near Blair Atholl.
That was the first Munro Simon and I climbed together. It was after climbing it that we got our mountain bikes to avoid the long approach on tarmac. So I named my bike Liath, after that Munro.
13.38 – Looking towards a hidden Stob Poite Coire Ardair
By now, it was getting somewhat cold. We were both hungry, but decided to postpone lunch for a bit, until we’d started the descent and left the snow.
The descent
Lunch was a brief affair. Because of the cold, we only ate a quick cheese sandwich each, put on our hand warmers, and pressed on. Those hand warmers are a stupendous discovery.
14.17 – A slightly boggy descent
I was expecting the descent to be as treacherous as the climb but, compared to it, it was easy-peasy.
14.45 – A first-rate bog
Simon found a different, more promising route, and something resembling a path. Occasionally the path would disappear, and another path would appear.
15.31 – Simon’s panoramic with Maria taking a panoramic *
Eventually we found this stream. In fact, it was partly a stream and partly a path. It was better than nothing, so we followed it all the way down.
I didn’t get nearly as wet as you’d expect with all that water on the ground. Those Scarpa boots Simon bought me earlier this year are great.
Finding the path
15.46 – Descending along a stream
When we got to the bottom and rejoined the path we’d been on that morning, we realised that the stream was the path we’d been looking for.
16.00 – Our long-lost path – to the right
Even if we’d noticed the modest cairn by the side in the morning, we’d have never guessed that following the stream would take us to Carn Liath. It was a most subtle “path”.
16.14 – Back on the easy path
Near the car park we spotted a bunch of these guys. There were five of them, and this one was the cutest.
16.26 – A Highland cow in its usual languid demeanour
All in all, it was a fantastic climb, and we didn’t get nearly as wet as the day before, when we climbed Creag Ruadh and then continued to the Pictish fort.
As usual, I’m glad Simon ignored my puffing and groaning and just kept going.
Those climbs in the fog are magical, because there’s only room for the present.
When you’re on a hill, engulfed in a cloud, the only thing that matters is finding the next path, spotting the cairn, or deciding whether to remove your gloves to take another fabulous picture for this blog.
I took all the photos with the Panasonic.
* Simon took this photo.