Attempting Meall Chuaich: map & data
Total climbing: 572 m
Total time: 05:26:56
8.2 mile walk in 5h30 from 09.15 to 14.45 – average 1.5 mph
Our Laggan holiday drew to an end with a memorable adventure.
Off to the hills
The day before we’d climbed Geal Charn, a Munro in the Monadhliath mountains. When I asked Simon what he’d planned for today I thought we weren’t going to do any more hillwalking, but he had two suggestions: a Graham and a Munro.
They were side by side, so we could choose when we got there.
9.16 – Meall Chuaich (our Munro) in the distance, to the right
I have to confess, I quite liked the idea of adding a new Munro to our collection. Alas, Nature had a different idea in mind.
We left the cottage with our waterproofs on, just in case. We parked at lay-by 94 on the A9, put our boots on, and took the path to the Cuaich hydroelectric power station.
The forecast was for a dry day, with a high chance of broken cloud in the afternoon. We felt optimistic, so we chose Meall Chuaich, a Munro (951m), instead of Druim nan Sac, a Graham Top (644m).
10.07 – Looking at Meall Chuaich (our Munro)
What we failed to do, though, was pay close attention to the wind forecast. Too bad.
Meall Chuaich is a straightforward Munro, at least on paper. There’s a Land Rover track to the foot of the hill, and then a path all the way up. That’s according to our guidebook.
The Land Rover track takes about an hour on foot, and feels like you’re pounding your feet on cement. We so wished we’d had our mountain bikes with us.
Spotting a red grouse
We briefly stopped at a locked bothy before the ascent and met this red grouse.
10.28 – A fearless red grouse
It was sitting on the heather, minding its own business. It looked at me, looked away, and continued ignoring me while I took its picture.
10.36 – A picturesque bridge with an uncertain future
The path, or rather, paths, to the top of Meall Chuaich appear and disappear. The start of the climb is a bit steep, but nothing like what we had on Tuesday, when we climbed Carn Liath.
10.47 – Simon on the moor
I can imagine it gets extremely muddy in wet weather, but there had been no rain for forty-eight hours, so it was fairly dry in most places. And the temperature was perfect for walking.
The visibility was OK, but there was quite a bit of haze, as the forecast had said.
10.56 – Path? Go figure!
The top of Meall Chuaich was hidden in the cloud, and so were most of the hills around.
A bit about Meall Chuaich
Meall Chuaich stands on its own, not next to other hills like many Munros. It’s somewhat imposing in its own way, with a distinctive rounded top.
The slopes are less steep than they look from a distance, so at first we made fast progress. But soon we noticed that the wind was picking up.
We also noticed that there were no other walkers, and wondered why.
11.02 – Back on the path
The wind kept picking up. We’ve had our fair share of wind in the past, so at first it felt just like those other climbs. But the gusts were persistent.
Eventually I was having difficulty walking on a straight line. The wind was pushing me sideways from the back and I kept stumbling, like a tipsy hare.
11.19 – Simon negotiating a spot of mud
I didn’t want to give up, so every so often I looked at Simon, smiled with what I guess was a crooked grin, and marched on.
But sometimes giving up is the wisest decision. Like that time two years ago when we attempted to climb a Corbett in deep snow, or last year when we got so close to the summit of Beinn Bheòil.
A wise decision
The wind was getting stronger, and we still had to go through a dip where the wind would get channeled even more. It was time to turn back.
Alas, my hope of adding a Munro to my collection suddenly vanished.
12.19 – Descending in high winds
We were just a few hundred metres from the top. So close, and yet so far.
It was only when we turned to start the descent that I realised just how windy it really was. I could hardly walk. It was like that time when I had to creep down Beinn Dòrain for nearly an hour in a gale.
12.42 – Looking towards Glen Truim & the A9 from the moor
The first ten minutes of the descent were implausibly slow. As we descended, the wind started to ease off.
12.54 – Back at the start of the ascent
In a way, the guidebook was right. If it hadn’t been for the wind, it’d have been an easy climb. But, when you’ve got a gale blowing you off your feet, no path is straight enough.
12.58 – The beautiful Allt Coire Chuaich
We retraced our steps and got back to the Land Rover track. By now, the weather was gorgeous. The temperature was high for this time of year, and the wind was giving us a break.
Back at the locked bothy
13.15 – View of Loch Cuaich from outside the locked bothy
We walked past the locked bothy and stopped at a sheltered spot for lunch.
13.57 – The Cuaich hydroelectric power station
We had tomato soup from the flask, Simon had a cheese sandwich, and I made an impromptu “mixto” of chorizo and cheese by stealing the cheese from one of the sandwiches. “Cheating”, the prof called it. I prefer to think of it as a reward.
14.16 – The impressive Cuaich aqueduct
It was a great day out.
If you think of it, thanks to the wind we now have a wonderful excuse for coming back to this beautiful part of the world.
I took all the photos with the Panasonic.
* Simon took this photo.