I'm planning a wee bimble up this Munro at some point in the next few days (by way of Glen Markie) and have noticed what might be called a 'window' between it and Beinn Sgiath, immediately to the SW of Lochan a' Choire.
I can't find any mention of this in any books or on any websites. It doesn't feature in any of the described routes.
Does anyone know if it's a viable way of gaining the bealach between the 2 tops at NN563982? I'm not adverse to a bit of scrambling or using an ice axe if the conditions require it :-) Thanks in advance for any info.
I'm planning a wee bimble up this Munro at some point in the next few days (by way of Glen Markie) and have noticed what might be called a 'window' between it and Beinn Sgiath, immediately to the SW of Lochan a' Choire.
I can't find any mention of this in any books or on any websites. It doesn't feature in any of the described routes.
Does anyone know if it's a viable way of gaining the bealach between the 2 tops at NN563982? I'm not adverse to a bit of scrambling or using an ice axe if the conditions require it :-) Thanks in advance for any info.
AndyR
Interesting feature. Just had a look at it on Anquet in 3D mode. Doesn't look very steep at all - not as steep as it's more famous cousin on Creag Meaghaidh for example. Having said that, it faces North East and could therefore accumulate drift.
But plain old memory-map 2D shows reasonably spaced contour lines suggesting that it's quite do-able.
However, it also shows a crag line running right up the middle, so i was really wondering if there's a 'bad step' of some kind in there that rules it out, hence no mention in any guide.
But plain old memory-map 2D shows reasonably spaced contour lines suggesting that it's quite do-able.
However, it also shows a crag line running right up the middle, so i was really wondering if there's a 'bad step' of some kind in there that rules it out, hence no mention in any guide.
I'm trying hard to remember. I was up there on one of those half-hour- of-snow-half-hour-of-sunshine days and I must have gone past the top of this feature on the way back to the car. Certainly the sides of Lochan a'Choire (an uninspired name if ever there was) were steep and we took a route north then west then south to avoid them. Loking at the 1:25000 there seems to be unobstructed access to Beinn Sgiath from the north so if you are blocked by a crag you certainly won't need to re-trace your steps down.
The feature that I'd seen on the map turned out to be perfectly do-able. A nice steep gully (comparable in angle to the window on Creag Meagaidh) with snow in the narrow upper reaches, but nothing technical and no need of either crampons or ice-axes, although taking both was sensible and they may well have been needed if there had been a little more snow and slighly lower temperatures. It made for an interesting route onto an otherwise fairly uninteresting hill.
The corrie holding the lochan was quite atmospheric, with oragraphic cloud hugging the tops and obscuring the views. The lochan itself was frozen over.
Spent 10 minutes sitting on a boulder watching a fairly sizeable flock of snow-bunting flying around.
The cloud burned off on the descent, opening up some interesting views of the high plateau above and to the East of the Drumochter pass.
The feature that I'd seen on the map turned out to be perfectly do-able. A nice steep gully (comparable in angle to the window on Creag Meagaidh) with snow in the narrow upper reaches, but nothing technical and no need of either crampons or ice-axes, although taking both was sensible and they may well have been needed if there had been a little more snow and slighly lower temperatures. It made for an interesting route onto an otherwise fairly uninteresting hill.
The feature that I'd seen on the map turned out to be perfectly do-able. A nice steep gully (comparable in angle to the window on
Creag
Quoted message said:
Meagaidh) with snow in the narrow upper reaches, but nothing
technical
Quoted message said:
and no need of either crampons or ice-axes, although taking both was sensible and they may well have been needed if there had been a little more snow and slighly lower temperatures. It made for an interesting route onto an otherwise fairly uninteresting hill.
The corrie holding the lochan was quite atmospheric, with oragraphic cloud hugging the tops and obscuring the views. The lochan itself was frozen over.
Yes, it's a nice one. Did you manage to cross the river OK?
Quoted message said:
Spent 10 minutes sitting on a boulder watching a fairly sizeable flock of snow-bunting flying around.
The cloud burned off on the descent, opening up some interesting views of the high plateau above and to the East of the Drumochter
pass.
Quoted message said:
Glad it all worked out for you. It's an area I like. Lots of Featureless Terrain. Superb!
The feature that I'd seen on the map turned out to be perfectly do-able. A nice steep gully (comparable in angle to the window on Creag Meagaidh) with snow in the narrow upper reaches, but nothing technical and no need of either crampons or ice-axes, although taking both was sensible and they may well have been needed if there had been a little more snow and slighly lower temperatures. It made for an interesting route onto an otherwise fairly uninteresting hill.
We were walking near there over new year, on two different Geal Charns next to the 2 Munros just to the east. I've never seen so many mountain hares, the previous day's snow had all melted in the persistent rain so they all stood out from a distance. We must have seen at least 40 to 50 that day.
I did think about going up the the West side of the Markie Burn when i first decided to go up there, but decided against it on the grounds of river crossing being more problematic that far down stream.
I walked up the obvious Land Rover track on the E side of he Markie Burn and crossed just past the confluence with the Pipers Burn at NN584974. I used the same point to cross on the way down. Water was fairly fast flowing and half way up to my kness, but I trust my gear, faced upstream and got across quite easily with dry feet!
Didn't see any Hares but did pass very close to a couple of Ptarmigan on the way back down. Unusually, the didn't fly off, but just sat watching me. I gave them a fairly wide berth, not wanting to disturb them.
We were walking near there over new year, on two different Geal Charns next to the 2 Munros just to the east. I've never seen so many mountain hares, the previous day's snow had all melted in the persistent rain so they all stood out from a distance. We must have seen at least 40 to 50 that day.
Saw a couple of pTarmigan on the the snowy side of Stucd an Lochain on Saturday.. They were limited to a few snow covered acres...
A hare on snow free Cnap Chaochan Aitinn just froze at our feet in full white... Suppose could have passed for a quartz boulder. -- Richard Webb
I did think about going up the the West side of the Markie Burn when i first decided to go up there, but decided against it on the grounds of river crossing being more problematic that far down stream.
I walked up the obvious Land Rover track on the E side of he Markie Burn and crossed just past the confluence with the Pipers Burn at NN584974. I used the same point to cross on the way down. Water was fairly fast flowing and half way up to my kness, but I trust my gear, faced upstream and got across quite easily with dry feet!
Didn't see any Hares but did pass very close to a couple of Ptarmigan on the way back down. Unusually, the didn't fly off, but just sat watching me. I gave them a fairly wide berth, not wanting to disturb them.
<confession>
We hitched a lift up the "obvious Land Rover" track in a passing, yes you've guessed it. And a very rough ride it was too. Got wet crossing the burn though :-(
