Meall Garbh and An Stuc

Thursday, May 30, 2013.

In the years since I was last walking around Ben Lawers many changes have taken place. The rather hexagonal looking visitor centre has gone and the car park has migrated to the other side of the road. The forest on the road up towards Ben Lawers from Loch Tay is felled.

    We parked at the last bend on the road before it snakes up towards the new car park. Then striding across rough fields we made for a track that runs under Leacann Ghlasa. By picking this route we were avoiding parking near Tombreck farm and instead taking the older route that counters under the hills. A meadow pipit nest on the way to the main track was a highlight of the early part of the work in fairly dull weather.
   Beyond the shadows of Creag Dubh we can to the Allt an Tium Bhreic and a concreted dam and huge array of pipes funnelling water into this hydro scheme. A sharp pull up the side of a concrete cover carried us to a Land Rover and helicopter service bay. Now were on the track proper and a number of intakes counted us down as we headed ever nearer to the base of Meall Garbh, pockets of  primroses by the side of the track were good evidence of the very late spring we have had this season. All around skylarks and meadow pipits were calling but there was little else in the way of bird life.

   Lunch was by the side of a small pool at a Dam and then it was on upwards through pleasant heather to a small  section of woodland regeneration and ultimately to the saddle at Lairig Innein. An old fence post line greeted us and a path that easily wound its way to the summit of Meall Garbh. The sun was beginning to make an effort to break through and we were glad of it as tackled An Stuc.

 

   The descent off Meall Garbh is straightforward and we enjoyed seeing great clumps of purple saxifrage (above) but the climb up onto An Stuc was a bit more exposed than I had expected. Some steep drops off the path were interesting and I don't think I would have been happy tackling this route on an icy winter's day. Nevertheless, we scrambled to the summit without mishap.  An Stuc doesn't appear in my old black Munro book, but I'm assured it is now recognised as a Munro, elevated to the list some years ago in fact ... which only goes to prove that I'm not a serious Munro bagger.

  
We didn't rush off An Stuc, but instead (as the sun was now out) lingered taking photographs, eating the last of our sandwiches and having the obligatory wee dram. Then we picked our route back which was via the 'back door' that runs on the northern flanks of Ben Lawers and avoids having to do the peaks of Ben Lawers and Stob Glas. We made for the bealach at Coire Odhar and the existence of a well defined track suggests this is a popular option for many walkers. Avoiding some tricky snow gulleys (where late snow was just beginning to collapse into burns and fissures beneath) we picked a pleasant route back and met a fascinating old man, resplendent in shirt and tie, who had known some of the leading lights of the SMC (Scottish Mountaineering Club) in the post war years.
    Soon were at the head of the well established nature trail underneath Ben Lawers and in quite hot and sunny conditions we meandered through the 'reserve' and back down the road to the car.
    A good solid walk of 8 hours with Mr. McG !