Sgairneach Mhor

Peaks: Sgairneach Mhor (991m)
Area: Badenoch, Scotland
Restrictions eased just in time to allow me to salvage something from my remaining leave. We should have been in Sicily, but Covid put paid to that. Instead, the weather in the Highlands looked half decent, even though this is several weeks later than my annual trips have tended to be over the past decade. Also, there was no point heading further north-west, as time was limited and the weather looked grim. All some explanation for the fact that this leg stretcher took me back to some of Scotland's dullest hills, those surrounding the Pass of Drumochter. They have the virtue of accessibility, however, and are an ideal way to stretch the legs after the drive up. I did the two Munros of Geal Charn and A'Mharconaich a few years ago in just over an hour while Kate and kids had a coffee in Dalwhinnie. This time, I ran up Coire Dhomhain at 6pm and headed south up the boggy hillside west of the Sow of Atholl. It started to rain as I crossed the Allt Coire Dhomhain via the lower bridge, and I got a real battering for the climb, which eases as it reaches the pleasant whaleback NE ridge. It was cold, wet and windy - fairly bitter as I reached the rounded summit of Sgairneach Mhor in around 47 minutes. The shower briefly passed through, revealing a superb rainbow over Drumochter below. I considered continuing to Beinn Udlamain, but decided to save my legs, heading instead to the upper reaches of Coire Dhomhain which had a nice Highland feel, albeit slightly misleading. The awkward rocky slopes of Sgairneach flushed a family of ptarmigan, but eased at the bottom. I forded the stream and then enjoyed the perfectly runnable return down the bottom of the Coire Dhomhain to complete a nice loop in 90 minutes. It rained heavily again, but it didn't matter, and I dried out on the drive to Blair Atholl for fish and chips.