Area: Lawers/Tarmachan, Scotland
My intention was to do the entire Lawers range from the north, but sadly the road across the top was closed so I had to change my plans: no matter, this was still a delightful day. The Lawers range is a little like Ben Lomond for me, something I have ignored for years fearing big crowds and boring slogs. So I was pleasantly surprised by the entire area, after driving up from my hotel in Strathyre through Killin. The lower slopes have been managed and sealed off from the deer, so the vegetation has regenerated, leaving wonderful birch woodland full of redpoll and cuckoo. I really enjoyed it, and set off under blue skies through the birch to gain the open hill at a crossroads. I followed the gentle straight path up to the obvious Bealach, opting to do Meall Corranaich first. This was a good choice, with wonderful views over Ben Lawers and An Stuc, as well as the empty country north, from the col. A steep climb gained the summit of Corranaich (63m from the car) which I had to myself (despite dozens heading up Ben Lawers on this, the first day of the Jubilee long weekend). Great views in all directions. A quick jog down, then the superbly enjoyable contouring path below Beinn Ghlas to the obvious col. I felt quite good, and ploughed up the final steep climb to the summit in good time. The day had clouded over a bit, but the views in all directions were predictably superb - the ridge down to An Stuc with Lochan an Cat below looked superb and I regretted not being able to see through my original plan. But a different plan was forming, so after a rest and snack on the summit I pelted across to Bheinn Ghlas in 22 minutes, then down to the car from the summit of Ghlas in 38m. It started to rain just before I got there, and then pelted down for half an hour. After it stopped, I got the stove on, had some rice, tuna and coffee, and initiated the second part of the day, an impromptu change of plan. On the other side of the road rises the Tarmachan ridge: this is very eye-catching from Killin, a lumpy and attractive miniature range. Quite how lumpy and attractive, however, I hadn't realised. It was a delight. I was conscious of not burning all my matches at this stage in the trip, so dropped the pace right down to a walk up to the munro of Meall nan Tarmachan. The path leaves the scented birch woodland and then gains a broad ridge over a pronounced subpeak before a steep shelf twists round to the summit: great views back across this morning's peaks and down to Loch Tay. From here, prospects are wonderful: the knobbly ridge stretched out in front like a miniature mountain range, dotted with little lochans and crags. Meall Garbh attracts the attention with its sharp peak, and I sauntered along the ridge through the lochans before taking in the steep little climb to the tiny summit. Much as I loved this ridge, I was conscious of saving a bit of energy, so escaped down the obvious western ridge: this was also excellent, with Loch Tay stretched out in front and the sun re-emerging. A long walk down the track back to the car, then a desperate refuel on a revolting burger and chips in Killin.
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