The Drumtochter Hills


I had headed up to Drumtochter, just south of Dalwhinnie in the hope of getting some decent weather to attempt some Munros (Scottish mountains over 300ft). By chance the weather was sunny, for a change and so I had parked the car just by the Balsporren cottages. The Munros that I would be attempting were Gael-charn (917m), A’Mharconaich (975m), Beinn Udlamain (1011m) and Sgairneach Mhor (991m), a walking distance of approximately 15 miles. The ascent to Gael-charn is easy as the Munro basically faces you as you leave the car park to cross the railway line. Once at the summit of Gael-charn I descended down the loose rock side of the mountain to the col between it and A’Mharconaich. The path to the summit of the second Munro is boggy to begin with but dries out once you reach the broad shoulder of the Munro and the summit should take about an hour to walk to. From A’Mharconaich descend to the col to the start of Beinn Udlamain which ascends steeply to begin with before easing off. Navigation is easy due to the fact that old rusty fence posts act as markers to the stony summit. The climb to Sgairneach Mhor seems more imposing however as it looks like you have to descend some distance before walking back up Sgairneach Mhor. However you are only descending to about 800m before climbing back up the summit of the 4th Munro situated at 991m. Again the base of the Munro is quite boggy but the views are well worth it when you reach the top.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cort-ma Law

Image
  Cort-ma Law Less than an hours drive from Glasgow, just north of Lennoxtown are the Campsie hills, which allows for a quick days hike.  Starting Point The best place to start is at the Campsie Glen waterfall car park. This can get busy, so it is best to try and get a parking space early. The walk itself starts directly opposite the car park.  Car park location Location of hill Route The track ascends immediately from the carpark travelling east, go past the old shelter covered in graffiti. Shelter Hike up from the car park The track continues upward and the track could be tricky at this point for younger walkers. The first part of the walk ends at a small cairn marker.  First marker cairn From there the hike undulates for 2km as it snakes it's way slightly south of the actual top. Here you will reach a bigger cairn marker.  Second marker cairn From this marker turn north east to the trig point 4.5 km distance. The height of the summit is 526m. We reached the t...
Read more

Dechmont Hill

Image
Walking With Kids At last, after a weekend where it barely stopped raining there was a break in the weather, and a chance to get out. Dechmont hill is our closest climb and measures just under 200m, which gives the kids a chance to get to the top. We parked on the road that runs parallel behind Gilbertfield road. The walk started on the track that leads to Dechmont farm and the shooting range. They are now turning this area into housing, so be careful of builders lorries etc. We took a left turn at the road which leads to the farm, and then a right at the Dechmont Range House, now abandoned. The track ends at a small compound, but takes you past the ruins of Gilbertfield Castle. Gilbertfield Castle The compound contains a couple of old houses which acts as a control station for the shooting range. There is no access through it, instead take a left turn before the end of the track and make your way through the grass. There is a path through here but can be obscured by the tall grass sur...
Read more

Bike and Hike

Image
"It was a shame that for all the beauty of the scenery that the top of the mountain was covered in mist." Ben Alder and Ben Bheoil  These two Munros stand south of Dalwhinnie in a remote part of Scotland. The best way of getting to them is to cycle out to Culra bothy, some 17km, which, I suppose is one way of warming up before a lengthy hike. These hills were not even on my radar for possible hills to visit but something happened that changed all that. I have had a mountain bike for over 20 years now, for over 15 years it has been covered up, sitting, rusting out the back. A few years ago I did replace the main gear cassette and chain however frustrated at not getting the gears working properly I gave up and left it. That was until the start of the summer. I had decided on not worrying about gears, all I wanted to do is to cycle and to have a bike that would be a low maintenance as possible. With that in mind I took the gear shifters off, pushed the rear mech back and fixed t...
Read more