
Bike 4.7km + 190m, 14.4km + 770m, bike 4,7km + 60m. Monadhliath Mountains.
Some heavy showers initially turned into a wonderful evening walk, where I got to within ten feet of a couple of mountain hares enjoying the evening sunshine.
A86 beside Cluny Castle GR647944 (14.10), biked up the track to the Dalballoch bothy at GR649984 (14.50) where I waited for the worst of some showers to pass. Some poor tracks and heather bashing saw me at Loch Dubh (16.20) where the hut is now largely in the stream. Steady climbing took me onto Càrn Bàn (17.15) and beyond to the deleted top of Sneachdach Slinnean (17.45). Despite a few small peat hags a pleasant stroll brought me to Carn An Leth-Choin (18.45) where some large chunks of snow were calving off an old cornice. Then started the long treck down the new track to the bothy (19.50) before a rapid descent to the van (20.15). I then spent the next five hours driving home!
Area :
Monadhliath Mountains (Carn Dearg)
Monadhliath Mountains means "grey mountains". Running in a northeast to southwest direction, the mountains lie on the western side of Strathspey, to the west of the Cairngorms and to the south east of Loch Ness. The mountains are within the Highland council area, and the south and east fringes are within the Cairngorms National Park. The high point of the range is Càrn Dearg, at 945 m/3100ft, located 24 km south of Inverness.