Meall Buidhe (Glen Lyon)...and memories of an earlier escapade

Participants - Just me
Where - Meall Buidhe (Glen Lyon), 932m/3,057', Munro, Map 51, NN 498499

Meall Buidhe is one of the easier of the Munros but its position on the eastern edge of Rannoch Moor makes it well worth climbing. It's a straightforward walk, nothing steep, and I have been there on a few occasions. My last visit, in 2009, was on a glorious spring day when the area was looking at its best. It's a popular area and the start point for both Meall Buidhe and Stuchd an Lochain but there is plenty roadside parking at the end of the public road just before the Loch an Daimh dam.....

 

I found traces of a path up the gentle slopes although it was a bit wet in places. The view to the west along Loch an Daimh opened up as I got higher; the hill with the snow patch on it in the far is another Meall Buidhe of which more later.....

I reached the ridge just to the west of the top Meall a'Phuill and followed it more steeply to an unnamed 917m top where the ridge swung round to the north. This is the view to the northern section of the ridge from below the 917m top.....

and from the cairn on that top looking south to the Ben Lawers group.....

It was great walking on short grass from there to the summit where I stopped for ages to sit in the sun and admire the views, south-east to the Lawers hills.....

and south west to the other side of Loch an Daimh.....

Most folk climb both Meall Buidhe and Stuchd an Lochain in the one trip. The usual way to do the two Munros is to do one, go back to the start at the dam and then do the other. Standing at the cairn on Meall Buidhe one day many years ago however, we decided that it would be a great idea to link them by walking round Loch an Daimh. The fact that it was already getting on for noon on a fairly shortish day didn't really figure in our thoughts. A look at the map showed that it was roughly 5 miles to the far end and the Corbett of Meall Buidhe, that is 5 miles as the crow flies. However there were lots of ups and downs on the way and with no path, time was already getting on when we eventually reached the second Meall Buidhe. This is a rather remote Corbett and when we got there, the summit seemed closer to Glencoe than to the Loch an Daimh dam. Probably an illusion though. Still, the route back to the dam along the south side of the loch was shorter than the outward route. The only problem was that another Corbett and a Munro stood in the way.

The Corbett of Sron a'Choire Chnapanich has easy grass slopes; unfortunately,you have to make a zig-zag to get to the cols either side of it and these cols are ridden by peat hags. By the time we got to the second col below the west ridge of Stuchd an Lochain we were knackered and darkness was approaching. The thought of having to climb all the way up Stuchd an Lochain just to go down the other side was too much. So we headed for the loch side. Now anyone who has tried to follow the shoreline of one of these man made lochs will know what a daft idea that was. Contouring across a steep hillside is always strength sapping and frustrating. And the shoreline was comprised of uneven boulders so that wasn't an option either. While we tried to follow the edge of the loch as closely as possible, in places the shoreline bit into the hillside and we had to divert upwards. It was only 3 miles but it took an age. We should just have gritted our teeth and climbed the Munro and followed the path down. The loch side approach took longer and it was dark when we eventually got back to the car.

Although we'd made a bit of a b###s of it, this was a fine walk and one to be recommended for a long summers day. On my 2009 trip however, I was content just to sit at the cairn on the Munro and remember the earlier visit to its namesake and then slowly meander my way back to the dam enjoying the view across the glens to Meall Ghaordaidh as I descended.....