KYQ4: Mam na Gualainn

Looking southwest from the summit

Wednesday, 7 June 2017

Ascent: 807 metres

Distance: 7 kilometres

Time: 2 hours 44 minutes

Mam nan Gualainn 790m 1hr 40mins

I had travelled around from Loch Eil via the Corran ferry to avoid the inevitable traffic queues that now engulf Fort William. It also meant I could enjoy the drive along the west side of Loch Linnhe that I had not made before. At the ferry terminal, I met and enjoyed a conversation with a group of young female cyclists who were based in Verbier in Switzerland. They were enjoying their summer break from the ski resort by cycling around the west coast of Scotland. They had a mother to provide vehicle backup, rode 60 to 70 miles a day and dined on lobster and scallops by staying at hotels. They were all ecstatic about their ride from Mull and had the hyper-happy air of those high on exercise and having witnessed the best of Scottish west coast scenery.

The ferry took its time and the charges had risen steeply since my two visits here last year. The short drive to Loch Leven was complicated by trying to find the start of the path up to Mam na Gualainn. At the third attempt, I found a lay-by just beyond Callert House that was the start of the path. To make sure I walked back a couple of hundred metres to start at the path signed to Fort William. It was not well used and steep as well as boggy after the recent rains. The sun had finally taken hold of the day and the strong winds of earlier had dropped so there were pleasant conditions for the walk. The path was marked by road markers and I climbed steadily to 446 metres at the bealach between Mam nan Gualainn and the adjacent Graham, Tom Meadhoin.

It was warm and the climbing on the steep ground was tiring after the earlier walk but once I left the path and struck up alongside a burn leading to the western ridge of Mam na Gualainn I made better time. I stopped to fill up on water and reached the summit at 6 p.m. What a spectacular place! The Vanessa trig point overlooked the Glencoe hills to the south and there was a long view to Kinlochleven, the Blackwater reservoir and Schiehallion that captured the glorious tapestry of the Scottish highlands.

I stayed awhile taking photos and reflecting on the way Corbetts often seem to be better viewpoints than the higher Munros. The views across towards Glencoe village and Bidean nam Bian were stunning, I could have lingered for hours on such a beautiful spot but as always the thought of food and a beer when I arrived home was too tempting. I made a direct descent down a good path along the ridge and then down a steeper gulley to join the main path at about 400 metres. The views across Loch Leven were truly inspiring and I began to think about the likely outcome of the general election. It has been a remarkable campaign and I just hoped that the offer of more austerity allied to a hard Brexit would be crushed tomorrow. I have witnessed a remarkable upsurge in social media comments by younger friends and just maybe the Maybot may struggle to get her bigger majority.

At the lay-by a camper van was parked next to me and the occupant, a lone male who had just retired and was spending 12 weeks touring Scotland and hoping to climb 74 Corbetts asked me about the route. I told him to go up now it was only 7 p.m. and there were another three and a half hours of light. Tomorrow would be wet. Our conversation drifted to the election as I changed my shoes for the drive home and I told him that I thought Mrs May's government was the worst in my lifetime. "What even worse than Gordon Brown" was his retort. By this stage the midges were biting so I wished him well as I recalled how the right-wing press had defenestrated Gordon Brown in the same way as they were attacking Jeremy Corbyn but this time social media was at least providing more balance.