KYQ4: Carn Chuinneag

Carn Chuinneag peaking round the Scots Pine from Glencalvie

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Ascent: 860 metres

Distance: 16 kilometres

Time: 3 hours 51 minutes

Carn Chuinneag 839m 1hr 39mins

After returning to Glencalvie from the long cycle and climb of Carn Ban, I cycled up Glen Diebidale and camped at the foot of Carn Chuinneag. It was 7:30pm before I started, too late to climb the hill in the fading evening light. Besides, I was pretty exhausted from the early start, the long drive, the cycle up and down Gleann Mor and the tiring ascent of Carn Ban. I changed into a more comfortable pair of old trainers and loaded the tent, sleeping bag and some cooking stuff into a holdall and used some octopus clips to fix it onto the pannier carrier.

It was a beautiful spring evening, and the cuckoos were in fine voice. I cycled through the splendid grounds of Glencalvie House and exited by a fallen-down gate to obtain access to the track up the glen. The stony track climbed 150 metres over the four and a half kilometres to Diebidale. It was a steady gradient and required some effort, but there was no rush; I would be climbing Carn Chuinneag first thing in the morning when I would be rested.

Lambs were gambolling in the lush grazing along the river and chased alongside me for a while. Several deer appeared but scarpered as I pedalled towards them at a pedestrian pace. I reached Diebidale House, which I presume is a shooting lodge, which to my eye seemed to have a floor level that had slipped fromthe horizontal. I found a rare patch of flattish ground at an elbow by the burn at the foot of Carn Chuinneag. I pitched the tent, filled my water bottles from the burn and treated myself to a brew of green tea (no milk required) with my Pasta 'n' Sauce. It was a warm night, and I slept fitfully before waking at 6:00am, eating a banana and some nuts and having a brew before starting the walk at 6:45am.

Although another hot day was forecast, the morning mists had yet to clear, so the visibility was not as clear as I had hoped. There is an excellent stalker's path that has a perfect gradient for steady walking; it doubles back on itself several times before arriving on a terraced path that runs on the level about 100 metres below the twin summits. I saw three pairs of ptarmigan and several grouse during the ascent. I was feeling much friskier than yesterday and arrived at the impressive summit with its fine stone-built trig point. I ate some more food and lolled at the summit for a while, catching up on messages and the news before I began the descent.

There was no rush as my overly ambitious plan to climb a couple of Corbetts in Strathconon by Strathpeffer had been on the assumption that I would have climbed Carn Chuinneag in the late evening. This was the wishful thinking of someone whose ambitions have not yet attuned to the ageing process. It would still have been possible to climb the two Corbetts, but I would not have finished until 6 or 7pm and be faced with a four-hour drive home and then make another trip to Strathconon to climb the remaining Corbett at the end of one of the longest glens.

I could see the hills of yesterday, and Ben Wyvis looked ominously massive to the south. It brought back memories of several windswept days on its cold, exposed plateau. The finest views were back along the Diebidale glen and over to Carn Ban. My overnight campsite looked like the prime location for a tent nestled in the elbow of the burn. As I began the descent, several pairs of ptarmigan walked me away from their nests, feigning their broken-wing routine. I was at one with the world and followed the well-graded path down to the track below at a jaunty pace.

It took very little time to drop the tent and then freewheel almost all the way back to Glencalvie House. There are two amazing tree houses, and the grounds of the house look immaculate. I met a fisherman who was staying at the house, but the water was too low for any sport. I arrived at the car at 10:30am and spent half an hour sorting out stuff, loading the car and rehydrating before starting the long leg home. I had been worried about these two hills; they are remote and probably the hardest Corbetts left to climb. The weather and conditions had been perfect, which meant that I could really appreciate some of the finest glens in Scotland. The drive back to Inverness was on quiet roads. I stopped for some food in Inverness and was pleased that I had decided to give Strathconon a miss; it was far too hot to be hill walking.