KYQ4: Meall Buidhe & Stuc An Lochain

Loch an Daimh

Sunday, 28 July 2024

The weather had improved over the past week and it felt like summer. I had planned to go to Lochnagar and walk on Sunday and Monday taking in 7 Munros in a round from Loch Muick. My wall builder had thought he would finish the garden wall on Friday but another day was needed and he said he would come on Monday. I needed to find another outing for Sunday which was forecast to be a good day with excellent visibility with a breeze to keep the midges at bay. I thought that Glen Lyon might be a good alternative with Stuc an Lochain and Meall Buidhe as the objectives if I had the energy to attempt a couple of walks from the Giorra dam. I was then invited to a neighbour's for a drink on Saturday evening which expanded to a drinking session, something I have not done for several years. I had no time to prepare my walking gear for the next day.

Sunday started dull and combined with the after-effects of the night before, I thought why bother. Eventually, my sense of purpose kicked in but it was 9:30am before I set off. The journey to Glen Lyon and then to the dam at Loch an Daimh took longer than expected so it was almost 11:30am before I began my first walk. I had decided to walk Meall Buidhe first, it would be slightly easier and I foolishly thought I would not be able to resist Stuc an Lochain as an aperitif. It was probably the right decision although the steep 300-metre staircase of loose scree would put me off any future ascent of Stuc an Lochain.

Summit of Meall Buidhe

Meall Buidhe

Ascent: 554 metres
Distance: 9 kilometres
Time: 2 hours 36 minutes

Meall Buidhe 932m. 1hr 29mins

I set off up the track from the crowded parking below the dam, I had squeezed into the last space on a grassy bank before it fell away. The track climbs steeply and then runs westwards above the reservoir for about half a kilometre where a cairn of stones marks the start of a steep and boggy path, a party of three were hesitantly making their way down. The path improves as it enters the rockier domain and then eases as it follows a broad ridge before another section over peat bogs before the steeper climb to the 917m cairn that leads to a fine ridge walk of a kilometre to the summit of Meall Buidhe.

The visibility was excellent and I had kept a reasonably steady pace all the way. It was just after 1pm so I stopped for some food and water and took a few photos of the wonderful panorama of mountains in all directions. The day had started cloudy but the blue skies were becoming dominant although Ben Nevis had its head in the clouds. As I was leaving, a group of four arrived and asked me to take some group photos of them. I thought they were three Filipino sisters with a boyfriend and muttered something about the sisters moving so I could get Ben Nevis in the background, it turned out that one was the mother, it made her day.

The descent was fairly, quick, I stopped briefly to tidy up the cairn at 917 metres and gave it my usual tower finish, I must have done this on over a hundred summits. Some survive, some don't, and cairns frequently change in shape as the weather and other walkers indulge their tidiness, wreckful intent or artistic ambitions. The views across to Stuc an Lochain were improving all the time and I observed the relentlessly steep path that climbs from Loch an Daimh, vaguely remembering that it was not one of the more pleasant ascents. On several recent walks, I had kept a tally of the walkers that I had passed on the hill. Today there were 10 females and 8 males along with 7 dogs. It seems to match other recent outings. I arrived back at the car and changed my shoes, the first pair were wet and doused in mud.

Meall Buidhe ridge from the summit

KY cairn

Ben Lawers Range from 917m cairn

Stuc an Lochain from 917m cairn

Stuc an Lochain

Summit of Stuc an Lochain

Stuc an Lochain

Ascent: 731 metres
Distance: 12 kilometres

Time: 3 hours 31 minutes

Stuc an Lochain 960m. 1hr 56mins

SronChona Chorein 927m 2hrs 21mins

I started the second walk at 2:30pm after a brief break for a drink and to collect some more drink, it was now a warm sunny afternoon, T-shirt time and I knew that the climb was going to be rough and tough. There is a bridge below the dam and then a climb up the track to the height of the Giorra Dam. I had seen the steep path climbing behind a boatshed about half a kilometre along Loch an Daimh so walked along to the boatshed and started looking for the start of the path. A mistake, the path started a lot closer to the dam and as I looked back a couple who had started behind me were climbing up the hill. I had to retreat and found the start of the path that looked ominous but that was the good section. It climbs on a less steep traverse for half a kilometre to a point above the boatshed then turns and makes a beeline for the ridge up what has become a rocky gulley filled with loose rock at a gradient that is on the steep side of steep and never-ending.

Quite a few parties were descending, gripped with the fear of loose rocks and propelled downwards in the afternoon heat by the prospect of a drink at some nearby hostelry. I stopped for conversations on a couple of occasions, a relief from the climb. The path eventually begins to open out about 750 metres and climbs along a broad ridge to a top at 888 metres, There is then a longish dog leg over to the top at 926 metres and then to the summit at 960 metres. I was able to view Lochan an Cat that nestles in the northeast Corrie of Stuc an Lochain, the spelling of Locha(i)n is never the same even if the subject is the same. As I neared the summit, the couple who had taken the right path at the start were beginning their descent.

I have strong memories of the summit, I had dragged my hill running partner over the summit adding about twenty minutes to our time in a Mountain Marathon when I was first bagging Munros. It was a mistake because we would have been amongst the leaders. The overnight camp was on the shores of Lochan an Cat on a night when it poured and we were already soaked. On another occasion, I had decided on a sunny evening to do an overnight camp starting at Meall Buidhe and camping near the summit before doing a round of Loch an Daimh including the twp Corbetts and approaching Stuc an Lochan from the west. I also discovered from my log that I had climbed the two Munros of today with Gregor when he was 10 including Stuc an Lochan in 2 hours 51 minutes and then on a rain-soaked day at the end of 2002 in 2 hours 39 minutes. Times are not what they used to be!

At the summit, it was approaching 5pm and the conditions were near perfect, it was still T-shirt weather and the views were exceptional. Over to Glencoe and the Mamores with Ben Nevis now in the buff and wonderful view back to Glen Lyon. I was surprised at how low the water levels were in Loch na Daimh and on the way down I met a walker who had camped by the Lochside and said he could walk across the reservoir. He could only understand given the non-stop rainfall in the early summer how this could be if electricity generation had taken precedence over water supply. I made a short detour to the top on the descent before subjecting myself to the descent down the loose scree and trickle of water that doubles as a path. It was well past 6pm when I returned to the car. A gate has been installed on the access road to the dam to protect the Caledonian forest from deer. I coasted down the single-track empty road back to the Bridge of Balgay and over the top road between Tarmachan and Ben Lawers to get back to Killin. I had intended to stop for a pint but the outside tables were all full so I continued home, my Moretti was waiting in the fridge.