I’d had a cold for the past couple of weeks, caught from a mate on his last Munro; having missed the club meet with the Ochils Mountaineering Club the previous weekend due to said cold, and given the decent forecast, I was determined to get out this weekend. I’d not been to Glen Lyon for a while, and with low temps and a potential for snow, I chose to head that way.
I set off later than planned (as per usual!) arriving at the lonely road end beyond Pubil at about 9PM. Coming over the Ben Lawers pass, the temp had been hovering around zero, and an hour after I arrived the snow started. Not being the kind of person that does ‘offline’, I set about setting up a 2-way sat dish as there is no mobile signal.
Saturday
The following morning dawned magic:
My plan was to bag a pair of Corbetts, and a Corbett Top. I had not actually prepped for snow, but it was pretty superficial. The initial climb up from the track is pretty steep, but that ensured that the views opened up quickly.
I reached the old gate on a long-since knackered clan-fence, and picked up a route to my first hill – the Corbett Top ‘Meall Daill’. This was by far the most shapely hill of the day. The wind was howling as it always appears to be when I am in the hills! I managed some pics before my hands froze off!
The 1st ‘real’ Corbett of the day was Meall Buidhe, its a pretty bland hill overall, but did offer up views over Loch Laidon, a loch that I had paddled back in May.
From this summit, I headed back down to the knackered gate before loosing a load of height and then coughing my way up the Corbett ‘Sron a’ Choire Chnapanich’. At least I was clearing out my lungs! This ‘summit’ turned out to be a few scabby stones on an otherwise flat plateau, but it had decent view down Loch an Daimh and over the Munro Stuc an Lochain.
From this summit, a simple decent down to the top of the hydro track and a wonder down the track brought me back to the van.
Sunday
I had 2, (or maybe three) minds about what to do today, but in the end opted for an ascent up the Corbett ‘Meall nan Subh’. This proved to be a quick ascent with less snow than the previous day and superb views from the summit. It was warm on the summit and I was able to play about with my drone!
360 Meall nan Subh
Meall Nan Subh By Drone
It was lunch time when I got back to the van, and after lunch, that dam looked like it needed the drone treatment:
Loch Lyon Dam
I then headed back the way I had come, stopping on the Lawers Pass to bag a second Corbett of the day ‘Meall Nam Maigheach’ with the lovely weather continuing.
Meall Nam Maigheach
With that done, and with the temperature having dropped back below freezing, it was time to get off the Lawers pass and head home. Grand weekend!
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