#6: Hike 3 Munros in a day

This one was on my ‘big list’ of things to do. And no wonder, these hills were indeed big. Near Blair Atholl, the Beinn a’ Ghlo Massif is made up of three mountains:

1. Carb Liath
2. Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Yeah, no idea either)
3. Carn nan Gabhar

As far as Munros go, I have climbed 15 or 16, so I’m not exactly a beginner, but far from being a pro. Hiking three in one day was going to be difficult. I was quite anxious after a recent failed attempt to summit two Munros (Bidean nam Bian Massif) in the Glencoe area due to endless scree, boulder fields, and sharp cliff edges. We lost the path and decided to turn back near the top, and it shook my confidence. But it was the right decision in the moment. Sometimes, you have to turn back for your safety.

So, back to Beinn a’ Ghlo. I had a terrible sleep the night before in our tent; cold and restless, I slept for about four hours. I felt exhausted and contemplated with the midges if I was up for it. I figured I may as well try.

It was a short 2 km walk from the car park to the foot of Carb Liath, where I noticed the heather starting to bloom. So far, so good. I felt fine. There was a path, and it was well maintained.

The climb was steep but straightforward, and it put me at ease seeing lots of other hikers around. It’s always eerie when you’re the only one. But with the car park nearby and train station at Blair Atholl, it’s no wonder these are popular Munros to bag. We started at around 400 m above sea level, so we had to climb around 600 m to the top.

Success. The first summit bagged and we could see where to go next. We ate a snack and continued along the ridge to Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain. You can see pretty clearly in the photos the path along the ridge.

We descended around 200 m before starting the climb up Munro #2. This was my lowest point. My body started to ache and I was tired. The weather started to turn as well: fog rolled in, rain started, and the wind picked up. Andrew was worried about me; I was going slow and stopped every few steps, but I knew I was okay. I just had to take it easy and sing happy songs in my head. We’d already done the hardest ascent. Josie, on the other hand, was unconcerned. My slowness prompted her to cry impatiently ahead.

I was relieved when we reached the top and felt confident now that I could do this. We had a break and ate more food.

As we were eating, we noticed the fog clearing. Andrew and I cheered, followed by an echo of cheers from other nearby hikers. It’s the small wins! We decided to get moving again while we could see the path.

I felt re-fueled and ready to continue. We walked along the plateau edge towards yet another descent of about 200 m. I had a much better attitude going up Carn nan Gabhar, fueled by excitement of nearly finishing ascents for the day. My tactic was to climb in sections: I’ll keep going until I get to that big rock, then rest, then I’ll keep going until that bend, then rest, and so on. It was effective and I was faster than the previous ascent.

The weather took a really bad turn near the top. A group of hikers cheered on our little dog, but it was actually me who needed it! At the top, I was relieved to see a cairn. But it wasn’t the true summit. We passed it to the next cairn, and Andrew joked that we had to continue to yet another cairn further along. BUT HE WASN’T JOKING. We had to continue to the third (much smaller…) cairn to reach the true summit.

And we made it!

Apparently there should have been great views, but today we settled for rocks and fog. Nonetheless, I felt accomplished. We had just climbed all three Munros! I was so happy that I almost forgot we were actually only halfway through the hike. Damn. We had to walk about 11 km back to the car park now.

We didn’t hang around long, due to feeling like we were in a tornado. And so we retraced our steps down, accompanied by the heavy rain smacking us in the face. Delightful.

When the rain stopped, I paused to wipe my glasses and snapped a photo of a drookit Andrew.

We reached the bealach (low point between hills), and continued down a valley to the bottom, which prompted me to sing the word ‘valley-o’ over and over from the song ‘The Rattlin’ bog’. It took us ages to reach the bottom of the valley, and it felt like we were stuck in a valley vortex.

The valley was damp and rich with life: I noticed different moss species and lots of rich soil, which was cushiony to walk on. I also spotted a bird I didn’t recognise hiding in the heather. I later found out on the information board in the car park that it was a dotterel: a rare bird that breeds on mountain plateaus. I felt very lucky to have seen one.

When we were finally out of the valley, we had a long stretch back to the car park. Eager to get back, we picked up the pace, but stopped to stretch every so often. A shed up ahead was our reference point that we would almost be back, but it seemed to get further and further away.

Nearly back, Josie started flushing the grouse and went into full hunting mode. She usually does this at the end of a long hike; I think it’s because she’s hungry and looking for something to eat.

And finally, distinguished readers, I present to you the best view of the whole hike:

Josie got her dinner, we got ours at the pub, and I had a much better sleep in our tent that night.

Overall, I didn’t start this hike with the most energy, but it was manageable and had a clear path the whole way. Even in bad weather, it was doable. It was just a bit rocky at the top of Carn nan Gabhar. If you want to do this hike, check out the route on walkhighlands.

Distance: 22.81 km.
Elevation gain: 1,329 m.
Time: Strava says 6.5 hours of moving time, but we completed the whole hike in about 8.5 hours.

This was great practice for another challenging hike I plan to do later this month, so stay tuned!

Until then,

Kayla