Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Munro 2007 - Day 25: 10th May
Thursday 10th May
SE Top, Meall nan Tarmachan 923 m (Munro Top 20)
Meall nan Tarmachan 1044 m (Munro 41) (Naked Munro 26)
Meall Garbh 1026 m (Munro Top 21)
Beinn nan Eachan 1000 m (Munro Top 22)
Creag na Caillich 916 m (Munro Top 23)
Distance: 13.8 km
Ascent: 884 m
Time: 4:40 hour
Mountain name: Meall nan Tarmachan Pronounced: Miowl nun Tarmachan
Translated: Hill of the Ptarmigan
Weather: It rained heavily overnight and was still raining in the morning. By the time I
set off at about 12:15 the cloud had started to lift to the mountain tops and the rain had
given way to showers. The showers were of hail at altitude. There was not much wind so
showers tended to be prolonged. By mid afternoon the showers were getting rather
continuous and the cloud base dropped down to about 600m.
Nature notes: Meall nan Tarmachan is ‘Hill of the Ptarmigan’ but I didn’t see any
Ptarmigan until I came across one on the descent from Beinn nan Eachan.
There were plenty of sheep on the hill including one dead lamb close to the summit of
Creag na Caillich.
Meall nan Tarmachan is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and they have fenced
off a large area, including the summit of the SE Top of Meall nan Tarmachan to keep out
sheep and deer. They hope that this will allow the regeneration, helped by gradual
planting, of Birch woodland and the scarce Montane Willow scrub. They also hope that
many tall flowering plants currently restricted to cliff ledges will be able to spread on to
lower ground.
The route: I parked at the track just north of the Ben Lawers Visitor Centre. After a few
hundred yards along the track a well engineered small path heads up the hill to the
summit of Meall nan Tarmachan. From here there is a clear path along the ridge over
Meall Garbh, Beinn nan Eachan and to Creag na Caillich. There is a nasty little exposed
rock-step on the descent from Meall Garbh, caused by erosion. This can be avoided to the
north. The path continues beyond the summit of Creag na Caillich but I retraced my
steps to a cairn marking a faint grassy path down into Coire Fionn Lairige. Careful
navigation is needed to find the hairpin bend on a track which took me back to the van.
Personal notes: The intention had been to climb Ben Cruachan, but this is a complex
mountain with 2 Munros and 4 Munro Tops and I really wanted better weather for these
mountains. I drove on to Tyndrum where I did some shopping and then to Crianlarich
where I emptied the van toilet. At Killin I managed to find somewhere to have a late
breakfast. By the time I’d eaten breakfast, the weather was improving and I headed for
Meall nan Tarmachan. It wasn’t long before I had to put on waterproof top, but I
managed all day without overtrousers despite hail and then fairly continuous rain on the
second half of the walk. I tend to only wear overtrousers for heavy rain or if it is windy.
They don’t really do much to keep your legs dry, and can get very sweaty, but they are
essential for warmth in windy conditions. The cloud lifted as I climbed and I was lucky
that it had risen to about 1200m by the time I reached the summit of Meall nan
Tarmachan. It was also dry at the time and with very little wind I was able to take the
naked summit photos I was attempting on this trip. The ridge was interesting and it is
surprising none of the other peaks was given Munro status. A sharp hailstorm started as
I left Meall Garbh. There was a tricky rock-step to descend. It would have been easy in
dry conditions, but in a hailstorm with water running down the rocks and exposure that
meant a slip could be dangerous, meant that great care had to be taken.
The hail gave way to steady rain and the cloud dropped to about 600m by the time I
returned to the van.
The descent path into Coire Fionn soon disappeared and I appreciated the advantages of
GPS over compass in this descent where I was basically attempting to hit a road end in a
grassy corrie with many small crags making straight-line navigation impossible.
I then drove to the road-end in Glen Lochy to be ready to take advantage of any clear
weather early in the morning. It continued to rain all evening despite the weather
forecast on the radio saying it was dry!
Overnight: At the road-end in Glen Lochy
SE Top, Meall nan Tarmachan 923 m (Munro Top 20)
Meall nan Tarmachan 1044 m (Munro 41) (Naked Munro 26)
Meall Garbh 1026 m (Munro Top 21)
Beinn nan Eachan 1000 m (Munro Top 22)
Creag na Caillich 916 m (Munro Top 23)
Distance: 13.8 km
Ascent: 884 m
Time: 4:40 hour
Mountain name: Meall nan Tarmachan Pronounced: Miowl nun Tarmachan
Translated: Hill of the Ptarmigan
Weather: It rained heavily overnight and was still raining in the morning. By the time I
set off at about 12:15 the cloud had started to lift to the mountain tops and the rain had
given way to showers. The showers were of hail at altitude. There was not much wind so
showers tended to be prolonged. By mid afternoon the showers were getting rather
continuous and the cloud base dropped down to about 600m.
Nature notes: Meall nan Tarmachan is ‘Hill of the Ptarmigan’ but I didn’t see any
Ptarmigan until I came across one on the descent from Beinn nan Eachan.
There were plenty of sheep on the hill including one dead lamb close to the summit of
Creag na Caillich.
Meall nan Tarmachan is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and they have fenced
off a large area, including the summit of the SE Top of Meall nan Tarmachan to keep out
sheep and deer. They hope that this will allow the regeneration, helped by gradual
planting, of Birch woodland and the scarce Montane Willow scrub. They also hope that
many tall flowering plants currently restricted to cliff ledges will be able to spread on to
lower ground.
The route: I parked at the track just north of the Ben Lawers Visitor Centre. After a few
hundred yards along the track a well engineered small path heads up the hill to the
summit of Meall nan Tarmachan. From here there is a clear path along the ridge over
Meall Garbh, Beinn nan Eachan and to Creag na Caillich. There is a nasty little exposed
rock-step on the descent from Meall Garbh, caused by erosion. This can be avoided to the
north. The path continues beyond the summit of Creag na Caillich but I retraced my
steps to a cairn marking a faint grassy path down into Coire Fionn Lairige. Careful
navigation is needed to find the hairpin bend on a track which took me back to the van.
Personal notes: The intention had been to climb Ben Cruachan, but this is a complex
mountain with 2 Munros and 4 Munro Tops and I really wanted better weather for these
mountains. I drove on to Tyndrum where I did some shopping and then to Crianlarich
where I emptied the van toilet. At Killin I managed to find somewhere to have a late
breakfast. By the time I’d eaten breakfast, the weather was improving and I headed for
Meall nan Tarmachan. It wasn’t long before I had to put on waterproof top, but I
managed all day without overtrousers despite hail and then fairly continuous rain on the
second half of the walk. I tend to only wear overtrousers for heavy rain or if it is windy.
They don’t really do much to keep your legs dry, and can get very sweaty, but they are
essential for warmth in windy conditions. The cloud lifted as I climbed and I was lucky
that it had risen to about 1200m by the time I reached the summit of Meall nan
Tarmachan. It was also dry at the time and with very little wind I was able to take the
naked summit photos I was attempting on this trip. The ridge was interesting and it is
surprising none of the other peaks was given Munro status. A sharp hailstorm started as
I left Meall Garbh. There was a tricky rock-step to descend. It would have been easy in
dry conditions, but in a hailstorm with water running down the rocks and exposure that
meant a slip could be dangerous, meant that great care had to be taken.
The hail gave way to steady rain and the cloud dropped to about 600m by the time I
returned to the van.
The descent path into Coire Fionn soon disappeared and I appreciated the advantages of
GPS over compass in this descent where I was basically attempting to hit a road end in a
grassy corrie with many small crags making straight-line navigation impossible.
I then drove to the road-end in Glen Lochy to be ready to take advantage of any clear
weather early in the morning. It continued to rain all evening despite the weather
forecast on the radio saying it was dry!
Overnight: At the road-end in Glen Lochy
Meall nan Tarmachan
Fresh snow on
Ben Lawers
Ben Lawers
Helicopter loads of
path repair material
path repair material
Summit, Meall Garbh
Summit, Meall nan
Tarmachan
Tarmachan
Summit, Meall nan
Tarmachan
Tarmachan
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