M133 | 1002 m. | 3288 ft.
Translation: Hill of the rowan
Pronuncation: sale choeran

This group of three Munros is easily accessible from the A87 and the hills are not too far away from Inverness where Alex had to catch a train in the evening. On a sunny morning we drove from Glen Strathfarrar to Loch Cluanie and left our car at the big parking near Lundie. From there Alex, Frank and me walked along a Landrover track which once was part of the Old Military Road. Soon a path branched off to the right, skirted An Cruachan and reached a stretch of flatter terrain. We headed towards the western ridge of Carn Ghluasaid and climbed up the steep rocky side of the ridge where good views of the hills in the south and west added to fun of walking. The path finally peters out on the plateau-ish summit area of the hill and soon afterwards we touched the cairn. From there we continued along the corrie rim for some time, then by-passed point 998m and started the final 150 m climb to Sgurr nan Conbhairean from the Glas Bhealach. At the summt of our second munro of the day we rested. A jolly good viewpoint for the hills close by. A’Chralaig, Mullach Fraoch-choire, South and North Glen Shiel ridge and Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan to mention a few. The wind had picked up considerably since we had started our hike and it made walking a little difficult at times. The weather was fine, though. On our continuation down the north ridge of Sgurr nan Conbhairean the wind bombarded us with bits of icy snow dislodged from the remains of snow-fields and cornices from time to time. Funny. It did not take very long to reach the third summit of the day, Sail Chaorainn. Another little break and then we retraced our steps back to Sgurr nan Conbhairean. We did not climb back to the summit of this hill but traversed 100m below summit height on the western slopes. This delivered us on the south-west ridge and the path leading to Droachaid an Tuill Easaich. Here the wind became really strong almost blowing us over. We pressed on down the grassy ridge but did not forget to marvel at beautiful Gorm Lochan down in the corrie below. At Meall Bhreac the path steepened considerably so we lost height quickly. The Allt Coire Lair was our next aim and we followed the path on its right (western) side all the way down to the A87 above Loch Cluanie. Twenty minutes of walking along the road brought us back to our car. An interesting access path, a ridge walk with beautiful views and changing terrain, as well as a comfortable ridge for the descent made this a very entertaining day out on the hills.


Description These three mountains are on the north side of Loch Cluanie. On their south side above the loch they do not look very impressive for their slopes and corries have no outstanding features and their summits are hidden. On the north side, however, they are very different and the three mountains form the headwall of a great cirque of crags and corries at the head of the River Doe. Much of the terrain on the upper part of these hills is short-cropped grass which gives very easy walking. The best place to start is at Lundie on the A87 road, 4 kilometres west of the Loch Cluanie dam. A stalker's path starts a few hundred metres west of there and goes high up onto Carn Ghluasaid, making this a very easy hill to climb. The traverse continues round the edge of the north-eastern corries to reach Sgurr nan Conbhairean, whose cairn is right on the edge of the eastern cliff. Descend along the narrow north ridge and climb barely 100 metres to reach Sail Chaorainn. Return to Sgurr nan Conbhairean, descend the broad south-west ridge to Drochaid an Tuill Easaich and go down its south ridge. On the steep descent at the foot of the ridge, bear south-east and cross the Allt Coire Lair to reach the line of the Old Military Road, which is followed east to Lundie.