Geal-charn
Since Cord took this well earned day off i used the opportunity to fill in this Munro which i had not ticked yet (Cord bagged it in 2002 together with Mike). So he dropped me off at the car park at Balsporran Cottage and headed off to Aviemore to do some shopping of forgotten items. That was not a nice surrounding at all. In front of me a scarmarked bump. Behind me the A9 with it’s traffic and the new pylons. So i stormed over the rails and instantly chose the wrong track up the hill. After a short crossing i reached the right track and now it was a straightforward ascent to the 3009ft hill. I thought there was no other accuse than just it’s height and the Munro status. But i was proven wrong since the views from the west side of the summit were really nice towards Ben Alder and down the long stretched Loch Ericht. I contemplated the track along the shore which we had cycled 4 times over the weekend – my legs still arching from that memory (and certainly Cords too). The weather was not too bad. I took my 10 minutes to eat, stroll around and take pictures before i hurried down. Some 15 minutes from the A9 away i saw how Cord entered the car park. Just in time for dropping my rucksack in and drive to our cottage for getting a nice warm meal. A first in over 20 years munrobagging. And then off to Carn Liath.
2002 Parking by the A9 two or three kilometres north of the Pass of Drumochter we crossed the railway at the Balsporran B&B heading for the north-east ridge of Geal-charn. All the glens were filled with morning fog and clouds. Even though there had been a few very dry days before the walk the ground on the track up the ridge was quite boggy torn open by some caterpillar vehicle. Needless to say that the going was unpleasant in such conditions. At about … [Read More]