The Beinn a' Ghlo ridge (Carn Liath, Braigh Coire Chruinn-Bhalgain, Carn nan Gabhar)

Carn Liath (975m) NN936698
Summitted: Saturday 2nd May 2009

Braigh Coire Chruinn-Bhalgain (1070m) NN946724
Summitted: Saturday 2nd May 2009

Beinn a'Ghlo/Carn nan Gabhar (1129m) NN971733
Summitted: Saturday 2nd May 2009

Having taken the train up to Blair Atholl directly after work on Friday night, I set out early on Saturday from the River Tilt Park campsite.  Hoofing it about 5km up the road to the 'car park' by Loch Moraig I was there before the arrival of the daytrippers in their cars, but was quicky overtaken by many due to the heavy load I was carrying.

The Carn Liath Hut - Open then, locked now

The path passes by the Carn Liath hut, which at the time was open, but very spartan inside. Nothing but a table and 3 benches.  No fireplace and plenty of gaps in the walls to let the draughts in.  However, if I'd known it was there, I would have walked up to it the night before and saved myself the cost of the campsite.  Now it is locked up (since early 2010).

Inside the Carn Liath Hut

I hadn't bothered to measure the distance of the Beinn a' Ghlo ridge, as I didn't need to.  I had 2 1/2 days to do 3 munros and return to Blair Atholl for the train home.  I had a tent, sleeping bag and everything else I needed for a long weekend, including a bit of whisky, and the tent (Vango Spirit 200+) that would easily stand up to being pitched on a windy ridge.

The summit of Carn Liath

Despite the heavy rucksack I summited Carn Liath in bright sunshine well before noon and carried along the ridge to Braigh Coire Chruinn-Bhalgain.  After dropping down off Carn Liath, the temperature dropped and the snow came in, but lasting only as long as it took to get up to the summit, which was in a bleak mood.

The summit of Braigh Coire Chruinn-Bhalgain

Beinn a' Ghlo from Braigh Coire Chruinn-Bhalgain (wide)

Onwards to Beinn a'Ghlo, I dropped down between the two and ate my (late) lunch in the Bealach an Fhiodha, where the wind was less intense.

The last uphill stretch up from the Bealach to the summit of Beinn a' Ghlo is a short steep section followed by a long ridge - not too difficult, but I was glad to get the last of the day's height gain done.  I had decided that as I had done the 3 Munros, I wanted to drop down to the river Tilt to get out of the bad weather.

The summit cairn from the trig point on Beinn a' Ghlo

Looking down towards Glen Tilt

Now I had to get down to the river Tilt, which was easier said than done.  I headed North down to Meall a' Mhuirich, past a thick cornice over Coire cas-eagallach.  I followed the spur down, dropping height as I went until I ended up to the west of Meall Gharran, following the burn.  The burn dropped away as a waterfall and the gully was far to steep to down-climb with a rucksack so I headed back over to Lurg Smeur (marked only on the 1:25000 OS) before an extremely treacherous down-climb to Allt Fheannach and the footbridge, where I found a nice flat spot to pitch my tent.  By this time, I'd been on the go for 12 hours, so I cooked up a spag-bol bag meal, washed it down with some hot chocolate and went to sleep.

Camping spot by the river Tilt footbridge

On the Sunday, I trudged back down the Glen Tilt to Blair Atholl, on a track that seems to go on forever.  I haven't measured it, but it's maybe 17-18Km from the footbridge to the station, but Glen Tilt is an unusually long glen.