Leum Uilleim and Carn Dearg

Friday 1st June 2012

Some of the guys in Loch Ossian Youth Hostel where I was staying were well acquainted with the area and recommended walking up the hill to the west of Corrour Station. This was the very same hill that the boys in the film Trainspotting started to climb. It is a prominent landmark in the area, so I and one of the other guys in the hostel decided to go up the hill together. First thing in the morning we set off past the station and across the boggy slopes slowly climbing towards the craggy ridge of Sròn an Lagain Ghairbh. A landrover track was a help to begin with, but it was soon obvious that this track was heading south towards the Blackwater Reservoir, so we came off the track and made our own way climbing steeply up the craggy slopes. Eventually the gradient levelled off and left us with an easy walk across the broad top to the cairn at the summit of the Corbett, Leum Uilleim. There is supposed to be good views from the top but when we got there we found that the ridge was so wide the views from the summit were restricted. Moving to the sides of the ridge afforded us with better views of Blackwater Reservoir to the south and the Grey Corries to the north, but grey, overcast skies spoilt the overall picture.

During the ascent we were constantly turning around to see the view behind us towards Loch Ossian. The view west may have been spoilt by the shape of the hill, but during the ascent there was nothing to spoil the view towards the picturesque loch and its stunning surround of mountains. While descending to the col above Coire a’ Bhric Beag I couldn’t keep my eyes off the Grey Corries to the north. I had a memorable walk there six years ago and consider it one of my favourite ever. The mountains of the Grey Corries are a complex network of ridges, almost as delightful as their neighbours, the Mamores. Picking a landrover track, we traversed the eastern slopes of Beinn a Bhric onto the north-eastern ridge over Tom an Eòin and down An Diollaird. As ever on these hills it wasn’t the hill itself that drew the eye, but the views around with the Grey Corries continuing to attract attention and when Loch Treig came into view we were entranced by the stunning views along the entire length of the nine kilometre loch. I wasn’t impressed with this walk, and didn’t feel it deserved the praise heaped on it by the old men in the hostel. I suppose therein could lie the problem. The men who recommended this walk saw it as a maximum gain in views for a minimum of effort under foot, but I like to have good rugged terrain under foot as well as good views.

At the bottom of the ridge the ground was horrendously boggy and we had a difficult time trying to make our way around all the bogs, but eventually reached the railway line where we had a much easier walk alongside the tracks. It’s a good thing the single track line is not very busy. After a look at the map while at the station we set off past the hostel and along the route that I’d taken the day before below Meall na Lice to Peter’s Rock where we stopped to have lunch. Continuing up the hillside across pathless grassy slopes, we climbed all the way up to the top of Carn Dearg, a Munro. I was only now beginning to realise that the hills in this area are drearily rounded and grassy and so don’t really appeal to me as I prefer my mountains to be more rugged. The mountains to the west, including the Grey Corries, are much more rugged with rock in abundance and are therefore much more appealing to me so I found myself often looking longingly in that direction. Those mountains are more challenging, more interesting, more appealing, and more mountainous.

Carn Dearg does have some appealing qualities. The summit has a fine cairn, (as has Leum Uilleim), a tall, solidly built structure, that are not simple piles of stones; someone has used a lot of skill and spent a lot of effort in constructing these magnificent monuments. The weather by now had improved considerably since we’d been at the top of Leum Uilleim with the clouds breaking and lifting to reveal a gorgeous sunny day with hardly any wind. The views in the clear air were stunning, especially towards Ben Alder and the other mountains east of Loch Ossian. But the best feature of Carn Dearg is the south ridge which was an absolute delight to walk down. I hate ascents, especially on this holiday where my energy levels seemed much lower than usual, but I adore prolonged descents where I can enjoy my surroundings with a minimum of effort. This was a fabulous ridge with lots of things to see, some craggy surfaces to play at scrambling on and pools to cool baking foreheads. I had been so lucky with the weather on this holiday.

At the end of the ridge we started to drop down the western slopes until we saw a cairn half way up the hillside a short distance to the north of us. This seemed too tempting to miss out, so I persuaded Justin that we ought to visit it, and we headed across the steep slopes of the ridge until we reached another finely built cairn, apparently in the middle of nowhere. After dropping down the steep grassy slopes to a track at the bottom, we could see that although the cairn is halfway up the hill it stands out against the horizon when seen from the track. At some time in the past this cairn must have played a significant role in the lives of the people who used to live in the area. Slowly we made our way along the muddy track all the way back to the hostel. The hills in this area may be uniformly rounded, but it is a very beautiful, tranquil area. Any walk in this area is good if the weather is this good.