207-209. Creag Meagaidh (30) (P600 40), Stob Poite Coire Ardair (76), Carn Liath (127). 04/01/2020

A damp and misty day in Scotland, but with weather set to deteriorate significantly, we opted for our longest walk today. This meant an early start from Edinburgh to begin walking at 9am.

The walk up into the corrie was along a well made path all the way to the lochan below a notch in the ridge called The Window. It included one detour across the heather, but that was entirely our own fault, having misread a perfectly clear signpost. On climbing the steeper path to The Window, we saw a small amount of snow, but there was still very little and certainly not enough to please the ice climbers that frequent this corrie. We were able to imagine the popularity of the north-facing gullies which line the slopes here. 

Without this notch in the ridge, access would have been difficult, but there were no problems at all. Creag Meagaidh is a big plateau and we didn't necessarily find the most efficient route to the summit in the mist, but we got there eventually over the occasionally snow-covered ground.

The wind appeared to be less than forecast, but it was still a relief to turn our backs to it as we made our way to the more ridgy section of the walk on the other side of The Window. Getting to the summit of Stob Poite Coire Ardair took little over half an hour, making a very quick second munro and the walk on from there was more interesting and no doubt spectacular in better visibility.

We passed a few walkers going into the wind and were glad of our choice of direction, before making it to the summit of Carn Liath. By this time we were a little cold and damp, which made the descent a bit more tiresome, but it was a fairly swift one to the end of the south spur and then down across heather and to a path through the birch trees (which became a stream). We rejoined the good path and were back to the car in 6h30.

Not much visibility on the ascent up to The Window

The summit of SPCA in the mist

The view of CM with a little more clarity