253. Maoile Lunndaidh (128). 09/04/2023

Still keen to make use of mountain bikes, this hill allowed for a bike for the majority of the distance. The ascent and headwind on the bike still made it hard going, but after a couple of hours I was parking up by the lodge and beginning the stiff climb straight up the shoulder of Carn nam Fiaclan. There was no path, I just had to steadily make progress. At about 800m, the slope relented and despite the strong wind, things became much easier. After climbing along the lip of the corrie, the hill opened out into something close to a plateau and I could enjoy the wind mostly behind me towards the cairn I could see from a kilometer away.

On the descent from the top, a path was found following a gorge and then a stream before I cut across the not-too-wet bog to the lodge. Before getting on the bike, I investigated the bothy, which was definitely more on the "emergency shelter" end of the scale, but it did possess an electric heater!

After that, I whizzed back down the glen with the wind behind me, more than an hour faster then on the way out.

3h30 walking, 2h30 cycling

A patch of snow on the approach to the summit plateau

Looking back across the plateau to the nearby munros of Sgurr Choinnich and Sgurr a'Chaorachain

At the top, with the likes of Lurg Mhor in the background

The rudimentary bothy, in spectacular surroundings

Some nice horses encountered on the cycle

 

251, 252. Bidean a'Choire Sheasgaich (224), Lurg Mhor (162). 08/04/2023

Some glorious April weather in the highlands and although our drive included a 2h diversion following closure of the A82, we made it to Kishorn complete with mountain bikes, ready to attack these remote munros.

With bikes, we approached from Attadale in the south, which I think was a good move, but the 24km of cycling (including plenty of ascent) did sap energy from the legs.

From the highpoint of the cycle in, we had a great view of our targets in the distance and we then enjoyed a fast bumpy descent to Glendronach lodge. We left the bikes a little further on and were soon attempting (and failing) to find a supposed path up to the ridge. This ended up being quite a slog, but things improved once we reached the crest. The final ascent was steeper and rocky, but not too exposed and by this point there was a bit of a path. Views abounded and we could feel the remoteness of this peak, with no human habitation in sight in any direction.

The descent to the bealach was straightforward where I left Hilde to snooze whilst I nipped up Lurg Mhor. The descent from the bealach was quite forgiving and we enjoyed our way down to the loch, from where it was a flat track back to the bikes and the long cycle out.

In all 4h30 walking, 8h45 total

A view of the peaks from the pass during the cycle in

A view of the summit after reaching the crest of the ridge

Lurg Mhor from Bidean a'Choire Sheasgaich

The summit of Lurg Mhor

Bidean a'Choire Sheasgaich, with the hills of Torridon in the background