May Weekend to Newtonmore

The four attending the weekend stayed at the Balavil Hotel and enjoyed 3 days of walking in dry and sunny weather ...

Cornel had an early start on Friday to get to the Grey Corries for a walk to Stob Choire Claurigh and Stob Coire an Laoigh and their seven Munro Tops. He started from Corriechoille, passing the Wee Minister on the way up and returned via the forest tracks to the north. Bob and Steven had a more leisurely drive up with a stop at Ballinluig on the way and an afternoon walk from Newtonmore to Loch Gynack and Creag Bheag.

I drove up in the afternoon stopping at the Wade Bridge near Dalwhinniefor a short walk. We all met up at the hotel and discussed the Saturday walking plans over dinner and a few drinks .. the decision was made to stay local and climb A'Chailleach, one of the local Munros.

On Saturday the four of us walked from the hotel to the usual start point, the car park in Glen Banchor, and followed the usual route to the summit which we reached in just over 3 hours. After a break we decided to extend the walk to include a second Munro, Carn Sgùlain, and continue to Am Bodach then descend and pick our way through the heather moorland to get to the track beside the Allt na Beinne to return to Newtonmore and the hotel.

GPS data : distance 21.0km, total time 7hrs 56mins, walking time 5hrs 54mins

On Sunday Bob, Steven and Cornel stopped near Drumochter on the way home to climb The Sow of Atholl. They parked on the verges of the cycle path near Dalnaspidal Lodge as all the spaces near the rail crossing had been taken. Once across the railway line and the first dam, they followed a new-looking Land Rover track along the Allt Coire Luidhearnaidh. Then, following an ATV track they made their way up the hill along a new line of grouse butts on the south-eastern slopes to about 650m, and then on to the summit. It was very windy, so they did not linger and made their way back down to the cars. Fortunately, they did not spot any of the cobras they were warned against on a sign near the lodge.

I had a longer day cycling down Glen Tromie (15km) then had a moorland walk following faint tracks and through deep heather to the flat tops of A'Chioch and Mullach Coire nan Dearcag. Once above 800m it was a good high level walk with good views all round. A new track from the bealach between the two hills made the return to the bike much easier walking .. and it was downhill as well.

GPS data : distance 12.3km, total time 4hrs 57mins, walking time 3hrs 33mins

We enjoyed another excellent walking weekend, and two Munros climbed in the one day .. it's been a while!

Willie Robison

May Weekday Walk on the 7 Lochs Trail

The May weekday walk was a trip along the 7 Lochs Trail from Drumpellier Country Park to Hoggafield Loch.

I met Bob and Diane at the Hogganfield Loch car park at 10am. Transferring to one car we made the 10 minute journey along the M8 to Drumpellier Country Park where we donned all our waterproof gear at the visitor centre before setting off on the trail.

It felt particularly exposed with wind and driving rain as we set off around Lochend Loch but once we were within the shelter of the trees the walking was quite pleasant.

The initial section of the walk after we crossed the M73 and headed towards Bishop Loch was marred by the amount of litter in the countryside but the paths were clearly way-marked. The trail skirts the edge of housing estates at a couple of points but each of the lochs seemed to be full of bird life and there were frequent information boards explaining both the wildlife and local history.

Once out of the trees and walking around Hogganfield Loch we were again exposed to the wind and rain. Including a short detour north to take in Frankland Loch, the walk came to 12.5km and took us just short of three hours.

After arriving back at Hogganfield Loch, we made the short car journey back to Drumpellier for coffee and cakes at the visitor centre, where we met Allan who was also there for coffee with friends.

James Anderson