Hills: Meall Onfhaidh and Aodann Chleireig
Date: Friday 2nd March 2012
Company: Just myself
Time: 5Hrs 45Mins
Dog friendly: Yes
I parked in the Fassfern car park this morning for an ascent of Meall Onfhaidh and Aodann Chleireig.
From the car park, I crossed the bridge over the An t-Suileag and set off along the Public Right of Way track to Glen Loy.
There were definite signs of Spring today – a woodpecker pecking away at a tree,
lots of birdsong and a considerable volume of frog spawn in almost every pool
.
Gleann Suileag track:
Frog spawn:
Frog:
I followed the track as far as the track junction -where another land rover track ascends to the bealach between Meall Onfhaidh and Meall a'Phubuill. However, before changing track I took a wee detour for a look inside Glensuileag bothy.
Meall Onfhaidh and Meall a'Phubuill:
Glensuileag bothy isn't an MBA bothy. It looks quite nice from the outside but is very basic inside. There are three separate rooms in the bothy – two with fireplaces. There are no raised sleeping platforms in any of the rooms.
Glensuileag bothy:
Inside Glensuileag bothy:
After visiting the bothy, I returned to the track junction and then ascended to the bealach between Meall Onfhaidh and Meall a'Phubuill.
Track to bealach between Meall Onfhaidh and Meall a'Phubuill:
Looking back to Glensuileag bothy and Gleann Suileag:
On reaching the bealach, I made my way towards the summit of Meall Onfhaidh. I was in too much of a hurry to start walking this morning – so much so that I forgot to put on my gaiters, The next photo shows how stupid this mistake was.
Ascending Meall Onfhaidh:
Was quite impressed with the ridge of Druim Fada during the ascent – it looks a nice hill.
Druim Fada:
Was very surprised at the lack of snow on Ben Nevis!
Ben Nevis (zoomed):
Ascending Meall Onfhaidh:
Loch Eil:
It didn't take too long to reach the summit. I visited the summit cairn and then the 681m summit marked on the map – both look about the same height.
Summit of Meall Onfhaidh:
Looking towards summit cairn from the other 681m top:
I found the descent of Meall Onfhaidh a bit steep and unpleasant – very wet, slippery grass.
Steep descent from Meall Onfhaidh:
Looking across to Aodann Chleireig:
On looking back to Meall Onfhaidh I could see that it was steep, but not as steep as its neighbour Gulvain.
Looking back at descent of Meall Onfhaidh:
Gaor Bheinn (Gulvain):
The ascent of Aodann Chleireig was quite straight-forward. There is a small crag about 100m below the summit but there is an easy way up it – no hands-on required.
Ascending Aodann Chleireig:
I visited the summit cairn and then also visited the other same-height contour ring.
Summit of Aodann Chleireig:
I opted to return via the Druim Beag ridge - this was a nice easy descent.
Looking towards Fort William and Loch Eil from Druim Beag ridge:
I picked-up a vehicle track during the descent which I followed back to the main track leading out to Fassfern.