THE STORY
Introduction to Glen Lyon
Driving there, via the Fortingall Yew
The road up Glen Lyon
Starting the walk - an icy climb
An easy ridge to the top
And a relaxing descent
Panoramic views
Go to another Glen Lyon story - Carn Gorm and Carn Mairg >
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Introduction to Glen Lyon
Many of Scotland's finest hiking routes are hidden away in the depths of the highlands, far from towns and villages and roads, so that walkers have to hike or cycle for miles along tracks before they can even start the climb. In other places, narrow roads give access into the remote glens, making it easy to get onto the mountain trails.
Glen Lyon cuts deep into the heart of the Scottish Highlands from Fortingall, near Aberfeldy and Kenmore, and it has just such a road. Running parallel to Loch Tay, the narrow winding road gives access to some excellent but relatively easy hiking routes up a number of munros. Two of these lie on either side of Loch an Daimh, one of two reservoirs near the western end of the Glen. The other, just to the south, is Loch Lyon.
(A story of a circuit of the 4 munros above Invervar in Glen Lyon - Carn Gorm, Carn Mairg and two others thrown in for good measure - is also on the site).
The two munros, Stuchd an Lochain and Meall Buidhe, are often climbed together, either both up and down from the reservoir, or (more rarely) in the 20 km (13 mile) hike around Loch an Daimh. In the shorter winter days, with more difficult conditions underfoot, either can provide a comfortable shorter walk.
This is what the Easywalking Group had decided on. They were staying for the weekend at the Culdees Bunkhouse at Fearnan, beside Loch Tay. I was just able to join them for the Saturday, and after all, it was in the home territory of Tayside so felt reasonably close, even though it was a two-hour drive from Dundee!
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Driving there, via the Fortingall Yew
After a straightforward run to Perth, up the A9 to Ballinluig, then along the glen to Aberfeldy, it was annoying to turn across the River Tay towards Weem and Fortingall only to find the road for roadworks closed near Castle Menzies. I had to retrace my route and drive along via Kenmore - not much further, and there was a delightful view of the snowy top of Ben Lawers glinting in the sunshine, among clouds above Loch Tay.
There was time to call into Fortingall as well, to have a quick look at the ancient yew tree. It's reputed to be at least 4000 years old, and once had an enormous girth until souvenir hunters and children setting fires destroyed the central trunk. Only remnants remain, but they continue to grow, supported by stonework and wooden props.
Fortingall is also well worth a visit to see the delightful white and cream-painted buildings, some with thatched roofs.
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The road up Glen Lyon
However, I didn't have time to hang around, and set off again, back into Glen Lyon. There's a glimpse of the higher mountains ahead before the road enters a narrower section of the glen: a gorge really. You have to take care on the road, as it's narrow and winding, with blind summits just before a bend. And with the temperature indicator around 2 degress it's hard to tell if there are patches of black ice. We hadn't had rain for some time though, so it seemed to be fairly safe.
The road straightens out around Invervar, where I spotted the parking spot and access gate for the climb up the 4 munros including Carn Gorm which I had climbed a couple of years earlier. After Bridge of Balgie the road becomes more difficult again, after the turn off to the left for the road to Loch Tay via the Ben Lawers Visitor Centre. Just after that there's a fancy gateway for the drive to Meggernie Castle. Then it really is a narrow road, rising and falling as it curves round the hillside, and not much space between you and the slope down to the left.
You have to look out for the turning to the right, up to Loch an Daimh. I had the strange sight of a red deer stag, standing just to the right of the road, watching me as I negotiated the turn. A few minutes later I was up at the dam, choosing a space to park beside one of the tracks leading off it.
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Starting the walk - an icy climb
I had just made it for 10.00 a.m., but there was only one other (empty) car, and no sign of the Easywalkers. They came along in three cars, ten of them, and the passengers commented on how they felt after a late night, coming along the winding road! One of the group hadn't arrived, although he had definitely set out - where was he? Everyone was kitted out and ready to go, so we set off around 10.40, over the bridge and gate in front of the dam and up the tarmac road to the top of the dam. Then we took the unsurfaced roadway along the left side of the loch.
It was mild, around 5 degrees, without much wind, but we soon encountered the first patch of serious ice right at the start of the trail up the hillside. There's a small cairn of white stones on the lochside track to mark it, but you could easily walk past if you're not looking out for it.
Some slid around on the ice, others avoided it, and that's how we dealt with much of the steep climb up the grassy slope. There was an easy stretch first of all, cutting across the hillside, then it begain to climb straight up. It would have been fine without the ice, if a bit slippery on muddy ground, but the ice made it very tricky in places. We stopped for a breather to let everyone catch up, then pushed on again. Despite the effort, Derek seemed able to keep talking as others struggled for breath!
Someone spotted the car of the missing walker arriving at the dam (he won't be named here to avoid further embarrassment). We weren't going too quickly, and he made up the half hour deficit when we were on the ridge leading to the top. He had missed the turn after Bridge of Balgie and ended up at the other dam to the south!
Chatting with Richard, I realised that there were four contributors to Walking Stories in the party, including myself and Richard (Johnson). Kev (visiting from Norfolk) had contributed a story about a trek in Peru, and Bill Cook had provided photos and stories for several of his overseas trips.
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An easy ridge to the top
Once we reached the grassy ridge, after about 400m of ascent, it became genuinely easy walking. The clouds which had closed in as I drove up Glen Lyon began to break up, with good views across Loch an Daimh, and we could see the ridge curving round ahead beyond the first top of Coire Ban. There was a short downhill section as we turned south from here, and an easy climb up to Sron Chona Choirean. Then the trail turned right (west) towards the summit of Stuchd an Lochain.
Down to the right, we had great views of Lochan nan Cat, a little lochan tucked in below the main peak, but the summit was still hidden in cloud.
Then as we walked along the wide grassy ridge towards it, the remaining clouds just seemed to disappear, and we could see the summit clearly in the sunshine. Distant peaks appeared away to the left of it, providing a magnificent view (see panorama below).
Climbing the final stretch, we were well spread out, just taking it easy and enjoying being out there. Strangely for early February, there was no snow cover, but just a few patches in sheltered spots among the rocks. Towards the top we found some of these, and Elie encouraged Bill and Derek to join her in lying down, waving their arms and making angel patterns on the snow. It kind of worked!
There were already people sitting at the top enjoying their lunch, and soon we were all up there in the sunshine. All very relaxing - it even felt slightly warm, sitting out of the wind. It had taken us two and a half hours.
A couple of other walkers came up, but we had only seen a handful all morning. It's not often you can sit on a Scottish munro in February and enjoy your lunch without your fingers feeling as though they are about to drop off from the cold. We made the most of it, then the cloud started to drift over us again, and it became a little chilly. We set off down, knowing we had plenty of time as we weren't intending to try and do Meall Buidhe as well. We could have done it if we'd started out earlier, and moved faster, but why hurry? There was a good reason to come back in the summer, and try to do the full circuit.
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And a relaxing descent
On the way down we broke up into a long procession, some stopping to enjoy the view. I was at the back with Derek, Elie and Liam, and we paused on the saddle between Sron Chona Choirein and Creag an Fheadain to look down along Glen Lyon. The summits of the Tarmachans were clear, but the top of Ben Lawers, at almost 4000 ft, was stubbornly hanging on to a scrap of cloud. It was very peaceful, and I felt very small, but very fortunate to be up there.
Then we strolled down the broad ridge, and Derek fortunately spotted the track turning off to the left - apparently there was a small cairn, but I would have missed it. You could easily end up descending way down into the glen, rather than back at the dam. Two others had gone further on, and turned left after we gave them a shout.
We had to take care on the way down - not the usual dash down a grassy slope - as the ice was still there. We avoided the worst off it by keeping to the right of the main track, although I had a painful fall on my backside. Derek had a go at sliding down some of the steep grassy slope on his backside, to take the weight off his knees.
We caught up with Bill and Richard, and soon reached the lochside track again. Back at the cars, after the leisurely descent, everyone was suddenly in a hurry, getting changed and ready to drive to the pub! An hour later we were sitting in the warmth of the Ben Lawers Hotel overlooking Loch Tay, after a drive past the Visitor Centre. All except Liam, who had fallen asleep in his car, in the car park! And we'd been joined by Ray, who had come up from the south of England for the weekend, along with Kev, and had enjoyed a relaxing day whilst we plodded to the top of the mountain.
They headed off to the bunkhouse nearby for another walk the following day, whilst I drove back to Dundee to look through the photos and write up the story!
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