Saturday 16 May 2026 - Cnap Cruinn

Paul and Jeanette left early to do a parkrun at Oban before going home. That left just five of us to enjoy Sue's scrambled egg and smoked salmon breakfast. 

Then Tom, Julie and Roger set off for home. Sue and I said goodbye to the excellent house at Taigh Mor, then we headed to Fersit, just beyond Roybridge.

Sue nipped up the two Easain Munros whilst I drove back towards Inverlair, from where a track leads to the foot of Cnap Cruinn.

After a gentle ascent through woodland, serenaded by cuckoos and woodpeckers, Cnap Cruinn appeared as a brown lump on my horizon.

Other, higher, mountains were poking through the gaps.

Just beyond the last plantation, after an easy 5 km walk, I left the track and started a steep slog up to the broad summit. It was squishy underfoot but my Keen Targhee III trail shoes proved a match for that. My pace dropped from 4 kph to just 1 kph.

The 742 metre summit is marked by a small cairn, next to a comfortable and nicely sheltered rock seat on which I enjoyed my lunch. Meanwhile, Sue was enjoying her own lunch on her second summit - in the centre of the next picture.

Several pictures were taken before I left to descend via an easier gradient.

Wood anemone flowers accompanied me all the way down.

 

Inverlair is a small hamlet with nice houses and bullfinches in residence.

I was soon back at the car and chatting to a couple of chaps in the Fersit car park, to which Sue soon returned.

There was noone else on Cnap Cruinn today, nor any sign of a path to the summit, whereas Sue had paths all the way and encountered twenty or so people.

Here's my route - 15.3 km with 645 metres ascent, taking over 5 hours.

Then we adjourned to Craiglea Cottage, on the outskirts of Fort William, our home for the next few days.

Sunday 26 April 2026 - Cat Law

13 of us set off together from Persie House at 9:30 for the best part of an hour's drive to Glen Uig (200m) and the relatively easy climb up Cat Law (671m).

I set off a bit before the rest. Here is my view back down the hill to Glen Uig.

Red deer were seen on the horizon as we ascended.

The summit cairn is a little away from the trig point.

Most people visited the true summit of Cat Law, including the Ruby Anniversary pair, Keith and Carol.

We enjoyed coffee and cake on the summit. 

After an overcast morning the skies cleared and suntan cream was required. 

Here's the view ahead - over Cormaud and Tarapetmile to Corwharm.

Lunch was taken on Corwharm.

After that we took an easy path to Tarapetmile, then a heathery descent led to the col between Glen Uig and Glen Quharity.

I took one look at the climb ahead and decided to return to the car via Glen Uig.

Leaving the others to toil up to Corwharm and along the broad summit ridge, I chose the scenic route down Glen Uig.

Whilst no other walkers were seen today, the Glen was quite noisy, with skylarks, pheasants, partridge, grouse, crows, wagtails, song thrushes and more competing for airspace in the Glen, where an osprey may have been responsible for the high level of mortalities. Butterflies (mainly Red Admirals) and lizards were also active today.

Soon after passing a deer stalkers' bridge, I missed a couple of tricks. First, when chatting to folk who were clearly enjoying the antics of their pet lamb: I should have first taken a picture and then pointed out that "my wife on the ridge has our flask". Then a few minutes later a resident in her garden started chatting about Corbetts, Cat Law and more. There must have been a kettle in the house, so I really should have pointed out that "my wife on the ridge has our flask." I should have had Conrad with me.

Never mind  at least I found a picture for AlanR.

I was back at the cars after my 5 hour walk that covered 14km with 580 metres ascent, the route pictured below. Then I lazed first in the sunshine, and when I got too hot, in the shade, for an hour during which the others had  covered an extra 3km and 250 metres ascent on their ridge route.

Tuesday 20 May 2025 - Meall Buidhe

I dropped Sue off near Crianlarich so that she could nip up a couple more Munro summits, Ben More and Stob Binnein, bringing her total to eight over the last few days. She has just one easy summit left to go up in this area.

I've been up these Crianlarich hills a few times (albeit not recently), and I'm rather slow these days, so I opted to drive on to the car park at the head of Glen Ogle, from where Meall Buidhe offered a nice little excursion.

There was lots of Broom beside the nicely graded forest track.

Before long, the track emerged from the trees on yet another lovely sunny day.

There were good views back to Ben More and its slightly less lofty neighbours.

The track ended after an hour, at a communications aerial, where I enjoyed my elevenses before slogging my way up the remaining 130 metres or so. The lack of recent rain gave me the bonus of a dry walk over what in more normal times would be a very boggy trudge.

Here I am at the 719 metre summit.

More views towards Ben More, and the Ben Lawers summits. 

Someone has built a comfy seat near the summit, overlooking Lochearnhead and the conspicuous summits of Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'Chroin. A great spot at which to enjoy a leisurely lunch.

After that it was a fairly easy stroll across to the slightly lower summit of Beinn Leabhainn, from where there were similar views plus a good look down Loch Tay.

I then took a direct line to reach the aerial, where I finished my lunch before strolling back down the forest track to the car park.

Wood Sorrel was still in flower here.

As was Cuckoo Flower.

Here's my route. Just 8.8km, with 450 metres ascent, taking 3.5 hours.

Then it was back towards Crianlarich to pick up Sue and return to Tarbet by mid afternoon, leaving plenty of time for me to compose this diary entry and for Sue to wash her sweat off in Loch Lomond.

Friday 16 May 2025 - Fiarach

A drive to Glen Lochy was needed to drop Sue off so that she could climb Ben Lui and Beinn a' Chleibh - two Munro summits that had previously defeated her due to poor weather. There would be no such excuse today.

I drove back to Dalrigh and set off up a small hill, Fiarach, via an old road at the back of the large car park. I soon crossed a bridge over the River Fillan, either side of which provided the views in these first two photos.

After the bridge over the river, a winding path took me in a further kilometre to a bridge over the railway line to Oban. A goods train was trundling in the distance across the valley along the Fort William line.

After a further 2km, with little height gain, the wide track arrived at a gateway into a conifer forest. I turned sharp left here, after enjoying elevenses in the shade of the forest, with a cuckoo in attendance. 

It was a steep ascent in the tracks of a suicidal ATV. It's steeper than it looks; I've come from the edge of the wood at the far left in the next picture.

Eventually a plateau was reached, inhabited by a puddle that turned out not to be Lochan Fiarach. 

A right turn beside the exhausted fence posts and rusty wires brought me up to said lochan, and splendid views to the Crianlarich hills.

The 652 metre summit of Fiarach is at the edge of a precipice, referred to in the SMC guidebook as a dolerite 'wall'. Splendid views all round.

After a leisurely lunch below the summit I returned to Dalrigh by the same route. After yesterday's faux pas I was careful not to head down beside the wrong line of fence posts, but I was still pleased to pass the unmistakable Lochan Fiarach. 

The rendezvous with Sue worked out fine. She got down from her two summits and a paddle just as I returned to the Glen Lochy car park at about 3pm.

Here's my route - 10.5km with 470 metres ascent, taking 3.5 hours.

Plenty of time later for Sue to get shouted at in Loch Lomond as she swam in front of a boat heading to the pier...