| Date | 17 July 2025 |
| Route | Link to Route |
| Enjoyable | |
| Difficulty | |
| Conditions | Warm especially at low level, sunny at times, and very windy on ridge |
| Summits | ✔ (M) Carn Dearg ✔ (T) Carn Dearg SE Top ✔ (T) Carn Ban ✔ (T) Carn Ballach (SW Top) ✔ (M) Carn Sgulain ✔ (M) A' Chailleach |
Not really a replacement for the Schoolhouse ridge, but one of the rounds of Monadh Liath Munros is doable for us as a day trip. Left around 6am and we arrived and walking by 8:45am.
We headed over the bridge and followed the track until just before the next bridge and were greeted with a small herd of deer grazing among the cows. Turning before the bridge we followed the grass track along the park and at the far end joined the dirt track. After a couple of miles we crossed the Allt Fhionndrigh via a footbridge, then the path climbs up and round a small hill. Once round we started to get a nice cooling breeze, which eased the heat we had endured up to this point.
Following the at times wet track steadily upwards we made progress towards the base of the first Munro, however we missed the left fork and came to the end of the valley too high and had to head down off the track to meet the bottom of the path leading up to the Munro.
The ascent path at times was easy to lose, but further up there are larger rocks and a small marker cairn to aim for. Once on the bealach, the climb to the south to reach the cairn is just a short distance. Here we stopped for some lunch taking in the great views all around.
Ailidh isn't one for ticking off all the Tops, so I headed off myself to bag the SE Top, around a 20 minute detour. When I got back, two other walkers were at the cairn and turns out they were conducting a bird study of the surrounding area.
Heading back towards the bealach, we took the fork in the path to head up to the second, and much rockier top, Carn Ban. From this point onwards we tried where possible to follow the old fencepost, but the terrain was at times quick rocky, so not always possible. We headed over Carn Ballach (SW Top) and stopped twice to refuel on our way towards the second Munro.
The dip between Meall na Creughaich and Meall a'Bhotain was a little boggy as well as the final dip before the climb towards the Munro, today mostly dry but these could be a pain when wet. The second Munro Carn Sgulain according to Hillbagging is the first cairn, and not the one 150m further on.
Once back at the dip, we couldn't find the fork to take us towards the last Munro, so we picked out a large rock around the south of the headland and contoured around to it avoiding as much bog as we could, eventually we joined the correct path.
We were started to flag a little and found the push up to the last Munro, A' Chailleach a little tough. This Munro had the largest cairn and acted as a good wind break for us to recharge, unfortunately we gave another walker a scare as they came round the cairn from the South, turns out they were just completing A' Chailleach and trying to get back to Newtonmore in time for the bus.
The descent has a well trodden path and you are quickly down on the floor of the valley, however I kept having what felt like stones in my boot, unfortunately my insoles have worn a hole on the heel, but was only really an issue on descent.
At the bottom you have to ford the Allt a'Chaorainn, in spate maybe tricky and the alternative footbridge mentioned on Qalkhighlands we never saw on our return. Following the small track along the river, it doesn't take long before you join a more solid track that leads all the way back to the car park.
We got changed and had a hot chocolate before heading off, then found a really good chip shop in Kingussie, Joe's The Chippy On The Corner with the best chips I have had in years!
