Walking Highland Perthshire. Ronald Turnbull

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      Beinn nan Imirean, to Creag Mhor

      By a gatepost 1km from the end of the tarred road a strange boulder shows black starburst crystals that I take to be graphitic schist (NN456357). Later on the route the track alongside the Lubchurran Burn offers fine displays of garnets, up to the size of peas. Spot them in clean rocks turned over by track construction. The red-brown crystals are indicators of the high temperatures and pressures sustained by this metamorphic stone.

      A track turns off left for the ford to Lubchurran, and will be the return route: for now, keep ahead. Pass below Badour and then below a mountaineering club hut, Badvaim (or Batavaime). At the head of Glen Lochay the track crosses two streams, and bends to the south.

      As the track starts to climb towards Lochan Chailein, look out for a smaller grassy track forking down left. It fords the stream then zigzags up towards Meall Glas. Waterfalls are to right of the track. It ends in a shallow grassy bowl at 550m altitude. Turn south, crossing various feeder streams of the waterfalls, onto the north ridge of Beinn nan Imirean. Go up the pathless grassy ridge to the summit cairn.

      Turn down east at first, keeping to right of a cairn apparently placed to guide you over the one small cliff hereabouts. Go down grassy slopes, to pass a conspicuous quartz boulder. The col below is peat-hagged on the right (southeast) side, but at its highest point a short peaty crossing leads to a series of firm hummocks. Go straight up Meall Glas to a shoulder to right of the summit, then turn up northwest to the top. The summit cairn is mostly made of quartz from a nearby vein.

      Head east along the broad summit ridge, with a small path. The path skirts to left of the 908m top to the trig point on Beinn Cheathaich. Head north, on a pleasantly angled grassy ridge ideal for descent. At 680m look out for a track on the right – its start is just beyond a bare peat patch, itself just to right of the ill-defined crest line. The track contours right, southeast, across a stream, then turns downhill to left of the main Lubchurran Burn.

      The track passes a small water intake, then passes to left of Lubchurran house. The river crossing beyond is a shallow ford – a former footbridge downstream no longer exists. Turn right on the track beyond, back to the car park.

      Meall Garbh summit ridge (Route 12)

      ROUTE 12

      The Tarmachans

Start/finish	National Trust car park (former visitor centre) on high road below Lochan na Lairige NN607378
Distance	14.5km/9 miles
Ascent	850m/2800ft
Approx time	5½hr
Max altitude	Meall nan Tarmachan 1044m
Terrain	Well-built ascent path, clear ridge path with one rocky descent, small descent path and grassy track

      The multitude of small pointy summits along the ridge gives the Tarmachans a feel of miniature mountaineering. None of the tops apart from Meall nan Tarmachan itself is a Munro. Accordingly, this ridge is ‘purely for pleasure’. The path weaves among the rocky knolls, and the only moment of distress may be the descent from Meall Garbh. The bare rock here isn’t a natural scramble: it’s been exposed by human footfalls over the years. It’s in a rather exposed position, and uncomfortable or worse when wet or under snow.

      Note that limited verge parking is also possible where the contouring track encountered (see end of first paragraph below) meets the Lairig road (NN604384). Follow the track through a gate and then for 300 metres to where the path crosses.

      The pay and display car park at the 430m contour is spacious, with signboards about natural history. Start at the bottom corner of the car park, following a rough track briefly, then turning up to the right on a well-built path. After 800 metres the path crosses a contouring track.

      Continue up the well-built path, into a fenced regeneration enclosure, to meet Meall nan Tarmachan’s south ridge at about the 700m level. The wide path heads up the ridge, which is a sequence of grassy lumps to a top at 923m. The path descends over a ladder stile to cross a col, then rises in very steep stone steps. As the angle eases a bit, the path slants up a terrace shelf on the east side of the hill, passing just below the summit, to join the north ridge. Turn back up left 50 metres to the small cairn of Meall nan Tarmachan.

      The Tarmachans from Killin

      The ridge path heads south, then bends southwest along the knolly ridgeline. That ridgeline is decorated with a couple of pools down on the right, and decorated still more by the pointy summit ahead – Meall Garbh. The little peak is reached by the well-defined path zigzagging up. From Meall Garbh the gently angled but well-formed south ridge carries a little path clearly used as a descent off the ridge – avoiding both the charming ridgelet and the eroded rocky step ahead.

      Behind СКАЧАТЬ