Meall na Meoig (Beinn Pharlagain)
To climb Beinn Pharlagain without a car requires careful planning. The access point is Rannoch station which is served by the Caledonian Sleeper and three trains each way between Glasgow and Fort William. I've always dismissed the sleeper as an option because of the difficulty of booking tickets for it from Glasgow.
For my walk in June 2024 I decided to base myself in Fort William and catch the morning train south. However, there isn't enough time to do the walk from the station to the summit and get back in time for the afternoon train back to Fort William.
My plan was to get the early evening train south from Rannoch to Bridge of Orchy and have a meal at the hotel there before returning on the evening train to Fort William.
The times were:
Fort William dep 07:44
Rannoch arr. 08:42
Rannoch southbound to Bridge of Orchy dep 18:38 arriving 18.57
Bridge of Orchy to Fort William dep 20.45
Fort William arrive 22:09
If you use a cycle for the section between the station and the start of the hill walk it would be possible to get the earlier train.
Rannoch northbound to Fort William dep 15:12
The train from Fort William with the new cycle coach is at Rannoch.
Welcome to Perth and Kinross. Sadly, the hotel here doesn't seem to cater for visitors who are not staying whilst the cafe on the station doesn't open every day and has relatively short opening hours so bring your own food!
The walk starts along the road towards Kinloch Rannoch and runs along the shores of Loch Eigheach.
Beinn Pharlagain can be seen to the north although the summit at Meall na Meoig isn't visible until much later in the walk.
Schiehallion can be seen through the haze with Loch Eigheach in the foreground.
After about half an hour on the road the estate road heads northwards heading for Corrour.
It's a good smooth track so progress can be rapid.
Over to the west is the viaduct on the railway line and beyond the slopes leading to the Graham Stob na Cruaiche.
The track heads north with Beinn Pharlagain on the right.
A deviation has been built to avoid a ford, presumably needed during construction of the small hydro electric power station.
The track to Corrour crosses the bridge over the Allt Eigheach but.....
....the way to the hill follows a faint all terrain vehicle path.
This crosses the line of a derelict fence....
....and gradually rises with a view of the small Lochan Sron Smeur over to the east.
The track eventually peters out as I climb up the slopes of Leacann nan Giomagh on the end of the ridge leading to Beinn Pharlagain.
Looking back across the wide open spaces of Rannoch Moor towards the Blackwater Reservoir with Glen Coe hills and the pointed summit of the Pap of Glencoe in the centre right.
Looking east Loch Rannoch and the pyramid like Schiehallion can be seen.
It's now a case of plodding uphill....
...over a succession of minor summits...
.....with occasional sections of quite clear paths.
I decide not to climb up onto the main ridge but head...
....diagonally up the hillside.
Just before one of the subsidiary summits of Beinn Pharlagain there is a tiny lochan surrounded by rocky outcrops.
Ahead is the 807m summit of Beinn Pharlagain but the highest point isn't there but about a kilometre further north.
From the 807m summit there's a slight drop down to a coll where there are several pools at this watershed between Coire na Bain Lic to the north and Coire nan Goimach to the south.
Rather than climbing up Garbh Mheall Mor on the right I head straight for the ridge between it and my objective of Meall na Meoig
The view on the ridge looking back over the peat hags towards Garbh Mheall Mor.
There's just a short distance through stones to the summit....
...where the cairn is on a rocky outcrop.
The summit cairn at 868m looking North East with Loch Ericht in the centre. It had taken me about four and a quarter hours from the station, about an hour longer than I had expected but I had taken several breaks for drinks and snacks.
The summit of the hill is a jumble of stones so after having a late lunch I wandered around soaking in the views.
Looking north with the Munros Sgor Gaibhre in the centre and Ben Alder on the right.
Lochan Meoigach lies at about 640m with Loch Ericht to left and Loch Rannoch to the right
On the way back down the hill I noticed this erratic boulder perched on top of a small rock. Presumably it's been there since the last ice age?
The walk had one last surprise for me. Walking along the road a young deer was wandering along towards the station and seemed quite unconcerned even when I took photos. I followed it for about half a mile....
...before some more arrived and wandered around the station car park.
I arrived at the station with about three quarters of an hour before my train. Fortunately the midges weren't too active!
Whilst waiting for my train to Bridge of Orchy the Blythe to Fort William alumina train arrived bringing alumina to the smelter at Fort William.