Meall na Teanga and Sron a' Choire Ghairbh


The way points on this map are taken from my GPS Spot tracker. You can make the map bigger or alter its appearance by clicking on the controls.

It's early June 2011 and I've caught the morning Citylink Fort William to Inverness bus to Laggan Locks. The driver tells me that, for my return journey, I should stand on the other side of the road to show the driver of the bus to Fort William I want him to stop and the bus will pull into the small layby.

So I do just that at the end of the walk and, although the driver does stop for me, I get a telling off for standing on a dangerous bend. Apparently, he wanted me to stand in the shelter facing Inverness and wave at him so he can stop safely. I wondered what happens if a lorry blocks his view of me but decided not to argue. 

Given that Laggan Locks is a timing point surely there needs to be a better system, like a bus stop sign on the other side of the road?

Anyway, this is the start of the walk....

......along the lane down to the locks.

Whilst crossing the lock gates a yacht arrives from Loch Lochy.

The waters of the loch are still and reflect Meall nan Dearcag.

Initially, the way forward is along the lane to Kilfinnan.

....and then onto the forest road (Great Glen Way) until .....

.....reaching this signpost.

There are now a couple of kilometres through the South Laggan Forest....

.....until a rather inconspicuous sign points the way uphill.

There's a good track which climbs up Cam Bhealach....

......with incresaingly good views backwards.

The path climbs steadily above the Allt Glas Dhoire stream....

.....until eventually the col between Meall na Teanga and Sron a' Choire Ghairbh comes into view.

It's a real pass.....

....with a view westwards of wild country into the valleys that eventually drain into Loch Arkaig.

I decided to climb Meall na Teanga first as it was going to be my 100th Munro and at least I can pronounce the name!! After crossing the boggy watershed between the stream that feeds Loch Lochy and the one that goes into Loch Arkaig....

...the path contours around the slopes of Meall Dubh, with Meall na Teanga visible beyond.

Looking backwards the superb zigzag path up Sron a' Choire Ghairbe is obvious. I was really looking forward to climbing that path.

The path continues across the col between Meall Dubh and Meall na Teanga before heading upwards.....

.....to reach the main ridge. To get to the summit had taken me about three and a half  hours of easy walking. However, I wasn't feeling my best after a very strenuous twelve hour day in the grey Corries and not having had a sufficiently good evening meal or breakfast. 

The clouds kept descending and there were no really clearly views worth photographing. A couple who arrived at the summit with me kindly took my photo on my 100th Munro. Then it was off back down to the col before tackling Sron a' Choire Ghairbh, with renewed enthusiasm for hill-walking.

Climbing the gently graded stalkers path is easy... 

....but it soon disappears once the grassy ridge of Sron a' Choire Ghairbh appears. I made sure to mark the end of the well defined path on my GPS in case the cloud base came down.

Once on the ridge a clear path emerges....

...and heads to the summit cairn of Sron a' Choire Ghairbh. loch Ness can be seen in the top left hand corner. the walk from Meall na Teanga had taken about one and a half hours.


Back on the path.....

...to the col and down the valley to the forest trail and Laggan Locks took another two and a half hours. I was back in time for the 17:40 bus with another at 18:05. What a pity the bus stop situation is so unclear.