We tried to get an early start but it was 9.30 by the time we parked in a car park on the A87 at a place named Lundie. Why it has a name I don't know as there doesn't seem to be anything there. The book says follow the military road and I expected something like the road on the West Highland Way across Rannoch Moor. Not so, this was just a muddy path with a few stones. The book also says leave at path going north but it is more like a fork in the road and you take the right path. On these hills you are effectively on a path the whole day and on the way up it is quite a good one. It slowly takes you up with little effort and zigzags at steeper parts and crags so it is always easy. On the way we were passed by a guy on his own and near the top by a group of older people including a plump but energetic lady. The book says that the cairn may be difficult to find in mist though there is a path that goes almost all the way to it. Probably more difficult in snow and mist. The book also says the cairn is 50 metres away from the "precipitous north face". Seemed to us that the cairn was right on the cliff edge. I don't really recall seeing any other cairn, nor did the other walkers we saw there. One false step beyond the cairn and you are a goner. A funny old munro this one - We thought the peak of Sgurr nan Conbhairean was what we were aiming for and it was a pleasant surprise to find that this bump counts as a munro. Just a juice break here as it was windy and cold. The weather hasn't been too bad though we did have some hail on the way up and were in full gear.
Looking down at Carn Ghlusaid as you climb to this peak makes it look even less like a munro. It really does just look like a plateau top on the way to this hill. In the clear weather there is not the slightest problem seeing where to go and walking up to the top. The top is narrow with a strange elongated cairn which appears to have a little room (like a toilet) in it. Here we met up again with the three (one clothed in bright yellow gear and mercilessly ribbed by his companions) and the lone walker. Guinness and sandwiches - Graeme had nothing. The walk to Sail Chaorainn looked very simple and straightforward - only half an hour's walk says the book.
The walk to this hill is quite easy but slightly more awkward than it would appear from the peak of Sgurr nan Conbhairean. It's not quite as flat as seemed from there and there is a little sting in the tail as just when you think you are about to climb to the summit there is a sudden further dip. Not terrible but unexpected. Nor was I helped by the pain in my knee which seems worse today. Graeme again way ahead and I met the threesome on their way back from the summit. The guy in yellow told me there were two summits but that the first was the munro. He had a GPS gadget and was chuffed it had shown 1002m at the top, the OS reading. The other top apparently is 1001m. This didn't prevent a full scale discussion on the top with Graeme, the lone guy and another couple as to which was the right summit. The GPS, OS map and the Munro Book plan all confirm the first summit, so that was that. Just as well as the second summit looked more difficult to reach. The lone guy teamed up with us for a while
joining me on the downward slopes and Graeme on the climbs. Strangely enough he lives in East Peckam, only a stone's throw from Maidstone and was visiting his parents who now live in Glen Carron. The same route back as far as the final climb back to Sgurr nan Conbhairean where a path leads off and around the mountain leading onto the south ridge of Drochaid an Tuill Easaich. The book gives the impression it is a gentle walk down the ridge but in fact you find yourself coming towards its end and you are still 700m high. Then there is an awful steep grassy drop. Admittedly there is a path which helps but it is quite muddy and it is still a horrible descent. From here the route back to the car is by the military road but as we were so close to the main road I preferred to walk on tarmac rather than mud and stones. Graeme followed. On the road we were passed and hooted by the couple we had met on the top and at the car park got a wave and hoot from the lone guy on his way back to Glen Carron. A quick change of clothes (one of life's mysteries is that whenever I decide to change clothes outside or in the car a woman drives up and parks beside me - it never fails)
