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OUTDOORS
Creag Liath
Location: Inverness-shire Map: OS Landranger 35 Distance: 6 miles (10km) Time: 3-4 hours Grade: Moderate hill walk THE Munro guidebooks tend to give the Monadhliath hills a bad press, suggesting they are tedious and “rounded puddings”. I, however, like the Monadhliath. The area’s Munros may lack the structural dimensions of a Buachaille Etive Mor or an An Teallach but in a country where much of our mountain architecture makes hillwalkers drool, the rolling plateau of the Monadhliath offers a subtler attraction, a more visceral allure that has much to do space, open skies, an abundance of wildlife and a comparative lack of man’s contrivance.
The main thrust of these hills extends east from the Corrieyairack Pass along the north side of the River Spey. They are high, rounded hills, broken by steep-sided glens, and form the watershed between the Spey and the headwaters of the Tarff, Findhorn and Dulnain rivers. There is a spaciousness here that allows you to walk for miles above the 2000ft contour and rarely see another soul.
Golden eagle and peregrine falcon hunt here, and you have a better chance of seeing the Arctic dotterel than in the Cairngorms. Ptarmigan are common and you’ll trip over more mountain hares on the slopes of A’ Chailleach than you could ever imagine. The wide undulating plateau of the range’s summit is made up of peat and fringe-moss on loose, stony debris, a cover which holds snow well, making it a playground for ski tourers.
I set off from Glen Banchor for a wee hill I’ve become very fond of. Creag Liath isn’t a Munro, or even a Corbett – it’s a Graham, one of the Scottish hills between 2000 and 2500ft. Creag Liath’s official height is 743m (2315ft) and it rises almost majestically above Gleann Fionndrigh which runs north from Glen Banchor.
A grassy track follows the glen from the bridge over the Allt Fionndrigh at Glenballoch and I followed its gentle rise to a gate where its bulldozed continuation climbed sharply before meandering up the length of the glen. At the end of the bulldozed track a narrower, boggy footpath drops to the river and crosses a wooden bridge. The path then continues into a narrow glen between the north slopes of Creag Liath and Meall na Ceardaich.
I climbed into the bealach, looking behind me from time to time to admire the great bulwark of Geal Charn, an outlier of A’ Chailleach. Beyond rose the blunted spire of Am Bodach, both hills giving lie to the claim that the Monadhliath are “rounded puddings”.
From the high point of the bealach it was time to leave the path and take to the heather, and a short initial climb to the main ridge of Creag Liath. A footpath runs up the ridge and it’s worth stopping now and then to admire the east-facing corrie of Carn Dearg in the north. This, possibly the finest of the Monadhliath Munros, lies in an isolated position and protects the lovely Loch Dubh, the Black Loch, in its western corrie.
The summit cairn wasn’t far away now, on a nice rocky plinth, and despite a cool northerly breeze I enjoyed the surroundings – out along Glen Banchor to the Feshie hills and the rolling Cairngorms and in the other direction, away to the jumble of hills that represent the blessed west.
The descent is relatively steep but down heather and grass slopes. I made my way carefully down to the river and back to the track to Glen Banchor.
Route: Start and finish at the car park at end of the public road in Glen Banchor (GR: NN692998). Descend, cross a bridge over the river and follow the track for 1km to the bridge at Glenballoch. Turn right and follow a grassy path to a gate. Go through the gate and climb N on a track. At the end follow the boggy footpath down to the river on your left, cross a footbridge and climb into a bealach between Creag Liath and Meall na Ceardaich. From the high point turn left and follow a rough footpath S to the summit. Descend grass and heather slopes to the south to Glenballoch and follow the track back to the car park.