Sunday 2 Aug 2020
It’s always interesting to make nice discoveries on your doorstep. I had never been up Glen Fearnach but had wondered about cycling up there to approach the ‘remote’ Munro’s of Carn an Righ and Beinn Iutharn Mor, along with the slightly more accessible Glas Tulaichean. Choosing a road less travelled is a real attraction, especially when repeating hills (3 Munro second ascents for me and some top-bagging), and the plan was to go light and fast, running some sections if we could.
Andy had suggested the track was good for cycling and so it proved. The final climb up to 650m was a real test however (and features as a Strava segment of a popular MTB route round here).
There was a vague path up Carn an Righ and we made quick progress up the stony ridge, whilst trying to dodge the showers being thrown off Beinn a ‘Ghlo. A Golden Eagle was cruising above, serving to emphasis the remoteness – Fealar Lodge the only building in view and a vast empty expanse towards the Cairngorms. We met quite a few other people on the ‘normal’ route with well marked paths and we kept a good pace over the undulating terrain round to Glas Tulaichean, where again we found solitude and a decent grassy track on a gradual descent back to the bikes. The return down Glen Fearnach was a delight, a real reward at the end of a great ‘local’ day out.
- Report by Iain, accompanied by Lucia