It seems that my friend David’s final 30-odd Munros are all rather remote. A couple of weeks ago, we bagged four Munros, Devil’s Point, Cairn Toul, Sgor an Lochain Uaine and Braeriach, during a 38km route. On Monday, we met again, this time in Glen Feshie to run-hike a 30km route of Monadh Mor and Beinn Bhrotain.
A flashback to 2018
Another sunny Monday
With my eyes always on the mountain weather forecast, I spotted a couple of good days on Monday and Tuesday this week. Tuesday was reserved for a guiding day, taking a client Linsey (from East Sussex) on her first Munro, Ben Wyvis. Luckily, David could make time on Monday and he was keen to bag another two of his final 32 Munros in his first round.
We decided to start at Glen Feshie, rather than Linn of Dee to the north, because it was an easier meeting point for both of us. We also considered cycling the first section but having looked at the map, we reckoned we would be pushing our bikes uphill more than we would ride them. Yes, a bike for the return downhill would have been faster, but we were happy to make a longer day of it and run-hike the full route.
Arriving at Achlean car park, at the end of the public road in Glen Feshie, we were delighted by the sunny weather and also a lack of midges.
Run-hike to Monadh Mor
The first part of the route heads along a short section of road, leaving the car park in a southerly direction. After around 1km, there is a track on the left and we passed through a gate in a more south-easterly direction. At another junction, we stayed left. If you take the right fork, this leads to a bothy. A boulder pointed us to Carn Ban Mor, which is a smaller summit on the way to our Munros.
Our track led to a path uphill, through forestry, which we continued on to reach more open moorland. Looking back over our shoulders every so often, we enjoyed ever more expansive views of the Cairngorms.
We also met a couple, going in the same direction, and stopped to chat. They were planning to bag Monadh Mor, having reached Beinn Bhrotain on a different outing from Linn of Dee. The woman recounted a rather horrifying story of her time near Linn of Dee when she laid down on the ground for a rest and when her husband came to find her, he spotted an adder had slithered on to her chest. Luckily, it slithered away doing her no harm but, ever since, the woman has been understandably cautious of snakes.
Setting off again and reaching a higher elevation, we were treated to a superb vista of the Braeriach ridge that we had traversed only a fortnight before. It was great to see the ridge from the south, rather than from the Lairig Ghru.
We arrived at a cairn, just south of the summit of Carn Ban Mor (1052m) and then continued on another path to the south-east, descending to 957m. Navigation is required on these vast, almost featureless mountains but there are plenty of well-trodden paths and tracks to walk or run.
From the path, we joined a wide track. Turning right on this track would take you to another Munro, Mullach Clash a’ Bhlair, but we turned left and ran-hiked east towards a small gorge. Our aim was a river, where we crossed on stepping stones, before ascending the other side on to more of a trod.
We eventually came across a more defined path that took us to Tom Dubh, a small rise of 918m. Looking ahead, our Munros still seemed rather tall and far away but we were enjoying the weather and each other’s company and so we happily continued.
Looking to the east, we could see the bulk of Monadh Mor rising up and we took a steeper line uphill to the bulky northern nose before then turning south and on to a gentler rise to finally reach the Munro summit at 1113m.
Monadh Mor to Beinn Bhrotain
It was easy to spot Beinn Bhrotain to the south-east, although we could also see that we would need to descend a steep-sided corrie before climbing up again. As we jogged along the path towards the corrie, we met another four people. First, two men, who we said hello to and then a couple of women, who we stopped to chat to.
Turning to the second woman, I realised I knew her. Susie and I worked together on a newspaper some 30 years ago and I was sure I had not seen her for at least 20 years. It was an amazing coincidence and we enjoyed a quick catch up. Susie and her friend are making their way through their first round of Munros and we all chatted about our enthusiasm for Scotland’s fantastic mountains.
Leaving them to walk on (they had started with a bike ride from the north and then planned a circuit of Beinn Bhrotain and Monadh Mor on foot), we ran on to our second Munro.
It proved to be a fairly quick descent and ascent to reach at 1157m, which is marked by a trig pilar. Again, the views were wonderful and after a quick stop for photos and a bite to eat we started to retrace our steps.
The return route
The return was largely the same as the outward route. We claimed the summit of Monadh Mor a second time before making our way back downhill to Tom Dubh, then the river crossing in the corrie and back to the track, before heading to the slope of Carn Ban Mor once again.
Back on the path west and downhill, we thoroughly enjoyed the flow of a delightful running descent. We stopped briefly to chat to a young couple who were heading uphill with big packs. They planned to wild camp on the plateau and bag the Munro, Sgòr Gaoith.
Our final few kilometres took us back through the forest – there has been a lot of rewilding work in Glen Feshie, which we admired – and on to a wide track again. The sun was now much stronger and we felt the lovely warmth as we rejoined the road and ran back to the car park
It had been another great outing for two fairly remote Munros and in good company.
Route details: Monadh Mor and Beinn Bhrotain, from Glen Feshie
Distance: 30k
Total ascent: 1565m
Route: Strava and OS maps.