On this ascent of the Munro, Meall nan Tarmachan, I planned to climb it from the north-east starting at the north end of Lochan na Lairig, on the road between Loch Tay and Glen Lyon, rather than the standard approach route from the same road but to the south-east.
I left my car in the small parking area at the high point on this single track road and walked south-west across some rather wet and marshy ground following the line of a few old fence posts.
Once beyond this area the underfoot conditions improved as I gained some height before coming to what appeared to be a fairly new double electric fence. Fortunately there was a stile so once across it I remained on the east side of the fence and ascended Creag an Lochain.
It was a steady climb with traces of a path to reach the summit of this Corbett Top marked by a stone. Despite the showers and some cloud floating around I had some views. There were another couple of stiles across the electric fences if the first one had been missed.
The descent took me south along the edge of the fence and I realised it probably wasn’t live as work to replace the old electric fence wasn’t complete. I reached Lochan an Tairbh-uisge then ascended the Sub Simm, Meall nan Tarmachan North-East Top, visiting a few knolls as I couldn’t tell which was the highest.
I then headed out to the rather rocky Sub Simm, Meall nan Tarmachan East Top.
A break in the cloud allowed me to view the route to Meall nan Tarmachan. I descended to the foot of its east face then worked my way up through mainly grassy vegetation onto the north-east ridge.
On reaching it I located a path and followed it to the cairn marking the summit of Meall nan Tarmachan.
Visibility was poor so I descended the north-east ridge. The path later disappeared although I located it again as it bypassed the summit of Creag an Lochain.
I then returned to the start keeping to the west of the electric fences.
- Time taken – 3.75 hours
- Distance – 7 kilometres.
- Height climbed – 660 metres.