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Beinn a' Chlachair, Geal Charn & Creag Pitridh, Maps 393 & 42;
18th November 2005 & 5th June 2008

Route: 1370m = 4480' ascent; 16.4–18.0 miles (7 bikeable); 6½ – 7½ hrs

Stob Choire Claurigh, Stob Ban, Stob a'Choire Mheadhoin & Stob Coire Sgriodain. The summit of Beinn a' Chlachair. Ben Nevis & the Grey Corries. Geal Charn from the summit of Beinn a' Chlachair. Beinn a' Chlachair from its NE top with Geal Charn and Aonach Beag behind left. Creag Meagaidh & Beinn a'Chaorainn from Bealach Leamhain. Geal Charn from its eastern top. Coire an Iubhair Mor from the E top of Geal Charn. The main summit of Creag Meagaidh and Lochan na h-Earba. The NE end of Creag Meagaidh, Loch Lagan and both Lochans na h-Earba. Last rays of sunshine over Lochan na h-Earba. Sunset over Lochan na h-Earba.

Access: Park on old stretch of A86 (on the S side of the new road) just E of the bridge over the River Spean near the SW end of Loch Laggan, NN433830. If that is full, there is more official parking just to the west of the bridge.
Route: On 18/11/05, my route from the reservoir at NN453809 to the summit of Beinn a' Chlachair was dictated by time, and aided by the marshy ground being frozen. Being mid-November, the day was short, and indeed the sun set when I returned to the reservoir. Ideally, one should traverse the whole ridge as in the GPS route given in the link above because there are good paths to both ends of the ridge. However, on 5/6/08 I just followed the path up to Bealach Leamhain to reach Beinn a' Chlachair rather than traversing the whole ridge. This enabled a slightly larger part of the walk to be covered by bike, but is only 0.2 miles shorter than the full ridge traverse.
The trip out to Sron Garbh (an E top of Geal Charn) is well worth it for the view of the corrie.
Weather 18/11/05: Clear skies all day; –4°C at car; very light NE wind. 5/6/08: Warm, dry, clouds well above tops, occasional sunny spells, breeze.

18/11/055/6/08 Description Ht.Asc.Dist.Grid. Ref.Mob.
08450920 Park on A86 at bridge over R.Spean 252   00.0 milesNN43328307No Orange
0905  Take track SSE then E to T junction 290  401.35 milesNN44348220 
0925  Right track S/SE to fork at small reservoir 3501002.5 milesNN45248089 
0950 — EITHER: Right track to Lubvan 3801303.9 milesNN44597896 
  — SE into Reidh Choire & up to SW ridge of B.a'Chlr.
(I only chose this route to save time &
because marshy ground was frozen.
It's better to continue path S & ascend W ridge.) 		    
1125
-1150		 — NE to M Beinn a' Chlachair 10878355.6 milesNN47147817Orange
 —1000 OR: Left on track to path end by Lochan na h-Earba 3501003.5 milesNN46458100 
 —1045 Path ESE to Bealach Leamhain 7354855.4 milesNN48928000 
 —1055 Path SE to bottom of rocks at ridge end 810560 NN49137970 
 —  SW to Beinn a' Chlachair NE top 9727206.8 milesNN48647903 
 —1145 SSW/SW/W to M Beinn a' Chlachair 10878357.3 milesNN47147817Orange
   THEN: E/NE to col 955  NN48317895 
1225  ENE to Beinn a' Chlachair NE top (on map fold) 9728506.7 milesNN48647903 
12451235 Straightforward descent NE through rocks
to path, then NW down to Bealach Leamhain.		 735 7.5 milesNN48928000 
13301330 N/NE to M Geal Charn (trig pt) 104911658.8 milesNN50458118Orange
   Optionally: ESE to col 995  NN50698107 
1340  E to X Sron Garbh 10231195 NN50938104 
   WNW back to col 995  NN50698107 
13501355 WNW back to M Geal Charn 104912509.5 milesNN50458118 
   Then WSW/W to bealach at path 835 10.4 milesNN49148100 
   WNW to bump 8361260 NN49008107 
   WNW to col 815 10.55 milesNN48878116 
14251425 NNW to M Creag Pitridh 924137010.75 milesNN48748146Orange
15101455 W down ridge, then S into corrie
to join path at ford by Allt Coire Pitridh		 485 12.0 milesNN47348048 
 1510 Path end by Lochan na h-Earba 355 12.7 milesNN46458100 
1530  NW to bridge on track at Lochan na h-Earba 355 13.1 milesNN46288134 
1545  Track SW to fork by reservoir 350 13.9 milesNN45248089 
   Track NW/N to T-junction 290 15.1 milesNN44348220 
16251600 Track W/N back to P at A86. 252137016.4 milesNN43328307No Orange

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