The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Thursday 17 May 2018

Geal-Charn Mor (NH836123; 824m)

Thursday 17 May
Distance: 7.5 miles
Ascent: around 580m
Weather: glorious!
Start point: At the bridge at Lynwilg (around NH 88228 10720)


There can't be many hills of this height in Scotland that are as easy as this one, with the hill track known as 'the Burma Road' giving speedy access up to a pass that sits about 1km horizontally and 130m vertically from the top of this Corbett.

Speedy walking! The Cicerone Corbett guide suggests that it would be possible to cycle up to the pass. The thought of gaining that much height in that little distance sounded like a form of torture to me, so I walked.

It's such a shame that there are so many wind turbines visible in the Monadhliath these days, but by positioning myself in the windbreak, behind the trig point they, and the multitude of tracks that now crisscross this otherwise barren landscape, weren't intrusive on my view as I scoffed down a substantial second breakfast.


Thoughts of making this outing into a circuit were negated by hundreds of sheep being driven up the path I would have taken down, so I repeated the speed and ease of the Burma Road, stopping for a chat with a couple of Challengers on my way.

I was in Aviemore well before lunchtime, where I've been sitting ever since (bar a couple of forays to the shops, for essentials such as ice cream and gear fondling) with a good view of the Cairngorms. Soon I'm going to have to decide what I want to do tomorrow, as at some point soon I'm going to have to decide where to spend tonight.

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