29.07.15
Creag na Caillich (NN 562 376)
Creag na Caillich (NN 562 376) |
What a difference a day
can make! Yesterday the rain swept in
and remained for a number of hours penetrating bodies and ground and yet a few
hours and one day later and the sun kissed the hillsides and bathed their
colour in warmth.
Today we were back at
the base of Beinn Ghlas aiming for the western end of the Tarmachan ridge, this
is where the shapely summit of Creag na Caillich is found, this hill is
currently listed as a Munro Top.
However, its summit has been surveyed by Alan Dawson with his Leica RX
1250 as being 914.29m high, which is 0.11m below 914.4m / 3,000ft.
By the time Graham
parked his car I had already got my boots on and the tripod was strapped to the
bottom of my rucksack and a few minutes later I set off in the knowledge that I
had to get a good start on John and Graham, otherwise they would be waiting a
long time on the summit for my arrival.
A track contours its way
around the southern flank of this excellent ridge and gives easy access to its
far western end. As I walked up the
track the sun shone out from a beautiful patched cloud sky with Loch Tay spread
out below as an elongated sheen.
Looking back down the track to Meall Corranaich |
The expanse of Loch Tay |
There were moments when
I considered putting on my one-skin summer walking jacket as a brisk wind blew,
chillying my arms, but I persevered and was thankful I did as the warmth of the
sun, and height gained, warmed by body.
The track splits on two
occasions with the latter giving access to a small quarry below Coire Fionn Làirige. As I headed up toward the quarry and our
break off point from the track onto open hillside I looked behind and John and
Graham were quickly approaching, they soon overtook me and John sped ahead up
steep green slopes that were still wet from yesterday’s deluge.
Being caught up |
Being overtaken |
Gaining height we crept
up beside a small stream aiming for the bealach between Creag na Caillich and
Beinn nan Eachan. The former looked like
a grand hill with steep eastern sides plummeting down from a pointed summit,
whilst the latter was a rounded bulk, protected on its southern side by upper
crags.
Graham overshadowed by the bulk of Beinn nan Eachan |
By now John had sped off
and I occasionally picked out his profile way off in the distance, Graham
followed and kindly waited at each point of our upward route that disappeared
around a grassed bump until I had come into view, indicating the onward route
for me. This expanse of hillside was
marvellous as part of the Tarmachan ridge veered up in front of us with the sun
casting dramatic light and the cloud accentuating the effect with shadowed
silhouette.
Graham in the great bowl of land under the Tarmachan Ridge |
Eventually the ridge was
gained and the wind blew in from the north, it was chilly! As I followed the ridge path John was
standing on the pointed summit waiting for our arrival.
John on the summit of Creag na Caillich |
Once at the top extra
layers of clothing were quickly put on and we used the level and staff to prod
around the high point of the hill, this consists of a small grassed area with a
few stones indicating a semblance of summit cairn.
Determining the high point of Creag na Caillich with a level and staff |
This small grassed summit
area was within a few millimetres from one end to the other, but we determined
the high point and John and Graham proceeded to put the tripod and the Leica
GS15 over it. We made a note of the
measurement offset with the steel tape of the tribach and set it to collect
data.
Setting up the Leica GS15 |
Graham and John beside the Leica GS15 at the summit of Creag na Caillich |
Our next objective was
to get out of the wind as it was making our stay somewhat chilly. John and I found a reclining seat partly out
of the wind which we happily made our home for the next two hours of data
collection, whilst Graham disappeared around a corner only to emerge and say
that he was off to bag a Corbett Top which is named as Meall Tòn
Eich on the map. This looked a long way
off with quite a bit of descent to get down to it.
The view from our partly sheltered reclining seat - Meall Garbh |
A nice spot to spend a couple of hours as the Leica GS15 collects data from the summit of Creag na Caillich |
The view from our partly sheltered reclining seat - Beinn nan Eachan |
Toward the end of our
two hour wait Graham emerged from his wander and we watched as a person
descended our upward route down toward the track corner where we had left to
climb on open hillside. Away to our
north-east Meall Garhb pointed skyward with its impressively shaped summit on
display. Further west we could see tiny
figures on the summit ridge of Meall nan Tarmachan. It was a stunning panorama and one that
blended from one peak to another in a seamless continuation of mountain form.
Graham on the summit of Meall Tòn Eich (centre of photo) |
By the time the two
hours of data collection was complete a number of large showers were breaking
out on near ground to our north-west, and once the GS15 had been dismantled I
quickly set the Trimble up to gather five minutes of data.
The Trimble set up at the summit of Creag na Caillich with Loch Tay in the background |
The Trimble set up at the summit of Creag na Caillich with the continuation of the Tarmachan Ridge in the background |
As we packed the
equipment away I also stripped off the extra layers of my clothes and tried to
put them in my rucksack before the wind whisked them away. Once everything had been packed away we shot
off following the ridge path to the steep grassy descent down into the bowl of
land and back to the track.
Heading back on the ridge path |
It had been another
excellent day on the hill and one that was a bonus, as although this hill had
been one we wanted to survey we had not planned to do so until discussing it
the previous day.
Survey Result:
Creag na Caillich
Summit Height: 914.4m (converted to OSGM15, Trimble GeoXH 6000)
914.3m (converted to OSGM15, Leica RX1250) 914.3m (converted to
OSGM15, Leica GS15) (deletion of Munro Top)
914.3m (converted to OSGM15, Leica RX1250) 914.3m (converted to
OSGM15, Leica GS15) (deletion of Munro Top)
Summit Grid Reference: NN 56285 37699
Drop: 69.3m (from earlier Leica RX1250 survey)
Dominance: 7.58%
No comments:
Post a Comment