Above:The Corbetts Sgùrr a' Mhuilinn and Meallan nan Uan
GrahamsCàrn na Coinnich
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Other HillsThere are a number of similarly sized hills in the area. On older maps, Meall Nam Damh is shown as being the same height of 673 metres but on a recently purchased map, it is shown as 671 metres.
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BothyLuibmaldruig
Luipmaldrig on OS maps Non-MBA |
Distance/Ascent21km 1003m including the walk to and from Luibmaldruig
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Estimated Time2h 30 minutes to Luibmaldruig (depending on conditions and amount of fuel), 5h for the loop to Càrn na Coinnich (though it could be done in significantly less) and 2h 00 minutes back to Inverchoran.
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ParkingFor my earlier visits, I parked at the entrance to Inverchoran, but there is space to park on the left about 100m before the track down to Inverchoran (travelling east).
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2 July 2024
This may be a modest Graham, but it is a hill that I headed out for on three previous occasions before finally reaching its summit.
The first time I intended to climb this hill was the day after climbing three Munro's to the south - North Strathfarrar hills of Sgurr a' Choire Ghlais, Carn nan Gobhar, Sgur na Ruaidhe. On that occasion, I started and finished in the dark and ended the day in the dark. The next morning started windy and I was very tired from the previous day, so I just walked back out to the car.
The second time, I carried fuel into the bothy and left Càrn na Coinnich to the next morning, but the weather was very unpleasant with low cloud and horizontal rain. The terrain is difficult to navigate or in other words, I messed up, skirting Meall Dubh and mistaking Loch a Spartan for Loch Gruamach. They are about a mile apart. I headed up the hill above Reagan Alain at 502 metres, some 171 metres lower than Càrn na Coinnich! How embarrassing. There was a time when I prided myself on my navigation, but with less practice and reduced fitness thinking that I have travelled further than I have, I need to be more attentive to the terrain and the distance travelled in future.
As it was, it was still great to do a bothy trip before heading back to Kazakhstan.
As it was, it was still great to do a bothy trip before heading back to Kazakhstan.
My third visit was between Christmas 2023 and the New Year and I headed out there with Thomas carrying both coal and coffee bricks. We had an exciting time driving up Strathconon, skidding about and meeting a car head on, I could feel the anti-lock breaking system coming into play as I swerved to avoid the other car.
We had set off in the afternoon and the days were short. The snow became increasingly deep, obliterating the path. We were never far off course but we had definitely lost the path and went into some very wet terrain to the south-west of the path. We ended up following the burn on the other bank and arrived at the bothy in fading light. We were both quite wet but Thomas had the good sense to carry dry clothes, something that I rarely do. We did get the fire going and my front dried out in front of the fire but my back remained very damp. I probably, should have taken my clothes off and put them back on back to front to dry in front of the fire!
There was a bit of a thaw overnight and combined with the heat of the fire passing through the room resulted in strange sounds as the snow avalanched off the roof and fell to the ground. It took me a little white to work out what the sounds were.
I was a bit anxious about the car being stuck and I knew that it would be very difficult hiking through the deep, soft snow so we just headed back out to Inverchoran. It had still been a great adventure and father-son time to remember and talk about in the years to come.
We had set off in the afternoon and the days were short. The snow became increasingly deep, obliterating the path. We were never far off course but we had definitely lost the path and went into some very wet terrain to the south-west of the path. We ended up following the burn on the other bank and arrived at the bothy in fading light. We were both quite wet but Thomas had the good sense to carry dry clothes, something that I rarely do. We did get the fire going and my front dried out in front of the fire but my back remained very damp. I probably, should have taken my clothes off and put them back on back to front to dry in front of the fire!
There was a bit of a thaw overnight and combined with the heat of the fire passing through the room resulted in strange sounds as the snow avalanched off the roof and fell to the ground. It took me a little white to work out what the sounds were.
I was a bit anxious about the car being stuck and I knew that it would be very difficult hiking through the deep, soft snow so we just headed back out to Inverchoran. It had still been a great adventure and father-son time to remember and talk about in the years to come.
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On my fourth and maybe final trip to Luibmaldruig, the weather was again poor. It has to be said that had the weather been better, I would probably have travelled further afield, though another factor in choosing the destination was that I was keen to be home on July 4 so I could cast my vote for in the General Election! As usual, I left home a bit later than planned mainly because I was trying to work out how to add waypoints to my new Garmin Etrex SE. I wanted to make sure that I found the top this time!
It was showery and visibility poor at times, but the weather did clear a bit as I approached Càrn na Coinnich, with its trig point on a rock plinth forming a very prominent nipple on the landscape. The descent south down to Loch an Spartan was pleasant enough but a certain amount of peat hg had to be negotiated nearer to the loch an and the terrain below the lochan was steep enough to put some strain on my right knee with the ligaments feeling the strain a bit. I am hoping that with more frequent hiking, they will become a bit more able to cope with steep downhills or perhaps I should try harder to find more gentle routes of descent. I think that the walking poles to help a little. I remember that I used to run down such steep slopes jumping down small drops and my ligaments were able to absorb the impact. |
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The rain mostly held off for the return to the bothy and I arrived back only slightly damp. I had a dry T-shirt and a down sweater to change into on my return. It was not particularly cold and I had a very comfortable night in one of the upstairs rooms. I was awake at around five and headed off at around 06:40, occasionally looking back at the bothy, wondering if I would ever return.
There are other places to see and other mountains to climb!
There are other places to see and other mountains to climb!
