A satisfying day out in Glen Lyon, bagging 4 Munros in the popular circuit to the north of the glen. This was the first day of a 2-part adventure for Sarah and I in an effort to make the most of a great spell of weather and tick off some hills.

[July ’21]

So far, July’s weather had been typically un-Scottish and was getting rather predictable, with mostly warm weather, high clouds and very little rain. Sarah and I decided to take full advantage of this and put some precious annual leave to good use. We opted for 2 hill days, the first of which being in Glen Lyon, taking in Carn Gorm, Meall Garbh, Carn Mairg and Creag Mhor in an easy and popular circuit from Invervar.

The early morning drive from Ayrshire to Perthshire was quiet and enjoyable and after a quick pitstop in Killin, we parked up and set off at 0830.

The circuit began with a small section through some recently felled woodland before emerging on a larger track, which we followed towards a rather neglected looking bridge over Invervar burn. After crossing this, it was a steady climb all the way to the summit of our first Munro of the day – Carn Gorm.

We took around 2 hours to reach the first summit of the day. The forecast showed light winds all day, but there was a rather stiff breeze blowing, so we dropped just below the summit for a quick snack and to enjoy the views over the rest of the day’s effort.

The down-and-up between the first and second summits of the day was nice and gentle with a good path, allowing us to make light work of the hill and reach Meall Garbh around 45 minutes after leaving Carn Gorm. A quick photo or 2 on the summit and we were feeling rather peckish, so an early lunch was in order. We came across a small sheltered cairn a short distance from the summit and about 30m or so away from the path and put it to good use.

Refuelled and ready to go, we were on our way once again towards Munro 3 of the day – Carn Mairg. Once again, the terrain was gentle and there was an obvious path to follow, so we made good progress and reached our 3rd summit of the day around 4hrs 15mins after setting off from Invervar earlier that morning.

If I had one complaint it was that the cloud had been coming and going all morning, but by the 3rd summit it lifted enough to reveal Schiehallion, a mountain I’d been up in winter around 2 and a half years prior – hard to believe!

Probably the ‘toughest’ obstacle of the day followed – a short bouldery section off the summit of Carn Mairg to once againreach the good path around the circuit. All that remained was the final ascent of the day to reach Creag Mhor.

We reached our last Munro at 1330, 5 hours after setting off from Invervar. After one last rest and a quick snack in a sheltered hollow just below the summit, we headed off down the grassy slopes back to the start of our route to complete the circuit. The gradient and terrain meant that we could make good progress without too much effort and an hour or so, we reached the track that we’d followed earlier to start our walk.

We arrived back at the car 6.5 hours after setting off, having walked 13.3 miles with 1425m of ascent, glad that we’d taken advantage of the good weather to bag a few more Munros. It was then time to head to Perth for an overnight stay, ready for the second part of our 2-day hill walking trip.