 |
| Meall Tionail with Meall Buidhe to the left |
Sometimes revisiting a familiar place can bring something new, something that makes you think maybe you didn’t know the place as well as you thought after all. Such was the case on a late August walk from Glen Feshie to Sgor Gaoith. I’ve done this many times over the years. It’s one of my favourite Cairngorm walks and Sgor Gaoith one of my favourite Munros. I wasn’t expecting anything different.
 |
| Heather, pines, path |
The heather on the lower slopes was startlingly bright, beautiful, rich and purple. The sky was overcast, the air was warm and humid. I was soon hot and sweat-soaked. It was a relief to leave the last trees and feel a slight breeze.
 |
| The sun breaks through |
A late start had me arriving on the tops just before sunset. For a brief moment the sun broke through the clouds and cast pink rays over the land. Then the greyness returned and thickened as mist enshrouded me.
The mist was wet so I quickly pitched the tent on a site I
knew well, collected water, and settled in for the night. Very soon the
flysheet was dripping with condensation.
 |
| Camp |
In the early hours the weather changed. I was woken by a breeze rustling the flysheet and flicking drops of moisture on my face. It felt cooler and I closed the inner tent door. Dawn came with a blue sky and a gusty wind.
 |
| The Allt Fuaran Diotach |
Not far from camp the Allt Fuaran Diotach began its dramatic plunge down to Loch Eanaich far below. I took the narrow path that runs along the edge of the broken cliffs above the loch. This is a fine route with tremendous views of Sgor Gaoith ahead and across the loch to the massive bulk of Braeriach.
 |
| View down to Loch Eanaich |
The wind was very strong here, rushing up from the glen. It was pushing me away from the drop or I’d have moved to gentler terrain.
 |
| Sgor Gaoith |
I could see walkers on the sharp point of Sgor Gaoith and more coming along the main path, which lay not far away. I joined them as my path and theirs merged just below the top. The wind was now ferocious. I didn’t stop but dropped down to the east to find a lunch spot where my water bottle wouldn’t be whisked away by the wind as soon as I put it down.
 |
| The ridge I'd never noticed before. Meall Tionail on the left. |
Sitting here gazing at the extensive view over Glen Feshie I noticed a graceful curving ridge running from Meall Buidhe, a subsidiary top of Sgor Gaoith, to a little bump called Meall Tionail. I must have looked at this ridge every time I’d come this way but it had never made an impression. I’d never really seen it, never wondered what it was like. I did now. I’d planned, as always, on going over Meall Buidhe and onto Geal Charn, another subsidiary top once classified as a Munro, and then descending down to Glen Feshie. Now though I decided I’d go to Meall Tionail and see what it was like.
There’s a bit of a path over the stony ground to Meall
Buidhe but none from there to Meall Tionail. The ridge, as I’d expected, was
actually quite broad. The graceful curve
was an illusion. The terrain was rocky but the walking easy. A cairn decorated
the summit. I sat here a while looking back at Meall Buidhe and Sgor Gaoith.
 |
| The summit of Meall Tionail. Sgor Gaoith in the distance. |
Meall Tionail is a pleasant summit, a gentle rise at the end of a spur from Meall Buidhe. I doubt anyone comes here very often as it doesn’t reach Munro height. Many traverse its lower slopes though, as I had done the previous day, as a well-used path to Sgor Gaoith curves round it. Now I’d been up it and added a little to my knowledge of the area. There’s always so much more to learn.
From the summit I headed down steep, heather-clad slopes to
join that path just above the forest.
I made a little video of the trip with much more about my camp.
