Hills: Meall Onfhaidh and Aodann Chleireig
Date: Friday 2nd March 2012
Company: Just myself
Time: 5Hrs 45Mins
Dog friendly: Yes


I parked in the Fassfern car park this morning for an ascent of Meall Onfhaidh and Aodann Chleireig. From the car park, I crossed the bridge over the An t-Suileag and set off along the Public Right of Way track to Glen Loy.

Click here to see a map of the route undertaken

Start of walk – Right of Way to Glen Loy:


There were definite signs of Spring today – a woodpecker pecking away at a tree, lots of birdsong and a considerable volume of frog spawn in almost every pool .

Gleann Suileag track:


Frog spawn:
 

Frog:
 

I followed the track as far as the track junction -where another land rover track ascends to the bealach between Meall Onfhaidh and Meall a'Phubuill. However, before changing track I took a wee detour for a look inside Glensuileag bothy.

Meall Onfhaidh and Meall a'Phubuill:


Glensuileag bothy isn't an MBA bothy. It looks quite nice from the outside but is very basic inside. There are three separate rooms in the bothy – two with fireplaces. There are no raised sleeping platforms in any of the rooms.

Glensuileag bothy:


Inside Glensuileag bothy:


After visiting the bothy, I returned to the track junction and then ascended to the bealach between Meall Onfhaidh and Meall a'Phubuill.

Track to bealach between Meall Onfhaidh and Meall a'Phubuill:


Looking back to Glensuileag bothy and Gleann Suileag:


On reaching the bealach, I made my way towards the summit of Meall Onfhaidh. I was in too much of a hurry to start walking this morning – so much so that I forgot to put on my gaiters, The next photo shows how stupid this mistake was.

Ascending Meall Onfhaidh:


Was quite impressed with the ridge of Druim Fada during the ascent – it looks a nice hill.

Druim Fada:


Was very surprised at the lack of snow on Ben Nevis!

Ben Nevis (zoomed):


Ascending Meall Onfhaidh:


Loch Eil:


It didn't take too long to reach the summit. I visited the summit cairn and then the 681m summit marked on the map – both look about the same height.

Summit of Meall Onfhaidh:


Looking towards summit cairn from the other 681m top:


I found the descent of Meall Onfhaidh a bit steep and unpleasant – very wet, slippery grass.

Steep descent from Meall Onfhaidh:


Looking across to Aodann Chleireig:


On looking back to Meall Onfhaidh I could see that it was steep, but not as steep as its neighbour Gulvain.

Looking back at descent of Meall Onfhaidh:


Gaor Bheinn (Gulvain):


The ascent of Aodann Chleireig was quite straight-forward. There is a small crag about 100m below the summit but there is an easy way up it – no hands-on required.

Ascending Aodann Chleireig:


I visited the summit cairn and then also visited the other same-height contour ring.

Summit of Aodann Chleireig:


I opted to return via the Druim Beag ridge - this was a nice easy descent.

Looking towards Fort William and Loch Eil from Druim Beag ridge:


I picked-up a vehicle track during the descent which I followed back to the main track leading out to Fassfern.

An enjoyable day out.