Day 8 Dalwhinnie to Lochan nan Cnapan
Thursday 18th May Day 8 37km 1169m ascent Munros 1
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| I was happy to have had a dry bed and good breakfast as I set out on a damp and blustery morning for Coire Chuaich with only a slight regret over the extra distance to be covered for the day. The walk up the track went well as the weather improved until I realised I had made the classic mistake of posting the current map home!
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| After a little head scratching and guesswork I found the River Tromie but not the bridge, after looking at the map I can now see why as I was looking in the wrong place! However I failed to find a path beside the Allt Bhran and suspect that it doesn't exist, but managed to work my way through the heather along a multitude of deer tracks until reaching the minigaig, where my maps started again, and climbed the path beside the plantation to reach the track to Glen Feshie.
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| The weather was still showery but with bright sunny intervals and excellent visibility giving great views across to the Cairngorms it was just a pity I had to descend 350m to the glen only to climb up the other side, 'O for the wings of a dove!'. I arrived at the River Feshie in bright sunshine and explored the possibility of crossing near the bothy but there was a lot of water coming down and I didn't fancy it so continued down to the bridge at Carnachuin where considering the time distance etc I decided to take the 'steep and horrible landrover track' (vetters comment!) to Mullach Clach a Bhlair.
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| One compensation for plodding up this track is the spectacular view down into Coire Garbhlach from near the top, a huge bite out of the side of the hill. The cloud descended when I reached the top and the walk up Mullach Clach a Bhlair and across the plateau was in very poor visibility, and damp!.
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| Loch nan Cnapan was a reasonable place to camp but lacking in shelter from the very strong south wind. I managed to pitch the tent and throw the gear inside before a squall came blasting through, as if someone had turned on a power hose, and I could only stand and watch as the tent tried take off while I turned into a water feature. All good things must come to an end though and after shaking off the excess water I managed to get into the tent without soaking everything, cooked the evening meal and retired to a warm sleeping bag for a comfortable but noisy night.
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