Northern Monadhliath.

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Section 9 896 Gairbeinn 878 Carn an Fhreiceadain 862 Meall na h-Aisre 824 Geal-charn Mor 817 Carn a'Chuilinn 817 Carn Dearg 811 Carn na Saobhaidhe 768 Carn Dearg 834 Carn Dearg 805 Beinn Iaruinn Section 4 Section 10b Section 10a Section 11 Return to Corbett index Return Home.

Loch Tarf and the northern slopes of Carn a'Chuilin. Carn na Saobhaidhe 811m 2658' Saobhaidhe, fox den.  Map Carn a'Chuilin 817m 2677' Holly Hill  Map

"But even Corbett, who was a powerful walker, might have considered such a length of approach as guilding a rather wan lily". Peter Hodgkiss on Carn na Saobhaidhe (The Central Highlands SMC guide)

Carn na Saobhaidhe 811m

 

Carn na Saobhaide, a gentle swelling in the plateau above the Allt Odhair.

Carn na Saobhaidhe does not get a good press. It is easily the least steep of the Corbetts, sprawling over a vast empire of peat in the unfashionable northern reaches of this most unfashionable of ranges. Now I like that sort of thing, and was very much looking forward to exploring a big piece of neverbeentherebefore. The hill is so flat and sprawling, that it has a reputation of being hard to photograph, and the SMC made a futile appeal for slides for the last edition of their guide to the Corbetts.

In the original list it was a twin summit, but the tie was broken by the OS with metrication and Carn na Lairiche Maoile is a metre or so lower now, well until the next revision, who knows?

Whatever way you do it, Saobhaide is going to need some milage. Most sources suggest a Stratherrick approach, either from the west or north. These have the advantage of tracks for most of the way, so they say, the truth being somewhat different.

The first time I tried the hill, was when I lived in England, I got as far as Crewe after being forced onto the Cheshire A roads by a congested M6. ThereI was rearended at a roundabout. Game over. I am writing this after having to finally get rid of the car, due to rear axle damag, probably a consequence of that night. The car had limped on for another 2 years, but was never the same again.

For the successful visit, made while a student at Edinburgh a second time around, I went for the Strathdearn approach. Longer than from the north, but hopefully a bike could take care of some of the miles and I would be rewarded with a whole new glen to explore. Its a long way up to the roadend at Coignafearn, why I missed this hill last time I lived in Scotland, but the carless can get a postbus in. The estate have supplied a good sized carpark at the end of the attractive route, after which its the long estate road deep into the interior. It was a fine sunny spring day, end of March with all the sounds of spring, the birds having returned to the moors.

Interlocking spurs. looking down Strathdearn.

One thing I did experience on the way up, and down Strathdearn, is that the locals seem to be enforcing a speed limit of less than 20mph. Was stuck behind someone on both journeys and they did not use the passing places. Folk get points on their licence for this sort of thing. Not that you can go all that much faster.

The road to Dalbeg via the new Coignafearn Lodge (not that new but huge) is easy on a road bike and this makes the milage walked very manageable. The glen is a fine one rounding various interlocking spurs to gain a big bowl at Dalbeg, complete with noisy gullery. Mountainbikers can go on for several more kilometres up the Allt Creagach/Odhair, the path on the OS map is now a track, extending far on to the hill.

Coignafearn Lodge

The Allt Odhair drains a big area of plateau through a narrow gap, a step in a hanging valley. Here the estate have fenced off the gorge, encouraging tree growth. The Coignafearn Estate is a labour of love, it is owned by someone with a real affection for the Highlands, and managed with wildlife in mind. A neighbour to the north is hoping to tap into windfarm subsidies and cover his patch of Carn na Saobhaidhe with windmills. The Strathdearn estates have funded a strong campaign against him. The carpark is well supplied with publicity material.

Windfarm campaign material at the carpark.

 

I took a break at a burn confluence at the top of the Allt Creagach, a different world of low hills and peaty wastes. The track was a help, although when I finally had to leave it the going on the open hill was not too bad, the old peatland trick of following watercourses paid off.

The summit was a small island of stoney ground in the peat sea, it was here that I spotted the contrast in estate polices. Drumnaglass had bulldozed a road right to the summit, a 40m strip, peat removed to the bedrock, and the track a useless eroding mass of slurry, I could not even walk on it. Long before the go-ahead for a turbine was given, the worst environmental damage had been done. So if you go in from the north you can go all the way on a track, I would not bother.

The summit.

The cairn is small on the edge of the plateau. At the opposite end of the bulldozed horror is the eastern top of Carn Mhic Iamhair, there is a much older cairn on this similar summit, again a dry area above the peat. From here there is a good view of the even bleaker bogs of Carn Odhair. It is easy to cross the bogs to the Allt Odhair track from here making a good circuit. I enlivened the descent with a side trip up the 733m top above Dalbeg before retrieving the bike for the long downhill return to the car park. Drumnaglass' disused windmill on Beinn Dubhcaraidh dominates the view, but the access road is a far worse eyesore.

Carn na Saobhaide, the bulldozed horror just below the summit. You cannot see this from Bermuda!

Something I would love to do, but never have done is explore the northern plateau by a long traverse to Strathspey. These hills are not the dull slogs of the guidebooks, there is still a vast area of blanket peat and deep glens up there, the area covered is vast. There is a lot to explore, and remember Carn na Saobhaidhe has several tops some of which could be higher, this Corbett could well move again – its a long way in during your retirement.

The 733m unnamed top visited.	Confluence at the head of the Allt Creagach

Carn a'Chuilin 817m 

Sunrise over Carn a'Chuillin.

Bucks the Monadhliath trend. A fascinating rough hill with lots of hidden corners and lochans. I am currently working on a full account.

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20th February 2003