Glen Lyon, Pubil.

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Section 2 910 Meall Buidhe 862 Cam Chreag 837 Sron a'Choire Chnapanich 830 Beinn Dearg 787 Meall Tairneachan 783 Farragon Hill 909 Beinn nan Oighreag 901 Beinn Odhar 886 Beinn a'Chaisteil 885 Cam Chreag 849 Beinn nan Imirean 818 Beinn Chaorach 806 Beinn nam Fuaran 806 Meall nan Subh 780 Meall nam Maigheach Section 5 Section 6 Section 1 Section 3 Return to Corbett index Return Home.

Meall Phubuil and Meal Buidhe  Meall Buidhe  910m  2976'  Another yellow,(grassy?) hill.  Map  Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich  837m  2250'*  Nose above a nobbly corrie  Map  Meall nan Subh  804m  2638'  Subh, Raspberry  Map *not properly depicted on 1" maps

Meall Buidhe 910m

Meall Buidhe from the south east.

Once The road up Glen Lyon ran all the way to Gleann Meran at the then head of Loch Lyon. Here Drovers would meet, some having traveled up the Auch Glen and others from Rannoch Moor. There were houses here well into the twentieth century, Seton Gordon talks of watching a haystack being built, and meeting monolingual Gaels. Now there is just a group of small houses and the great concrete wall of the Lyon Dam, the loch now extending all the way to the march with Argyll and a fair way up Gleann Mearan. Now the hills of the head of Glen Lyon are nearly always done from the Bridge of Orchy side and the head of Glen Lyon is very much a forgotten corner.

It was once even worse. The great loch had drowned the drove roads, making the cross country trip very arduous, but now a track runs the length of the southern shore of the loch, opening up the forgotten northern approaches to Beinn Heasgarnich. The north side has a track as far as the Meran Arm, opening up the old route through the glen to Rannoch Moor. Once surveyed as a possible road route, by Telford ,as usual, this drowned glen forces a major detour if you intend going through to Auch. Once a trek through Glen Meran would have led to a railway halt at Gortan, but this did not survive the 1970's, a real shame as this was a great start for Beinn a Chreachain and the hills of this chapter.

Meall Buidhe, the summit.

Just off Gleann Meran is Tigh nam Bodach, This is a turf roofed house in which folk would keep two stones, Bodach is Cailleach. They would put them in the house in rain and bring them out in fair weather. The stones and the houise were small, the house just three feet high. This practice may have continued until recent times, though no one over summers here now. It is a relict of pre-Christian folk beleifs. The 'house' is shown on the 1:50000 map.

Below the partly abandoned Hydro village of Pubil are the sites of several forts. Folklore credits their construction to the Fingalians, they were thick walled constructions, oddly sited. Interpretation boards can be inspected at the site at 480417.

Meall Buidhe causes the odd bit of confusion being close to the Garbh Mheall Meall Buidhe, but a few miles to the east, a well kent Munro. The western Meall Buidhe is however an obscure beast, resting in the anonymity of topping out just 4 meteres beneath the magic line. The hill did enjoy a spell in the limelight when it was traversed by Hamish in his Mountain Walk. It seems he could not resist the temptation of traversing the two Meall Buidhes in a morning.

Meall Buidhe from Beinn Heasgarnich.

The Corbett is the centre of a vast sprawling mass of hills rising sharply out of the Gleann Meran gap and falling gently to Rannoch Moor. It is approachable from the west , a long haul in from Achallader now, noa longer the quick hop on the train. Now most go in from the Lyon Dam.

After a short sharp pull up from the bulldozed road, easy going grassy terrain lead over Meall Phubill. Then it was just an easy pull up on to the summit dome. I was treated to the long view up the new loch with autumn reds lit by the rising sun as a foreground. These hills have some of the best going to be found anywhere, grass, moss and the odd patch of small stones. Up the loch Meall Dail was dominant, much more impressive than its parent summit. In the other direction I got some good views of Stuchd an Lochain.

Stuichd an Lochain from the west.

After crossing the Allt Eas an Aighean an easy ridge led up to the lightly snow covered summit. Here there was a cairn or two, a rotten fence and the shock of a Glen Lyon walk giving a view down onto the West Highland Railway, A82 and Kingshouse Hotel. As so often with a Corbett the view was exceptional. The little visited eastern corries of Beinn a Chreachan were close at hand and to the right a sweeping view over the Moor. Sadly no plume of steam from a train, but this can be seen sometimes. Beyond the lochs were

A curved ridge of shagpile moss returned me to the Eas an Aighean , but first I suffered the ignominy of a fall on this easy ridge. For ten minutes I was sure I had to struggle down to Loch Lyon convinced thet something was damaged. All that was hurt were my shredded trousers, quartzite pebbles had only given me a nasty dose of gravel rash. On the other Meall Buidhe, a Munro help would have been at hand, but on a Corbett, you have to be self reliant and travel with caution, even on the easiest of terrain.

When the blood had clotted and the stiffness worn off, I tackled the traverse of the north-west face of Meall Phubuill. Traversing this is a waste of time as the best route is down the burn and a quick uphill to the hag ridden Bealach Craig a'Chaoruinn below the next hill, Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich .

Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich 837m

Chnapanaich (left) thrusts out into Glen Daimh, as seen from the slopes of Meall Bhuidhe(931m)

The one that almost got away.

The 1984 SMC journal cointained the news that a new Corbett had appeared in Glen Lyon. The new 1:25 000 survey had shown that 2250 foot Craig Doire Nathrach had been missurveyed. The early cartographers had missed the 2500' contour (Pre 1:50000 maps had an interval of 250',50' contours had been guessed) . Soon several aneroid toting SMC-oids were toiling up from Pubil to check the height and drops were sufficient to admit Sron a Choire Chnapanaich to the halls of the elect. It made it easily, soon the OS had confirmed the suspicions with the publication of 1:10000 data for the first time.

The name change was justified, there are not too many crags in these parts and the hill is a true nose, jutting out above Loch Daimh and the loneliest glen in the southern Highlands. Steep screes fall down to the flooded Lochs glen, the summit being at the end of a fine narrow ridge. On the Lyon side slopes fall gently to the two cols and down into a boggy corrie above Pubil. Even more so than its neighbour Meall Buidhe this hill is renouned for its easy going, the carpet of moss covering its upper slopes would be quite tolerable in bare feet.

Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich from the slopes of Stuchd an Lochain.

After the painful descent of Meall Bhuidhe I had traversed below steep runneled slopes on to the bealach beneath the Sron. This was a very boggy place, but a deer track led easily through to the 700 feet of carpet leading to the top. The bogs were a problem, as 1998 was a very wet year. The steep pull , up past the green flush mentioned by Brown in Climbing the Corbetts went easily. I kept to the edge of the drop down to Glen Daimh. Below a sheep fank and a clump of trees were the main landmarks of an inaccesable corner. Since the dam and flooding into one loch of Lochs Giorra and Daimh, this spot has become hard to visit. The track only goes in as far as the burn draining Coire Chorse. At the top the view down the loch was brightened by a rainbow over the full loch (In dry years the loch reverts to two again). Across the depths was the other Meall Buidhe, no doubt busy today.

The steep slopes of Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich and the remote end of Loch Giorra/Daimh. Seen frm Stuchd an Lochain.

There was not enough stone for anything other than a token cairn, and precious little room to build one. I wandered a short way down the boggy narrow ridge, a peculiar combination to take in the view. I looked over a once populated glen, after WWII there was still a farm at Lochs, but now its ruins lie beneath the new loch. Today the sheperds work by boat and visit infrequently.

The descent was easy, I took great care to avoid the Pubil Corrie due to the bogs, a course to the east avoided problems. Thoughts of continuing easily on to the Stui were abandoned with the fall on Meall Buidhe and I soon encountered a quadbike track leading to the Hydro road leading down to Pubil.

Pubil was abandoned, the houses in good nick but not lived in, it would make a great holiday village, and some of the houses are now holiday homes. There is still an occupied farmhouse here and just like Seton Gordon, I met friendly collies high in Glen Lyon.

In 2005 I had a day on Stuchd an Lochain, starting from Pubil. Most of the cottages were occupied, probably by weekenders. It had a very busy air about it. A lovely sharp day I got some very good views of Sron a'Choire Chnapanaich on the way up. The hill is very easy to add to its higher neighbour and the Pubil round would also allow An Grianan to be added too. If coming down off Grianan, beware the difficult to cross ravine of the Allt Camaslaidh.

 

Meall nan Subh 804m

Meall nan Subh and the Larig nan Lunn.

West of Ghaordaidh the watershed between Lyon and Lochay crosses a series of bogs and knolls, th highest of which is Meall nan Subh, The raspberry complementing the cloudberry. Now this is not an area to get the pulse racing, although to the west are some fine bigger hills, but it sure tests your navigation. A modern map helps, not an old 1st series with missing hills.

Subh lies between two passes. To the west is the Lairg nan Lunn which carries a private road between Pubil and Glen Lochay. It is gated, but the gate is at the watershed. I have never seen this gate closed, but if it is the road can still be used to get up to 500 meteres. This road makes Subh a rival to Meall na Maigeach as the easiest Corbett.

To the east is the trackless Lairig Liarnan. Burn was told of a sheep thief who was hanged here, name of Gilchrist in about 1600, around about the time of the mad Campbell.

I did what most do, quick raid from the car parked on top of the Lairg. It was a filthy day, the day before I was washed off an attept on the Auch Glen Corbetts and today was worse. Tough heathery slopes quickly led to the plateau and then the fun started. Just finding the top. The summit knoll was one of several around an evil looking peaty pool and morass. To mak siccar I visited the lot, I am still unsure which was the true summit, but my compass got well used. So did my cag. All hills are interesting.

The road was open, so after an hour and a half in the clag and glaur , it was easy to drop into Glen Lyon and the welcoming Bridge of Balgie P. O. tea room. As is often the case in Glen Lyon, the lower glen was not so wet and the sun lit up some fine autumn colours aginst the stormy sky.

Purists could walk up from either glen or traverse the bumpy ridge to Ghaordaidh, or take up Hamish Brown's Challenge , a round of Glen Lochay, Killin to Killin, Tarmachan to Chlachach. As he says,some round.

 

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A** new photos added 15/10/04

new photos added 31/01/05 and text revision.