Undiscovered Scotland

 

As you follow the main A9 from Perth to Inverness there's little to fire the imagination as you cross the highest point in the Pass of Drumochter.

Despite this, there are no fewer than seven Munros overlooking the pass, four to the west and three more to the east. The two described here, Gael Charn and A'Mharconaich are the two more northerly Munros on the west side of the road, and lie between the A9 itself and the long arm of Loch Ericht, stretching back into the wilds of the Ben Alder Forest.

Your starting point for the walk is the parking area, at a height of 425m, just off the access road to Balsporran Cottages. After walking past the cottages and crossing the railway line you follow the obvious track that leads up to the bealach between your two targets for the day.

While this provides a viable route up, and certainly offers an alternative route down in case of bad weather, it is not the usual route to the top. This branches off the main track and takes a fairly direct route up to and along the east ridge of Gael Charn. The going can be pretty boggy until you gain the ridge itself.

Gael Charn's stony summit is a fine viewpoint, especially into the interior, away from the A9. It is worth bearing in mind as you look into these wide open spaces that there is another Gael Charn somewhere over there, just to the right of Ben Alder.

However, adding that summit to your collection entails a round trip of over 40km or 25 miles from Dalwhinnie into seriously wild country. Perhaps its just best to say you climbed Gael Charn and hope that others think you had a hard day out.

The onward path leads generally south-west then south to the bealach reached by your starting track: and then you make your way up the flank of A'Mharconaich, following ill defined paths or ranging freely as the mood takes you.

The summit of A'Mharconaich is well defined and provides a fine climax to the walk. From there it is steeply but easily downhill, following the north-east ridge, and then a reasonably defined path that takes you back towards Balsporran Cottages and your car.