I’m slowly working my way around the Cairngorms National Park summits and have been looking at the Glen Tilt summits - namely Carn a’Chlamain, GM/CS-031, Beinn Dearg, GM/CS-023, Beinn Mheadhonach, GM/CS-051, and by extension, the remote Beinn Bhreac, GM/CS-045. None of these get visited for SOTA very often - probably as they all involve a long day out of bike and hike and there are plenty of other hills to be doing. In fact, two of them, the Corbetts, haven’t been visited since Fraser did his big overnighter in 2022. I looked at a route for all four hills from Glen Tilt, but I’d need to camp overnight and then not get back home until the evening, and fitting this into the family schedule is never going to happen, so instead I’d just settle for two: Beinn Mheadhonach and Carn a’Chlamain.
From the Glen Tilt car park, I cycled to Gilbert’s bridge, crossed there and then along the west side of the Tilt until the path to Mheadhonach starts. This western path is cyclable but nothing like continuing up the estate road which most walking routes suggest.
The recent glorious weather hadn’t quite arrived, and I was soon walking in the clouds. The route up is a steady climb but not steep, although the humidity and zero wind kept me very warm.
The activation zone of Beinn Mheadhonach is huge and I started on 2m whilst walking to the summit. Had a couple of locals call back, and then a pair /M driving by.
I was too busy yakking to notice I’d walked past the actual summit but stopped at another pile of stones. It was as good as anything to setup on. Decent band conditions on 20m and 40m, and a good number in the log. The clouds did part and the sun and views came out. Some nice views, including Beinn Dearg, which looked so close - just 3 km away!
Onwards to the next summit. With no paths between them, I’d just drawn straight lines on my map, and took what looked like a nice route down the side, over the stream and through the peats hags.
The top of Carn a’Chlamain offers some spectacular views of so many hills across ES, CS, and WS. It reminds me of how small Scotland is - but you just can’t get anywhere quick.
Plenty of activity on 2m, and then HF, before packing up and starting the long walk back to the bike and then the speedy descent back to the car park.
Looking north from Carn a'Chlamain
VHF time
Hills and hills and hills
HF station
Looking south along the ridge back down
Carn a'Chlamain, looking majestic
Into Glen Tilt
I’ll be back for Beinn Dearg and Bhreac! …and the rest…
