Meall Corranaich & Meall a’Choire Leith

Another two Munros to check off, Meall Corranaich and Meall a’Choire Leith. They are also the last two I need to check off to complete the Lawers Group! The last few Munros I had done by myself, being on furlough is extremely boring but it does give me time to go out and hike. For this hike though, I was joined by Scoob and Davey Russel! Made a nice change from being left to my own thoughts and singing!

Meall Corranaich & Meall a’Choire Leith

Category – Munro(s)

Height – 1,069 metres (3,507 ft); Meall Corranaich & 926 metres (3,038 ft); Meall a’Choir Leith

Location – Lawers National Reserve, Loch Tay

Difficulty Rating – 5/10

Approximate Timing – 4 – 6 hours

Pronunciation – Myowl Kora-neech & Myowl Kora-lay

Meall Corranaich (notched hill/ hill of lamenting) and Meall a’Choire Leith (hill of the grey corrie) are another two Munros that can be found in the Lawers Group. They are slightly further up into the Lawers National Reserve than the others though. To get there, follow the A84 then the A85 up towards Crainlarich and take the A827 cut off and drive through Killin. Not far along the road, you’ll pass Morenish and about 2 minutes after that you’ll see the sign for Ben Lawers Reserve. Follow the road to the left.

It’ll take you up into the hills, you’ll see the Meall Nan Tarmachan and the Beinn Ghlas & Ben Lawers car park on the left… drive past it. Follow the road just past Lochan Na Lairige and you’ll see a space to park, just below a large cairn on the hillside. If that car park is full, there a few other wee passing places to leave the car dotted up the road.

If you head back down the road, you’ll notice a path leading up into the moorlands. Follow it and you’ll come to a fork, we went right to tackle Meall Corranaich first. Quite glad we did, the descent from Meall a’Choire Leith was pretty steep! The path fades in and out over the peaty bog but keep the heading in that general direction and you’ll link back up with the path. If lost, look for fence posts. It becomes clearer when you reach the incline. When you manage to find the path, continue following it and you’ll come to a false summit.

We stopped there to get a break from the wind off the rocky outcrop. The actual summit is literally 5 minutes across the ridge. You’ll pass by an old fence post that’s been ‘decorated’ with multi-coloured flags. It sort of reminded of images from Everest base camp! Obviously, you’ll be nowhere near that height though. From the summit, you’ll get panoramic views of the other Lawers Group mountains.

Once you’re rested and got your photo, time to leave Meall Corranaich. Leave the summit by following the ridge North. It’s easy to lose track of the route here, make sure you’re sticking to the path on the right. You’ll see the path that leads up on to Meall a’Choire Leith, as long as you are heading towards that, you’ll be fine. You will lose a bit of height but you’ll be heading back up in no time.

The track then slightly curves round the hill, making it’s way up toward the summit. The small cairn with flat stones marks the summit of this Munro. It’s not the most spectacular summit, but the view is still incredible. On a clear day you can see all the way up to Glencoe! We were lucky to have a clear day and could see the pyramidal shape of the Buachaille Etive Mor in the distance behind the Lochan an Daimh.

For the descent, head South-West down the steep grass side. A path will soon appear. At the bottom of the steep grassy path, you’ll cross a burn. Traverse the hillside on the other side, losing height as you make your way to another burn.

Once you reach that burn, there’s a cracker of a waterfall on the left. Stick your head under that for the best natural cool down. The path will lead you over more bog before finally rejoining the path you began on. You’ll see the starting cairn and road in no time. That’s it, end of the hike. Another two Munros in the bag.

My Thoughts

Arguably, these two are possibly the easiest of the Lawers Group. Well except Meall Nan Tarmachan. That doesn’t take away anything from them though. For the first time, we saw deer in the Reserve, and I mean a lot of deer. We first seen them on the way up, running around the hillside and then again down in the valley between us and Ben Lawers. It wasn’t like just a couple, there was at least forty! It was amazing to witness. The views on a clear day are beautiful as well, you can’t usually point out the Buachaille from the summit of a hill but this time, it was clear which one it was.

Well that’s it for another post. Check out the photos below and subscribe if you haven’t already! A subscriber will be picked on 28th August to win a free 16”x24” print from one of my galleries!

Thanks for reading!

Alzo