The Tarmachan Hills with Matthew

29.7.04 - 15km, 850m - 285 mins

Area 2: The River Tay to Rannoch Moor

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Meall nan Tarmachan1044m3425ftM89#104

Related Walks

The Tarmachan Hills (Howard's Last Munro) (26.4.22)

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Setting off

My most recent visit to these hills was in 2022 when I was accompanying Howard on his Last Munro.

My first visit however was when Jill, Matthew and Toby were staying with us in Dunblane, and this was the only Munro I did with Matthew during that time. We left Dunblane at 8.30 and by 9.30 we were at the starting point, just up the road from the NTS Visitor Centre and before the Lochan na Lairige dam. The forecast was good until later in the afternoon, but when we arrived all the hills were still in some cloud. We set off up the very clear path up the south ridge of Meall nan Tarmachan, while the clouds gradually lifted before us, and by the time we were up on the crest of the ridge, everything was clear.

On the ridge, looking up to Meall nan Tarmachan

On the ridge, looking up to Meall nan Tarmachan

Meall Garbh from Meall nan Tarmachan

Meall Garbh from Meall nan Tarmachan

The Tarmachan Tops from Meall nan Tarmachan

We had a very pleasant, though rather windy, ridge walk, taking in the Munro and all four of its Tops. This picture, taken from Meall nan Tarmachan, shows the three Tops on the main ridge - Meall Garbh is closest, then Beinn nan Eachan on the right, then Creag na Caillich furthest away between them. The trickiest moment was the very steep descent from Meall Garbh, which involved some scrambling on rather wet rocks, but no serious slips.

The lochan between Meall nan Tarmachan and Meall Garbh

The lochan between Meall nan Tarmachan and Meall Garbh

Matthew prepares for the Athens Olympics

Matthew prepares for the Athens Olympics

On the west ridge of Meall Garbh

On the west ridge of Meall Garbh

Me and my camera-shy companion at the summit of Beinn nan Eachan

Me and my camera-shy companion at the summit of Beinn nan Eachan

Looking back east along the ridge from Creag na Caillich

Looking back east along the ridge from Creag na Caillich

Coming down to the quarry

We'd seen two other lone walkers, both of whom ended up ahead of us. They seemed to continue along the ridge after the last Top, Creag na Caillich, while we doubled back and made our way down Coire Fionn Lairige and over boggy moors to the quarry. This we managed to find by some nifty map-reading and there we picked up the track.

Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers from the track

The quarry track gave us a pleasant hour-long tramp back to the car with Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers ahead of us all the way. We reached the car around 2.30, making a round trip of 5 hours. We'd seen no real sunshine all day, but the hills had stayed clear, so I was at least glad to have climbed the Tarmachans while I could see them!

The Falls of Dochart

On the way home we stopped off briefly in Killin to clamber around on the rocks beside the Falls of Dochart and take some pictures.

The bridge by the Falls of Dochart

The bridge by the Falls of Dochart

The Falls of Dochart

The Falls of Dochart