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Corbett bagging: Càrn na Saobhaidhe

Written by Fiona

January 31 2023

I bagged my 110th Corbett, Càrn na Saobhaidhe, during a 27.6km / 17-mile run with friends.

Càrn na Saobhaidhe is located in the north of the mountain range known as the Monadhliath in the Highlands, south of Inverness.

It is a remote Corbett and there are various starting points, such as from Coignafearn or Garthebeg, as well as on a wide track that extends almost to the summit from Dunmaglass. The Dunmaglass route might be considered a bit dull but if you want to run and chat with friends all the way then it’s actually a great choice.

I enjoyed the run with local friends David, Nat, Cath and Geraldine.

We used a route description from Walk Highlands because we knew there would be a few tricky junctions in a busy network of tracks that were created for the construction of a windfarm in this area of the Monadhliath. Even so – and most likely because we were chatting too much – Cath, Nat and I took a bit of a detour on the ascent. We corrected ourselves by descending on to the right track over some rough ground. David and Geraldine took the right route but when we reached the junction they were further ahead and we didn’t see which way they went.

This is a great route for a hike or a long run. The gradient is steady and fairly gentle with only a few steeper sections. However, it is a long way. The track also crosses a river many times and it’s worth wearing waterproof socks inside running shoes, or waterproof boots if walking. Alternatively, you could go off-track and follow one bank of the winding river to avoid crossing it so many times.

We were fortunate with the weather and while rain threatened it never actually arrived. We also enjoyed some lovely winter sun. There were large banks of deep, wind-eroded snow at higher altitude, which meant every step was unpredictable (would the snow be solid or soft?!)

See route in OS Maps

I’ll let you enjoy the route in photos:

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