The circuit of some 16.5km and 875m of total elevation starts close to Dalwhinnie on the A899 and takes in two major summits, Meall nan Eagan and The Fara. It was my fourth time on The Fara. Also read:
The Fara is classified as a Corbett. These are Scottish mountains of between 2500ft and 3000ft (762m and 914m) height.. The Fara summit is at 911m elevation, which makes it only a few metres shy of a Munro (more than 3000ft).
Meall nan Eagan is part of the Grahams list, or the new “Fionas”. If you have read anything about the Grahams recently, you’ll know that they have been the subject of some suggested changes. Alan Dawson has proclaimed himself to be keeper of the Grahams, although they were originally named after the late Fiona Torbet (maiden name Graham) and identified as summits in Scotland between 2000ft (609.6m) and 2500ft (762m).
Originally, a 150m prominence in stature was then agreed between Fiona and Alan. He then formed a list of all British hills with 150m of ascent on all sides. In Scotland, these were called the Grahams.
Alan then proceeded to obtain a registered trademark on the use of the name Grahams. He has also redefined the Grahams as mountains between 600m and 762m. This means there are 12 more summits that are classed as Grahams by Alan.
Some people have dismissed the reclassification and are sticking to the traditional list, renamed by some as “Fionas”. For obvious reasons, I like the idea of bagging a list of mountains known as Fionas!
Meal nan Eagan featured on the traditional list of Grahams and so I am calling it a Fiona.
Walk circuit: A Fiona and The Fara
My friend Ben joined me for the walk and we headed at first along a wide track from the roadside, west towards Meall nan Eagan. The trail turns into a path that crosses a winding river multiple times. Several bridges looked like they had been moved to the shore, rather than being over the river, although this may have been due to natural reasons, such as a high river flow.
The going is quite wet in places before we started the climb of the eastern flank of the Fiona. It was mostly off-trod and on rough and heathery terrain. The slope was rarely too steep and we seemed to reach the summit at 658m quite quickly.
We were fortunate with the weather and, subsequently, the views. Ben and I commented on how enjoyable it was to feel the warmth of a spring sun. There was a little drizzle at the top of the hill but it didn’t last.
Approaching The Fara from the north-east was a new route for me. I have only ever walked and skied to the summit from the south and south-west.
This route also saw us scrambling through a “Dirc”. I am not sure what dirc means but there are two in this area, Dirc Bheag and Dirc Mhor, and I can only imagine it refers to a “gap”, “gorge” or “slash” in the landscape.
Ben and I chose the smaller, Dirc Bheag, to ascend. For a while we were transported to a scenery that felt ancient and other-wordly. The ground was a jumble of rocks covered in thick moss and other vegetation. Old trees stood singular and stark and it seemed incredible that they could survive in what felt like a rather dark and forgotten place. it reminded Ben of the Hidden Valley in Glencoe.
We throughly enjoyed being in such a remote place. Apparently, it’ a favourite haunt of adders so it’ a good idea to take care in the summer months.
As we crested the highest point of the dirc, were were suddenly presented with beautiful Lochan na Doire-uaine. It means “lochan of the green thicket” in Gaelic.
The most challenging part of the circuit came next as we climbed a steep north-west slope, skirting around the base of precipitous crags. This is a place to take your time and ensure you know that each foot and hand hold is secure.
Higher up, the slopes levelled out a bit before we started walking south and along the top of east-facing crags.
We headed around the top of the parallel Dirc Mhor and looked down on an even bigger jumble of rocks tightly packed into a huge slash in the landscape.
The final 1.5km hike to the summit of The Fara was quite arduous. There was no path to follow and Ben and I needed to tramp through thick heather and deep vegetation on a slope that was constantly steep.
Just when we were wondering if the top would ever come, we finally spotted the large cairn, which in fact doesn’t mark the true summit. The actual summit sits on top of large rocks a little further south of the cairn.
We enjoyed a stop for something to eat and to take in a fabulous panorama of mountains.
Descent of The Fara
We easily picked up an obvious trod heading off The Fara to the north and then easterly. The slope felt fairly gentle and before long, we reach a wide track that took us back to the original track we had ascended for Meall nan Eagan.
The walk took around five hours in total, of which four hours were spent walking. See Strava for the route.