Scotland “Ben Alder 9” - Day 3 of 7 - Saturday, May 3

May 2024 - 12th Scottish Adventure

Standard 7 days (click here for explanation)

3 Munro’s East of the A9
on the 1 After Longest Day!

Every adventure has a longest day
but that, again, is this adventure’s last full,
and thus 6th of 7, hiking day.

In kilometers, this day was longer but
when judging “THE longest day”
of course, altimeters also play a role.

During this day there were, far too many, miles
along the A9.

Flat, in other words!

3 Munro’s this day:

A’Bhuidheanach Bheag – Carn Na Caim – Meall Chuaich

Again, these Munro’s planned based on information from fellow Munro-Baggers on WalkHighlands.

Below are the links to the day’s Munros:

A’Bhuidheanach Bheag
Monadh Mor
Beinn Bhrotain

Most Beautiful Video

Of course I will continue to whine about that wretched A9!

In this Video, I show you how to escape from the A9 (for the location; see the Komoot map) and hike to the first Munro of the day: A’Bhuidheanach Bheag

All videos on youtube

Details
this day

1. Complaining about the A9

Is meant to be funny, of course. Reason I come to this beautiful country is to spend a week encountering as few people as possible. My phone off and 0 stimuli during the whole period. This should not become a medical blog but I have, mildly speaking, additional reasons to choose this.

A period to not only enjoy the hiking, the scenery and the tranquility but, more importantly, to recharge the battery, literally

2. Enjoy

Of course, the above is relative and the positives prevail.

You literally can’t get to the Munro’s in this area without this A9.
Of course, if you are by car you are less inconvenienced than walking next to this busy road. If you look at the map, fortunately, most of it is green!

Furthermore, it’s pretty much always a choice of which things to give attention to, even on a day like this. So in this case, see photo, there is indeed a beautiful bike and walking path along, a large part!, of the A9 (see photo).

3. Evening along the A9 (in the dark, that is).

Assumption is the mother to all fuckups! and in this case, too, I didn’t check the route properly at the end. ‘I assumed’ (wrong!) that from that spot on the A9 I would walk through the village and then, like day 1, come out on the bike/walk path. Not so! Literally along the A9, in the dark with all the headlights so not so nice but in the end ‘own fault, own fault!’

So if you take this route over, watch carefully where, after the last Munro, you cross the A9 and walk back into Dahlwinnie.
After all, it can be done, of course.

Then you don’t walk like me like a hiking geek looking into the headlights for 2 hours.
At one point, while being blinded like a deer by a big truck, I ran into a road sign with my head.

Every Hiker recognizes the feeling of slipping (which happens several times a day in this beautiful area). Sitting on your butt and being the first to look around to see if no one has seen this. While you’ve been hiking solo for days and haven’t spoken to anyone. I had that same feeling now with this sign incident. By the way, always immediately realize how funny it would be if someone did see it!