Munro Bagging Creag Leacach, (Munro #21) 20.10.2018

It's true that there is no such thing as a straightforward Munro. On Saturday I ventured once more into the southern Cairngorms to climb a mountain with my friends, a mountain they had failed to climb two years earlier. The weather forecast was to be favourable, yet on the day the mountain weather had other ideas. Very soon after setting off it became clear that Creag Leacach was not going to offer up that tick very easily. We ended shrouded in significantly thick mist, and before long we missed a turn-off which would have led us straight up past Glas Mol and along the ridge towards the summit of Creag Leacach. As a result, we ended up dropping down several hundred metres at the wrond side of the ridge meaning we had a very steep and long climb to get back up onto the other side again. An easy mistake given the conditions, but it did add an extra 1 and 1/2 hour onto the climb. In the end Creag Leacach was a hard earned Munro in thick cloud, drizzle and a fairly strong wind, with absolutely zero view. However, the adventure in itself not to be beaten by this mountain (a second time for my friends), made it all the more exciting to push ourselves to that summit and back down safely. Creag Leacach is a stony mountain rising prominently above the Devil's Elbow on the road up the Cairnwell Pass. It is normally ascended as part of the round of the four Munros commonly known as the Glas Mol Circuit on the east side of the pass; we also give a more attractive alternative route, starting in Glen Isla. Region: Cairngorms Altitude: 987 metres