Nae viz.
12th April 2022
(Above) The Post Face of Coire Ardair cloaked in mist above 750m-800m. Not the best day for photography, especially above the cloud base. A little precip overnight falling as sleety snow but only over summits with light rain below. The forecasted rainfall for daylight hours didn’t materialise – which was a bit of a bonus – and cheered me up no end! Worrying rumbling noises heard at around 12.30pm emanating from somewhere in upper Coire Ardair. Suspect it was a fairly substantial chunk of falling ice somewhere, or rockfall, or maybe a collapsing cornice. All of those are expected to be objective dangers in the vicinity of the crags during the sustained thaw.
Wild swimming advisory: Lochan a Choire (pictured above) was 4° C in the shallows at midday today.
(Above) The wee lochan in Coire nan Gamhna at 830m. The loch and the odd bare patch of ground provided the only contrast for photography in the coire today. The loch water temperature was 2.3° C. for those who are interested. Not really of wild swimming potential since it’s not deep enough in the middle to overtop a pair of wellies….although I do know of one wild swimmer who would think nothing of giving it a go!
(Above) Location of Coire nan Gamhna (circled) + some of the other lochans in the immediate vicinity of Creag Meagaidh itself and Coire Ardair.
Altitudes:-
Lochan a Choire – 620m
Lochan Coire Choille-rais – circa 805m
Coire nan Gamhna – 830m
Lochan Uaine (NNW of Creag Meagaidh summit) – circa 905m. A proper wild swimming challenge given its remoteness and height! Definitely a mid-summer venue than any other time of year. Getting there is a ‘full-winter kit’ expedition at the moment. Edit: Overlooked a higher smaller outlier some 150m immediately east of Lochan Uaine at circa 940m.
The lochan marked near the ‘Moy Corrie’ notation is at a whopping 1010m but there’s only a slim chance of finding it there on any given day since it’s seasonal and more of a small boggy morass than a lochan.
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Siobhan Cunnane
13th April 2022 4:17 pm
You been dooking in that lochan then??
meagaidhadmin
14th April 2022 11:50 pm
No! But a family friend set himself a challenge to swim in as many high altitude lochans in this neck of the woods as possible. He’s ticked off quite a few but not this one…yet! He’s a purist, too, so no wetsuit just a pair of dookers, even above 800m and during winter.