Sow of Atholl

Sow from car park

It felt good to be standing at Dalnaspidal once again. Ok it is just a muddy carpark beside a railway crossing just off the A9 but just look around, wilderness. To our left is the Sow of Atholl the Corbett we are going to climb today. Quite amazingly there are still pockets of snow dotted around these hills, it is only the middle of July after all.
As always a check of the weather app this morning indicated that it would remain dry up until 3pm then the rain would be coming through. Looking down through the glen I am amazed that the water level in Loch Garry has dropped dramatically, in fact it looks like drought conditions which it has most certainly not been. I assume water has been run off by the Hydro board.

Sow reflected on a marsh pool

The Sow is a Corbett standing at 803m and it is one of the easier ones to climb as the height gained is only about half of that due to the high starting point being high up the Drumochter pass, Mrs B was very happy about that. But not so happy that I had forgot the walking poles although luckily I had my wading stick so Mrs B had some support.
The route begins by following a track heading towards the loch then follow the estate road. The Sow has no obvious path that we could find so it is up-to you where you cut in to make your ascent up the grassy slopes. Walking up the ugly estate road there are a number of new grouse butts erected just across the burn, they are very low down so I presume this track is out of bounds during shoots.

The estate track heading towards the Boar

Although the track goes much further up the glen we cut off to the right and started to follow faint off road tracks. Almost immediately the ground was boggy wet and peaty, this could be fun. The first 15-20 minutes was very careful walking to avoid boots plunging into deep muddy holes. 

The grassy slopes, Meall na Leitreach behind

Soon we were springing the red grouse out of the heather. We must have spooked a couple of dozen all told and fair to say some spooked us as they exploded out almost below our feet, fun just the same to see them so close.
I was scanning the hills to our left focusing on one of the snow patches when I realised the dots were actually 8 red deer, heads down taking the snow for water I assume. Over the course of he walk we must have seen 40+ red deer on the summits. I have seen more red deer this year than any other I can recall.
Most of the ascent is just a case of picking the easiest path through the heather and the many hidden small burns ready to catch the unwary foot. Just a bit of a slog really but worth stopping and having a good look around, after all it is the views we are out for.

A pair of hares on the skyline

Nearing the summit the hares started to show themselves, particularly the large ears erect on the skyline, and still with small white patches of their winter coats, these should have disappeared ages ago. They were actually quite timid and allowed us to get fairly close to them, great to see.
Also amongst the wet bogs were frogs and newts, still can't get my head around finding these so high up but delightful all the same.

A hill frog trying to hide

We finally reach the very broad summit where there are some good views but the vastness of the summit plain dilutes the effect slightly. The A9 traffic heading north but no sound reaches us up here. Some of the A9 Munros are showing well. The cairn is surprisingly small but I suppose the stones are limited on this hill. Some twites stood on small rocks chirping away again seemingly unfazed by us.

The plateau summit

It was only just after 1pm but the skies were grey and menacing so we decided to head down. About 10 minutes into the descent we heard the roar of the military jets passing up the A9. If only they had been 10 minutes earlier we would have had a great view of them below us.

The very small summit cairn collection of rocks

About 5 minutes  later we could hear an eagle calling above our heads, it must have been flying close by but we could not spot it.
A slow steady descent, trying to avoid slipping on the wet and boggy grassy slopes, and we successfully got back to the estate road. The walking poles would definitely have helped.

The Boar's ridge behind Mrs B

Overall a nice short walk with good views, what's not too like.
PS: when the heavens opened they did in style and the downpour lasted for hours, high summer in Scotland.

The dry and sandy  Loch Garry below