UKC

Has anybody done this approach? What is it like on a bike i.e. what is the state of the track and what sort of time are we talking about. I know that there are some pinnacles to ascend using this approach but the bogs can be avoided apparently. Is it preferable to the Incheril start? Any advice appreciated.

Used that approach 5 weeks ago to repeat the three eastern Munros. Took 12 hrs car to car (excuses: we are old and it was very hot). The track is bikeable to Lochivroan bothy, but it was harder work than I expected: lots of little ups and downs, some unrideable sandy bits, 45 mins for ~6 km. Then an hour's walk to where the path drops down to Loch an Nid. The slabs up towards Sgurr Ban are fun, and the scrambly bit on the E top of the Mullach is supposed to be good if it fits with your target hills. I haven't done the Incheril approach so don't know how it compares.

Rob F

Yes we did them from the bothy a few months ago. Its not the natural circuit you can do from Shenevall but I enjoyed it. The pinnacles on Sgurr Dubh are pretty straight forward and theres more wear than you would expect on the obvious line.

We did Sgurr Ban last which as you can imagine involves a considerable amount of descent & re-ascent which is marginally eased by the amount of deer tracks you can follow.

You'd bike to the bothy no problem, after that I wouldn't bother.

Any other questions let me know.

Personally I wouldn't bother biking to the bothy. The section to the loch from the road us fine but the rest is too gravely to be worth the hassle. Walking with a big pack in winter the 6km took me under 90mins.

Thanks for the prompt replies. I've done the circuit from Shenavall but  but I'm now tempted by the Incheril start as I understand that the biking is better even if the distance is a bit longer. The thing with biking is it all depends on the state of the track. I cycled into Ben Alder from Dalwhinnie and the return was a breeze, even if it was through driving rain and we were totally soaked.

You can take your bike quite along way in from Incheril, Sean. Tree-planting a number of years ago extended the cyclable route by a good distance. Have to dodge drainage ditches on this last section. Great downhill run coming home. I've used bike twice in this area in the past 5 years to do Beinn Tharsuinn, Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair and Sgurr Ban. The route to Loch a'Bhraoin bothy is perfectly cyclable but as others have said is quite gravelly in places.

Thanks for that info. It's a lovely walk from Incheril  I remember when we ticked Slioch so that is ny favourite  approach at present. Time-wise the other route is down as 13 hours. How long is the walk from the Incheril start?

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We did the approach from Incheril a couple of weks ago - we rode almost to Lochan Fada. We were only after 3 munros - Beinn Tarsuinn, Sgurr Ban & Mullach Choire Mhicfearchair. The ride in was first on a very wide and pretty flat track to heights of Kinolchewe then up Gleann na Muice it is a good double track but steep in places (if you are an occasional cyclist it might be a bit of walking). There is then a lovely section of singletrack for a couple of km - but watch the water bar dips and then it goes into a bit more technical singletrack near the first lochan. We left the bikes about 1km short of the loch. From there it is an easy walk  on a good track and then there is a path all the way from the tent spots at the Lochan to the Beinn Tarsuinn/Meall Garbh col. If you don't want to to do Mullach twice then you can make a way over the Bealach na Croise and swing round under Sgurr Ban - but it would be a long detour and pretty trackless.

As above really. You could bike to the bothy, but as half of the joy of biking part of the way is an easy downhill return, which you won't get, I'm not sure it would be worth it. The ride would be flat, but with enough gravelly or rough sections to be quite annoying on the return when knackered.

The slabs are an amazing, unique place, well worth visiting. The scrambly bit looks rather impressive, but apparently is fairly straightforward. In winter, it looked anything but and we avoided it by climbing up the corrie.

This will be my 6th visit to these remote hills and I've yet to encounter them on a decent day and get a view. It is nearly always raining. I only hope that this good weather lasts until I get up there. Those slabs look tempting. I'll just have to study the map very closely. The problem with biking is that you have no idea of what sort of condition of track you will encounter. Thanks for all the proffered advice.

Sean

A good walk of 12 hours in indifferent weather, and climbed via the vast quartzite slabs that fall from the flank of Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair.  I'm guessing that we are probable talking about the slabs of over 800 hundred feet in height. Very impressive if a little wet, actually they were streaming with water, with a veritable river on the right-hand slab. I will post a pic of this impressive feature. I image that it would be hard work on a bike along the path that skirts the lochan because of the gravel.