Càrn Mairg

Carn Mairg
Perthshire
Càrn Mairg from Meall nan Aighean
Summit:	3,415 feet NN684512 56°38’3"N, 4°8’45"W

Càrn Mairg is a mountain in Perthshire, which reaches a height of 3,415 feet at its summit, and so it qualifies as a Munro. Its name is Gaelic and means "Hill of Sorrow" of "Hill of the Dead".

The mountain is 11 miles west of Aberfeldy, on the northern side of Glen Lyon in a cluster of four Munros known as the Càrn Mairg group, which stand in a semicircle around the Invervar Burn.

Overview

Càrn Mairg is commonly climbed with the other three Munros of the Càrn Mairg group (Meall Garbh, Meall nan Aighean and Càrn Gorm). With a height of 3,415 feet, it is the highest of the group and qualifies both as a Munro and as a Marilyn. The terrain of the Càrn Mairg range is similar to high, rolling moorland with only small depressions between the four Munros, a landscape which is suitable for ski mountaineering and has been likened to the Cairngorms, however the circuit of the hills is a long walk being almost 11 miles in length.

Càrn Mairg stands on the Chesthill Estate, whose main activities are farming, fishing and deer stalking. Until legislation in 2003 there was some animosity between the estate and hill walkers over access to the Càrn Mairg hills and at one point the estate put a high locked gate at the start of the walk at Invervar, though since then the estate has built a car park for walkers at Invervar though it only holds eight cars and a request that walkers go elsewhere when the car park is full in an effort to keep a limited number of walkers on the hills. The estate have also requested that the round of the Càrn Mairg Munros be done from west to east (clockwise) to lessen disturbance to deer management.

Schiehallion the summit of Càrn Mairg

The mountains name translates from the Gaelic language as “Hill of Sorrow” or “Hill of the Dead”, this is said to commemorate Saint Eonan turning back an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague at the farmstead of Slatich, several miles to the west. The nearby village of Fortingall had earlier been devastated leaving only one survivor. An alternative interpretation of the name is “Pudding Hill” from the word marag, meaning a "(meat) pudding" which could describe the hills uninspiring shape.

Geography

Càrn Mairg is the high point on an east-west ridge which connects to the adjoining Munro of Meall Garbh which lies two miles to the west. This broad ridge continues easterly for almost six miles, descending into Glen Lyon at the village of Keltneyburn and also contains two subsidiary tops of Càrn Mairg both listed as “Tops” in the Munro Tables; Meall a’ Bhàrr and Meall Liath.

The summit of Càrn Mairg is steep sided, partly craggy and is made up of greyish quartzite stones. South-west of the summit are steep slopes which fall to the head of Coire Chearcaill which is drained by the Allt Coire a' Chearcaill, a tributary of the Invervar Burn and contains an old stalkers bothy on its lower north bank. The northern slopes fall to the glen containing Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel while to the north-east is Gleann Mòr which separates the mountain from Schiehallion which is 2½ miles distant. All drainage from the mountain feeds the River Tay either going north and then by way of the River Tummel or south and by way of the River Lyon.

Subsidiary tops

Càrn Mairg has two subsidiary tops which by their height are listed as Munro tops (those over 3,000 feet not being independent mountain summits), namely:

• Meall a' Bhàrr NN668515; 3,294 feet
• Meall Liath NN692512; 3,320 feet

Meall a' Bhàrr lies just under a mile west of the main summit, and this top stands on a rocky outcrop. Meall Liath ("Grey Hill") stands about half a mile to the east across a col with an approximate height of 3,133 ft. There are grouse butts on Meall Liath.

Ascents

Càrn Mairg is usually climbed from Invervar (grid reference NN665482) in Glen Lyon as part of the circuit of the four Carn Mairg group Munros. For many years parking was a problem on the narrow road but the car park built by the Chesthill estate has eased this difficulty. The clockwise circuit follows the Invervar Burn for just over ⅔ mile until the forest is left behind, then the first Munro of Càrn Gorm can be climbed by going west, the route then goes to Meall Garbh before reaching Càrn Mairg. Navigation throughout the walk is aided by a dilapidated line of old rusting fence posts which follow the ridge. A direct ascent is possible from Fortingall (grid reference NN738470) up Gleann Muilinn but this is a round trip of around 12½ miles.

The summit is marked by a large cairn of quartzite boulders and gives a fine view of Schiehallion to the north-east.

References

• The Munros, Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 1986, Donald Bennett (Editor) ISBN 0-907521-13-4
• In the Hills of Breadalbane, V.A. Firsoff, no ISBN
• The Munros, Scotland's Highest Mountains, Cameron McNeish, ISBN 1-84204-082-0
• The Magic Of The Munros, Irvine Butterfield, ISBN 0-7153-2168-4
• Hamish's Mountain Walk, Hamish Brown, ISBN 1-898573-08-5