Monadh Liath  

Getting there
In Newtonmore, just behind the Blasta Restaurant, Glen Road heads up Glen Banchor terminating at a bridge just after a car-park. This car-park can take around 10 cars.

A'Chailleach
Immediately before this car-park, there is a track heading up the side of foresty. Follow this track, through gate for just over 1km. Look for a small cairn on left side of track, there is a bridge crossing the burn hidden in the heather below. Cross the burn and follow a faint path over wet and grassy ground parallel to the burn, then turn uphill to cross another burn. Aim for a hut - carvings on wood in this hut are over 100 years old ! Follow a faint path from the hut, getting more obvious as it ascends. The path levels off in heather and peat before a last direct haul to the summit of A'Chailleach. A large cairn on the top will shelter you out of the wind !

Carn Sgulain
From A'Chailleach's summit, aim due north, on a faint path at first. The path disappears as the ground drops more quickly down to a burn. Cross the burn and continue north over wet and peaty ground until a line of fence-posts is reached. Turn right(east) and follow fence-posts for less than half a kilometre to Carn Sgulain's small untidy cairns.

Carn Ban and Carn Dearg
About turn and follow path and fence-posts for 5km to Carn Ban (which used to be a Munro). Without the fence-posts, navigation would be difficult even in clear conditions as the view consists of gradual undulating sweeps, making so-called summits difficult to determine. The last 1km before Carn Ban is more bouldery than the grassy easy terrain up to this point. From Carn Ban's cairn, aim south to a bealach with a small lochan (not shown on the 1:50,000 map). Turn south-east up the shoulder and around a short corrie to the narrow summit of Carn Dearg with its small cairn.

Geal Charn
Return to bealach, the turn wnw and pick up the line of fence-posts. Follow fence-posts south-west past a cairn and lochan, the posts then turn north-west and start going downhill. Continue downhill, then uphill following the posts over Beinn Odhair The posts then turn north-west towards Carn Odhair na Criche, do not follow them ! Instead continue west over grass to cross the Allt Odhar - there are no more paths or posts to follow until near Geal Charn. Some navigational work, even in clear conditions will be required for the next 4km in a general southwest direction. The terrain is easy underfoot, but only occasional wildlife will lighten an otherwise dreary section. Upon passing the peat ground just after the start of the ascent up Geal Charn, another line of fence-posts is met. Follow these posts and a developing path to the large summit cairn. The views from this top are suprisingly quite good and certainly better than on the other three munros

Down to Garva Bridge and return
From the summit head south-west over bouldery ground and a slight rise then pick up a path going downhill. The path travels through heather then over increasingly damp ground to reach the Allt Coire nan Dearcag. A path continues for 1km following the south side of the Feith Talagain. The path disappears, but continue heading south-west to pick up a track to a wooden bridge. Cross the bridge and Garva Bridge is less than a half km further on.

Route not long enough ?
Feeling you've not run enough ? Well you could continue over the Creag Meagaidh hills. These are easily reached from Garva Bridge up through forest and grassy slopes onto Carn Dubh, from where it's a pleasant walk onto Carn Liath. This does assume you've got transport arranged to get from Laggan Dam back to Newtonmore. I've combined these routes a couple of times and would thoroughly recommend them. The terrain is very runnable and the views just keep getting better the further west you continue.