Walk Report: The Glen Falloch Group
Here follows the report on my third days walk in Scotland a couple of weeks ago originally written in the youth hostel the evening of the walk.
Thursday 21st July
Today was a much better day all round with clearer weather, a weaker wind and a rising cloud level, however I still had a very long and challenging walk ahead of me. I walked south of Crianlarich down the A82 for just over a mile to the car park on the edge of the forest and headed up the track beside the River Falloch. Now I was supposed to be following Ralph Storer's Route 5 up Srón Gharbh but the good track seemed far more appealing than the steep pathless climb up the hill so I headed along the valley bottom. But of course the track soon came to an end to be replaced by an often boggy and indistinct path running up to the head of the valley. Soldiering on I made my way to the end of the valley and began climbing the ridge up to the eastern peak of Beinn a'Chroin. At one point I had a bit of difficulty, not with the terrain, but me: I was exhausted and totally worn out. I don't know if I've not been eating enough but I felt a pain in my stomach and an inability to go any further. I rested a while and had something to eat before trying to resume the climb up the hill.
Gradually the pain and weariness left me and I reached the summit of Beinn a'Chroin, which appears to have many summits, the eastern one I reached first was the true summit in Storer's opinion. He would have had me walk all the way up to Beinn a'Chroin from Bealach Buidhe and then along the whole ridge including the big drop before the eastern summit, and then walk all the way to the Bealach. My route, although very muddy, removed this necessity and let me walk the whole ridge in one go. A point should be made about the various summits on Beinn a'Chroin: although most sources give the eastern peak as being the highest the Harvey map I was using marked the middle peak of five different peaks as being the highest. Maybe there has been a re-survey of the summits here, as far as I could tell the actual Munro on Beinn a'Chroin does not have a cairn, despite the fact that all the others do! [Looking this up the internet now I discover that Harvey was right, the eastern peak has been demoted and the new summit indeed being the one on the western ridge (at 388 186); reports suggest it does have a cairn so maybe I mistaken there!].
I walked over each of the peaks to make sure I'd bagged the lot then began my descent to Bealach Buidhe weaving around the crags crisscrossing down the steep rocky slope. Crossing the grassy col I made the ascent of An Caisteal up a very interesting path climbing up the steep rocky ridge. Now well into the clouds still lingering on the top of this almost 1000 metre mountain I walked to the summit cairn(s) and beyond to the northern summit cairn [the actual Castle-like part of the ridge that gives the Munro it's name] before returning over the top (you can never be too careful!). Before descending very far back down the ridge I veered off to the right down the steep grassy slopes to the bealach with Beinn Chabhair. The ascent of this third Munro of the day required a little thought as there was no path and I had to pick my own way up the complex terrain on the eastern slopes. Eventually, and with more than a little relief I reached the top and bagged my third Munro of the day, my seventh in three days.
From the summit I headed north and then west along a clear path on the narrow ridge that was a joy to travel along. Call me lazy but I do like a good path to walk along; if there is no path I have to spend all my time picking out my route instead of just enjoying the walk and the views. A path that weaves around complex rocky terrain is my sort of path; I always enjoy walking along such a path. The top of Beinn Chabhair contains such a path, as does the southern approach to An Caisteal. The path I was following descended to reveal an astonishingly complex terrain that reminded me of the early part of my walk yesterday. Thankfully today I was descending instead of ascending so was able to zoom over the grassy knolls, now well into my second wind. I followed the faint path around the northern slopes of Meall nan Tarmachan and then crossed Garbh Bhealach veering to the south of Stob Creag an Fhithach I headed for Lochain a'Caisteal. This was a picturesque mountain lake with a high cliff overlooking the lake.
After passing around the lake I began descending the hillside making my own way down the hill through the long grass. Coming down the hill was quite fun actually, starting off in the hills and then walking straight down to the bottom of the valley; from one world to another. At the bottom of the valley, Glen Falloch, was the West Highland Way, which provided me with an ideal route back to Crianlarich. It proved to be very nostalgic trip for me walking along the West Highland Way reliving my walk of a year ago, but now in much better weather. Last year it was wet, but by the time I was walking along the way now it was early evening and the weather had cleared to provide a very warm end to the day. So under a hot evening sun I returned to the youth hostel at 7.15 pm, another long day but a much more enjoyable one that yesterday. Tomorrow I'll be going to Glen Nevis, but a walk may be on the cards for on the way.
Thursday 21st July
Today was a much better day all round with clearer weather, a weaker wind and a rising cloud level, however I still had a very long and challenging walk ahead of me. I walked south of Crianlarich down the A82 for just over a mile to the car park on the edge of the forest and headed up the track beside the River Falloch. Now I was supposed to be following Ralph Storer's Route 5 up Srón Gharbh but the good track seemed far more appealing than the steep pathless climb up the hill so I headed along the valley bottom. But of course the track soon came to an end to be replaced by an often boggy and indistinct path running up to the head of the valley. Soldiering on I made my way to the end of the valley and began climbing the ridge up to the eastern peak of Beinn a'Chroin. At one point I had a bit of difficulty, not with the terrain, but me: I was exhausted and totally worn out. I don't know if I've not been eating enough but I felt a pain in my stomach and an inability to go any further. I rested a while and had something to eat before trying to resume the climb up the hill.
Gradually the pain and weariness left me and I reached the summit of Beinn a'Chroin, which appears to have many summits, the eastern one I reached first was the true summit in Storer's opinion. He would have had me walk all the way up to Beinn a'Chroin from Bealach Buidhe and then along the whole ridge including the big drop before the eastern summit, and then walk all the way to the Bealach. My route, although very muddy, removed this necessity and let me walk the whole ridge in one go. A point should be made about the various summits on Beinn a'Chroin: although most sources give the eastern peak as being the highest the Harvey map I was using marked the middle peak of five different peaks as being the highest. Maybe there has been a re-survey of the summits here, as far as I could tell the actual Munro on Beinn a'Chroin does not have a cairn, despite the fact that all the others do! [Looking this up the internet now I discover that Harvey was right, the eastern peak has been demoted and the new summit indeed being the one on the western ridge (at 388 186); reports suggest it does have a cairn so maybe I mistaken there!].
I walked over each of the peaks to make sure I'd bagged the lot then began my descent to Bealach Buidhe weaving around the crags crisscrossing down the steep rocky slope. Crossing the grassy col I made the ascent of An Caisteal up a very interesting path climbing up the steep rocky ridge. Now well into the clouds still lingering on the top of this almost 1000 metre mountain I walked to the summit cairn(s) and beyond to the northern summit cairn [the actual Castle-like part of the ridge that gives the Munro it's name] before returning over the top (you can never be too careful!). Before descending very far back down the ridge I veered off to the right down the steep grassy slopes to the bealach with Beinn Chabhair. The ascent of this third Munro of the day required a little thought as there was no path and I had to pick my own way up the complex terrain on the eastern slopes. Eventually, and with more than a little relief I reached the top and bagged my third Munro of the day, my seventh in three days.
From the summit I headed north and then west along a clear path on the narrow ridge that was a joy to travel along. Call me lazy but I do like a good path to walk along; if there is no path I have to spend all my time picking out my route instead of just enjoying the walk and the views. A path that weaves around complex rocky terrain is my sort of path; I always enjoy walking along such a path. The top of Beinn Chabhair contains such a path, as does the southern approach to An Caisteal. The path I was following descended to reveal an astonishingly complex terrain that reminded me of the early part of my walk yesterday. Thankfully today I was descending instead of ascending so was able to zoom over the grassy knolls, now well into my second wind. I followed the faint path around the northern slopes of Meall nan Tarmachan and then crossed Garbh Bhealach veering to the south of Stob Creag an Fhithach I headed for Lochain a'Caisteal. This was a picturesque mountain lake with a high cliff overlooking the lake.
After passing around the lake I began descending the hillside making my own way down the hill through the long grass. Coming down the hill was quite fun actually, starting off in the hills and then walking straight down to the bottom of the valley; from one world to another. At the bottom of the valley, Glen Falloch, was the West Highland Way, which provided me with an ideal route back to Crianlarich. It proved to be very nostalgic trip for me walking along the West Highland Way reliving my walk of a year ago, but now in much better weather. Last year it was wet, but by the time I was walking along the way now it was early evening and the weather had cleared to provide a very warm end to the day. So under a hot evening sun I returned to the youth hostel at 7.15 pm, another long day but a much more enjoyable one that yesterday. Tomorrow I'll be going to Glen Nevis, but a walk may be on the cards for on the way.
posted by David Keates at 6:48 pm
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