Walk Report: Beinn Dorain & Beinn an Dothaidh

More from my walking diary written a couple of weeks ago while walking in Scotland.

Friday 22nd July
The weather is now stunning and set to stay that. Suits me! Today I left Crianlarich, with I must admit more than a little regret. I had enjoyed my time there' it was a good quiet hostel with few people. I am now in the Glen Nevis hostel at the foot of Ben Nevis and it is anything but quiet! Before getting here I took the train to Bridge of Orchy and began to climb the steep and sometimes muddy path through Coire an Dothaidh up to the bealach between our two mountains, following Ralph Storer's Route 9. Turning right I headed towards Beinn Dorain rejecting a path that veered to the right half way up I stayed on the top of the ridge passing over the false summit to the true summit giving extensive, impressive views all around.

After lunch for both me and the midges (they always find the bit I missed - my forehead, under my hat!) I headed south off the peak seemingly into a very quick descent (the sort that ends with a splat at the bottom!) but the path quickly turned 180° to cling to the cliff edge below the summit on the western slopes of the mountain. The narrow precipitous, thoroughly enjoyable, path commanded breath-taking views of the valley below including a train that was conveniently passing below. This turned out to be the path that I had rejected earlier on the grounds that it didn't seem to be going to the summit. Now less weary from the ascent I was able to enjoy the path and appreciate the alternative return path.

Returning to the Bealach I began my ascent of my second Munro of the day up the path and across the wide pathless plain on top. Beinn Dothaidh is a triplesummittedd mountain, all on its northern edge; the southern side slopes down to the bealach with Beinn Dorain. I decided to head for the western summit aiming first for a short ridge that jutted out from this summit. Once this was gained it was a pleasurable stroll along the short ridge to the cairn on the north-western end of the mountain. The views across Rannoch Moor were awe-inspiring and continued as I strolled to the central peak, which is also the highest. When I got to the eastern summit cairn I paused and took in the view, feeling supreme satisfaction and a reluctance to the leave the mountain. The weather was hot and the skies were clear; from my vantage point I could look out over both mountains. It was a glorious sight; it is why I walk in the mountains.

But I couldn't stay up there. I had already missed the train, but I'd planned on catching the bus, so with the clock ticking I headed down the grassy (and on its eastern side somewhat boggy) plain to the bealach. I then descended the path back to Bridge of Orchy giving myself ten minutes to spare before the bus was due (long enough for a quick drink at the hotel!). Catching the bus I went through Glen Coe for the first time and I wasgobsmackedd, the scenery around the Three Sisters took my breath away. I just fell in love with it instantly; I was heart-broken when the bus moved on. I think I know where I am going next year! I am now in Glen Nevis and my target for the weekend is the Mamores. Luckily the weather looks like holding out all weekend and even into next week. I'm blessed.

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.

Walk Report: Ben More and Stob Binnein

More of my holiday in Scotland:

Wednesday 20th July
Today was a grueller, a real tester of my powers of endurance ad from start to finish the walk took me ten hours over some very demanding terrain, however other sections consisted of road walking. I was following Ralph Storer's Route 7, which starts from a car park on the A85 five miles from Crianlarich so first thing today I was walking for fives miles to the Coire Chaorach car park along a busy A road through some narrow twisty sections. It was with considerable relief when I finally reached the service road just before the car park and headed off up the road into the forest. Now I had omitted to read Storer's book, I hadn't even taken it with me that day, so I made my way through the forest based solely on the map. So instead of staying on the western side I tried to cross the river and promptly got my feet wet, but that was just the beginning. I then tried to follow a route along a clearing beside the river that was frequently muddy and hardgoing and my reward for all this perseverance was another fence. With resignation I followed the fence steeply up the hillside sometimes using he fence to help me over boggy sections. Eventually I reached the corner of the forest still with the fence in my way; one quick climb and I was onto the hills. Now my problems really started.

Climbing onto the top of the wide ridge I started making my way around the corrie passing over Caisteal Corrach and heading towards Leacann Riabhach, but due to to the strong wind and complex terrain my progress was very slow and very tiring. The hills always looked a long way off and I never seemed to be getting any closer to them but eventually I arrived on Stob Creagach, and after crossing Bealach na Frithe onto Meall na Dige. I was now into the clouds and the bright morning was a distant memory as I headed across the wind-swept col towards Stob Coire Lochain. Quickly losing the main path I in desperation start following a path that took me around the side of the hill without gaining any height. Realising my mistake I started climbing straight up the hill up it's very steep south-eastern side; I have an abiding memory of clinging to the side of the cliff-like slope while the wind battered around me. Slowly I crawled up the cliff face onto the top and was hit by the strongest winds I have ever encountered on a mountain top; it was so strong I couldn't even stand up. Crouching I made my way along the clear path on the top of the ridge to the summit cairn, collapsing behind it when I got there.

After recovering from my exertions I made my way relatively easily along the path to Stob Binnein, the wind quickly dying down. For most of my walk I had had little or no path to follow, now I was blessed with a clear and easy path; it was finally becoming a thoroughly enjoyable walk. After Stob Binnein I began the long descent to Bealach-eadar-dha Bhein and then the equally long ascent onto the top of Ben More, the highest hill in the area. Because of my slow progress during the day I hadn't reached the top of Ben More until almost 5 pm and I still had the long steep descent back to the road, which would take me back to Crianlarich. Following the clear path I descended steeply zigzagging down the hill until the path petered out and I had to find my own way down the to the Land Rover track leading to Benmore Farm and the ¾ hour of road walking to take me back to Crianlarich. It has been a very exhausting and demanding day but I managed it. Eventually.

Walk Report: Cruach Ardrain & Beinn Tulaichean

For the last two weeks I have been in Scotland having a fantastic time walking up the Scottish hills. While up there I wrote walk reports every evening and from tonight I will start typing them up on here:

Tuesday 19th July
Well, I'm now in Scotland doing some walking in the Highlands. Apart from doing the West Highland Way last year I have not really done any walking in Scotland and it is very different. It's a lot bigger and a lot less crowded; I didn't see anyone all day today but that could have been because of the weather. I was in decisive about where to walk today, the bad weather putting me off something big, and in the end I decided to head off up the hills directly behind the hostel thinking they may be a little easier. [incidentally I was staying at the Crianlarich youth hostel in the west highlands, which is almost next door to the railway station on the west highland line from Glasgow to Fort William. This was very handy and much better than I would get later in the holiday. Crianlarich is a very small community on the junction of the A85 and A82 trunk roads served by a small general store, which I used for all my culinary needs despite it's slightly higher prices than a town-centre superstore.]

Right behind the youth hostel is a Community Woodland and I started the walk by walking through that and into the forest beyond. Now I was following the instructions given by Ralph Storer in his book "100 Best routes on Scottish Mountains", specifically route 6. Storer's instructions took me along the forest roads until I came to an old path beside metal and wooden posts, which Storer describes as "Execrable" and suggests you avoid it as much as possible. I must have forgotten his advise because I walked up the whole boggy, water-logged length of it, even the Harvey map marks this route as marshy ground. It was with considerable relief that I reached the tree line and climbed onto the hillside, my first goal having the very Scottish sounding name of Grey Height. This was merely the start of the ridge around the head of the valley (or corrie as they say in Scotland) [Coire Ardrain], and I continued up to Meall Dhamh before beginning the ascent of Cruach Ardrain. The path I was following took me across the steep western slopes depositing me at the southern end of the mountain.

This suited me fine as I headed away from Cruach Ardrain down the hill towards another Munro (though much smaller) called Beinn Tulaichean. As I was approach the summit the weather threw everything it had at me, biting rain and extremely strong winds that I could hardly walk in. In desperation I sought some shelter against a rocky outcrop and despaired of the conditions and anything else I could think of; eventually I poked my head up and gingerly made my way to the summit cairn, which turned out to be very close to where I had been sheltering. Returning to my shelter I had lunch and gazed out at the glorious views that were miraculously revealing themselves to me as the weather cleared in the lee of the hill affording tremendous views across to Loch Voil. Setting off again I headed back up to the top of Cruach Ardrain and once again the wind tried to stop me as I crossed the col between the two munros, this time to little effect. Climbing up Cruach Ardrain from the south I followed the path to the south-westerly summit cairn. In the wind, rain and low cloud I could easily have though I was at the top but having been warned by Storer I descended the dip beyond and found a rise taking up to another summit cairn, this time the true summit.

The continuation of the walk was to descend steeply down the path next to the summit down to what Storer calls a Bealach (the Scottish name for a col, I guess) and then up to Stob Garbh. At this point I lost the path and had to find my own way around the rock faces onto the top. My compass was heavily used as I found my way along the top of the ridge to the summit cairn at the northern end. Stob Garbh apparently used to be a Munro but was subsequently demoted for having too small a re-ascent making my tally for the day just two Munro and a Munro top. Heading off in the right direction I discovered a path and continued along the ridge over Stob Coire Buidhe towards Crianlarich until my progress was halted by a fence. Storer makes no mention of it although it is marked on the map. Turning to the left I tried to find a stile over it, but none could be found and when I came to a t-junction of fences I decided the only was I would be able to get down would be to cross the fence so climbed over. Descending the steep grass slopes I now had no path and no idea where the path I had been following had gone. When I approached Creag na h-Iolaine I discovered a steep and bracken-covered slope with no means of getting down. Perhaps crossing the fence had not been such a good idea! With considerable difficulty I descended the slope through the bracken not knowing where I putting my feet until I reached the tree-line.

Ralph Storer's instructions hadn't said it would be this difficult! He said there was a "clear" firebreaks, but I could see none so made my way to where the map indicated was a firebreak; there was none. So instead I had to try and descend the hillside going under the trees weaving around the trunks of the trees; luckily the undergrowth was relatively clear under the mature conifers. Following a stream down I made my way to a forest road, ironically the firebreak appeared on my left just before I reached the road. After a energetic hour spent trying to get past a fence, a cliff, bracken and then trees I slowly made my way along the forest road back to where I had started. Passing once more through the Community Woodland I returned to the youth hostel. All in all it was a good, enjoyable walk, even if the weather was a little rough at times, I coped; another victory for me over bad weather. The problems at the end of the walk are best forgotten as being beyond my control. Unless they are the norm for Scotland...