Beinn Bhuidhe, Loch Fyne - 18th March 2012

Pronunciation: Beinn Bhuidhe - Byn Voo-ee (yellow hill).

 

(Entry by Shona)

There are a few Munros that are often forgotten, or left until later on ‘the list’ because of their location and Ben Bhuidhe is one of these. I think the walk in is what puts people off, but Eric and I do enjoy long walk ins every now and again. It gives us time to reminisce about other mountains and experiences we have had.

Eric decided that Ben Bhuidhe would be the one to climb today and we woke up to beautiful clear skies and sunshine. After parking the car in the carpark, we check the map and head back over the bridge and up the road towards the Fyne Ales Brewery.

The road is tarmac, so we enjoy the walk along it until we are met by a large herd of Highland coos. We put the dogs on the lead as they still have a lot of un-used energy just now and we don’t fancy their chances against a massive cow, we make it through with only a few glances from the beasts. Dogs let loose again, we pass a small group of houses in the valley before heading on towards the power station.

From here, we head north, leaving the tarmac road behind and following a good dirt track north on the opposite side of the river to the power station. A female hiker on her bike passes us. We reach the deer gate and notice a few more bikes locked up on the rail. We are not alone today. The valley starts to narrow a little here and we are getting close to the Cottage where the path up the mountain begins.

It starts to rain as we reach the cottage, so we have a quick change of jackets and put our gaiters on. After the gate, there is the choice of two routes. We head up the gorge along a steep and narrow path which follows the stream upwards. Eventually we see the waterfall and head south of this along a very wet and boggy path. The path heads out onto a beautiful plateau, with the jagged east flank of Ben Bhuidhe splitting the skyline.

The going slows a little here as once again we are skipping through very wet bog. We pick up the path and see the gully that it leads to. This should be fun. I love scrambling and scree, so the wet rocks clatter as I pick my way up the near vertical path. Eric is always leading but I take my time and make sure I look around me to enjoy the views to the east towards Ben Ime, Ben Lomond and Ben Vorlich.

As we reach the ridge, there are 3 other hikers looking slightly puzzled. Eric shows them where we are on the map and then we discuss the mountains we can see. To the west Ben Cruachan (covered by clouds). To the east we can make out Ben More and Stob Binnien, slightly south of these two is Ben Chabhair, Ben Lomond and the Arrochar Alps.
To the south we can see a little bit of Loch Fyne.

From here, we head south west along the ridge and up towards the summit cone. Snow patches are scattered across the west side of the summit, which pleases Alfie no end! He loves frolicking in the snow. A small cairn and broken trig point mark the summit and we spend 10 mins enjoying the clear 360 views.

The sunshine doesn’t last and before we know it, we are being pelted by hailstones. Time to get to lower ground. We follow the ridge back to the top of the gully and head north around the end of the ridge and track our way down the more gentle side of the rocky outcrops.

We have gone super lightweight today with day packs and lighter boots, which means the very wet and hailstone covered ground makes for some interesting slips and slides.
We zig zag our way down the grassy slopes on the opposite side of the gorge that we ascended. The sun comes out for a little while but the ground is still boggy and slippery. I laugh at Eric as he slips but stays upright, however 10 minutes later I slide and land on my backside. Eric and I laugh about how wet my bum now is. My comeuppance for giggling at him sliding.

It’s all part of the fun, after all and I can laugh at myself. We follow the fence line further down and enjoy the late afternoon sun as it lights up the valley in front of us. Eventually we are back at the track next to the cottage, not another soul in sight.

We eat our rolls as we walk back along the track to where the other hikers’ bikes are locked up. Still 4 bikes there, which means we were the first off the mountain. We plod on and soon the rain starts. It’s only a small shower though and we see blue sky ahead.
We soon pass the power station and are back onto the tarmac road. As we walk past the highland cows, we decide the dogs are too tired to cause mischief, so we keep them off the lead.

Bracken looks as though she is contemplating jumping on the back of one of the cows that is lying down in the rain. I think the last thing it would expect is a dog jumping on it, so I call her in and keep her close until we pass them by.

The female hiker passes us by on her bike but there is still no sign of the 3 guys. Who needs bikes when you can enjoy a stroll!

Total distance 13.33 miles
Total time taken 6 hours 33 mins
Height of Ben Bhuidhe 947m above sea level

Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh - 11th March 2012

Pronunciation/Translation: Beinn Dorain - Byn Doa-ran (hill of the otter), Beinn an Dothaidh - Byn an Daw-ee (hill of the scorching).

(Entry by Shona)

A hearty breakfast of porridge and half a banana means that we are feeling fit and full of energy for today’s hike at Bridge of Orchy.

We leave at 7.30am and arrive at the Bridge of Orchy hotel at 9.10am. It’s miserable here. On our journey up, it was a lovely morning but the weather report warned us of rainclouds from the west. So we drive into the weather and as the road circles round from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy, we can’t see the summit of Beinn Dorain. Another beautiful Scottish day!

By the time we ditch our axes and crampons, repack our bags and lead the dogs up, it’s about 9.25am so a nice early start. We head across the road and up towards the station before joining the boggy, wet path that snakes up the valley towards the bealach between the two mountains.

The going is steady and although we started below the clouds, it isn't long before we are inside them, with nothing to see but the fuzzy wet whiteness above. We navigate slowly through boot-sucking bogs and cross a few gentle streams before the climb gets steeper.It's loose scree here, and with it being wet, it slows us down. Don’t want to have a wee spill up here. We get to the bealach and decide to put our waterproofs on as it is drizzly and windy here.

From the bealach, we head in a southerly direction towards Beinn Dorain. The path is good enough and we cover ground at good pace as it climbs through patches of snow and rock. We choose the lower path that circles round the south side of the mountain. I think this was more through luck than judgement.
Sadly we can’t see anything other than cloud but I think the views would be amazing from this path. So I definitely want to do Dorain again in summer.

We hear a train below as it snakes its way around the mountain from Tyndrum.
The rocks are a little slippy here, even with our winter boots on, so we take our time crossing the boulder fields. Eventually, we circle round and head up about 50 yards to the summit cairn (1076m). I get to tap it first because Beinn Dorain is a mountain I have had my eye on for a long time. We take some cloudy, wet pictures then head back down out of the wind.

The weather has closed in now and we are soaked through and being blown all over the place. Before we know it, we are back at the snow patches and then back at the bealach. We head straight over towards Beinn an Dothaidh. Eric advises me that this is made up of a box of summits of sorts, so we pick up the path and head up.

It’s essentially a small river that we are walking up and it soon leads to very boggy ground. We lose the path but pick our way over the bogs and eventually find another small path which we follow, moving across some big snow patches and some little rivers.
I look up to see Eric heading up the side of the hill, so I change my route and follow him.

As we get higher, the wind gets colder and wilder. We can’t get any wetter, but the wind makes the cold clothes stick to our skin. We reach a ridge and follow the snow tracks up in a northerly direction and we reach a small cairn (1004m). We give it a tap and keep going northeast to another cairn after which the path takes us down a little, where we do a wee map check. We decide that we passed the summit and no point in heading this way, so we back track and head over to join the path again.

We pick our way back down the southeast side of the mountain and soon reach the boggy ground. I nearly get sucked in but make it across with a sharp jerk of my foot. One of these days in going to end up chest deep! We are soon back on the path and heading back down to the bealach. We don’t stop here this time and head west down the loose wet scree until we reach slightly flatter ground. More bog dodging before we get to the drier path which follows the river back down to the train track.

As we head further down, the temperature rises and there is a break in the clouds and we are treated to views across to Loch Tulla.The sun is shining as we get below the clouds. Looking back, we just see a line of cloud….shame we can’t see where we have been.
But we head on down towards the car and the dogs get a wee treat of a pork pie each for being well behaved again.

We take our soggy gear off and decide that it is too early for dinner at Paddy's. It is only 2.30pm! So we head back down to Callander to stock up on supplies for dinner, before heading back home
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Stob Binnein and Ben More, Crianlarich - 4th March 2012

Pronunciation/Translation: Stob Binnein - stop binyan (hill of the anvil), Ben More - byn moar (big hill).

(Entry by Shona)

These are a couple of mountains that we considered doing last year but due to a bit of confusion over the parking at Ben More farm, we did Ben Chabair instead. However, today is the day that we decided to get these 2 monsters done, and monsters they were!

After a long, winding drive along a single track road from Balquidder to the farm at Rob Roy’s house, we get our kit on in beautiful sunny weather. A quick look at the map and we decide to go straight up the shoulder of Stob Coire an Lochan instead of walking east along the road and up the valley. It doesn’t look it from the car park but this way is steep and boggy with a lot of little rivers due to melt water higher up.

We make our way at a steady pace up the path and Eric decides to cheat and uses Alfie to pull him up on the lead. I trudge on, trying to keep pace with Eric and the dogs but struggle to catch a proper breath. Eric and I then have a 5 min discussion on how the change in weather affects breathing.

Eventually we cross the sheep fence and head up onto the shoulder of Stob Coire an Lochan where we take some pictures of the surrounding mountains. From here, we can look south east and see the summits of Ben Vorlich and Stuc O’Chroin. To the south we have the other Ben Vorlich at Loch Lomond side.

We can also see right up the valley to the west, which is beautifully lit by the midday sun.
After getting another layer on, buff pulled up and gloves on, we head up and are soon ploughing our way through snow covered boggy ground. We head along the shoulder and up towards the summit. The weather is getting worse and the clouds are rolling in. Soon we are being battered by freezing rain and then snow. Visibility has dropped and we eventually pass a couple of hikers that started out in front of us (who didn’t look like they were well equipped).

I foolishly think that this is the summit of Stob Binnien. How wrong was I?
After heading along the wide ridge, we are faced with what feels like a never ending steep ascent. Being weather beaten isnt helping and we cannot see the summit from here…which is maybe a good thing! We just keep heading up at a steady pace. Eventually we reach the summit, quick tap of the small cairn and we walk off the north side, heading towards Ben More.

We descend steeply here and after 5 mins, I start to think that we are heading too low. The map shows the descent between the 2 mountains is approx 350m, but we can’t see any surrounding mountains due to cloud cover, so we check the map again and plough onwards, passing a group of 4 tired looking hikers heading up to the summit of Stob Binnein.

We reach the bealach and see some people descend off here to the west, which seems like it could be a good way down after we get Ben More bagged. So we start our long slow hike up the side of Ben More. It is pretty steep and covered in about 6 inches of snow, so going is steady as we kick steps and make sure our footing is good.

This mountain is full of one of the most frustrating things for me, false summits. Im drained and at one point I actually don’t think I can carry on. But a wee nudge from Eric and the dogs sees me finally reach the summit cairn. The last push made my legs burn, but it is a good feeling. I havent been physically and mentally challenged like that for a long time. It feels good to be pushed to the limit.

We hang around for 15 mins and take some pictures before starting our descent. We have to take our time dropping off the summit of Ben More as it is very steep and the snow is soft. Can’t afford to slip now! As we get further down, the cloud parts just enough to show us the side of Stob Binnien. WOW. Super steep and seems to rise up into the clouds for an eternity. I don’t fancy doing that again to head back the way we came.

We check the map and decide that it is a good idea to head west off the bealach and curve round the side of the mountain. We suddenly hear the sound of helicopter blades cut through the clouds and eventually see the bright yellow RAF rescue chopper hovering near the summit of Stob Garbh across the valley. Something must have happened and we watch as it circles the area for a while before heading out of the valley.

We continue heading down through the soft wet ground, working our way round and down towards the small pass of Creagan Liatha in the valley. From here it is a slow descent through boggy ground, separated with small rivers, which eventually lead to bigger rivers. We have fun rock hopping and getting our feet a little wetter than they already are. Progress is good and the temperature has risen so the ice and snow on my hat starts to melt.

I keep hoping that my water bladder has defrosted but no such luck! I need to do what Eric does and bring a back up bottle of juice, which won’t freeze as fast! We soon hear the helicopter heading back into the valley and it flies right over the top of us and then circles in to land on a flat area near two hikers a little further down. We trudge on and soon pass the helicopter. The dogs’ arent phased and Eric decides to take a picture of me and the dogs with the chopper in the background.

As we drop a little lower, we see two 4x4s which must be the mountain rescue teams. They shout over to ask if we are okay, to which we give the thumbs up. They drive down the track and we hear the chopper leave the valley and we are left all alone as the sun drops behind the mountains.

We continue down the dirt track and it feels good to have solid (dry) ground under of feet, even though Bracken looks slightly sore as she wanders lowly down with us. We reach a gate and the sign points us into a muddy field, so we navigate across it, and get our boots dirty again before joining the road that will lead us back to the car.

We enjoy the evening sun as it sinks into the valley behind us and take our time walking back to the car. It’s warmer down here and the air is still. Back at the car, we take our soggy, mud splashed gaiters off and settle in for some well earned food and drink before heading back down the single track road to Balquidder.

Ben Ledi, Kilmahog - 26th February 2012

(Entry by Shona)

Today we decided to give Munro Bagging a miss and do a slightly smaller hill.
At 879 metres, Ben Ledi only misses out on munro height by a little, so it was still a fair walk. After parking up, we set off through the woods at a steep incline and come out at the logging road where we cross over and set off up a well made path.

The going is still pretty steep here and it’s slightly warmer than we first thought, so we have a quick stop to take some layers off. As we descend higher, we end up in cloud cover and the wind picks up as the path circles round the eastern side of the mountain. We reach the slightly boggy shoulder and continue on towards what we think is the first false summit. We soon discover that it wasn’t the first false summit as the next part of the route gets steeper.

We finally reach the first false summit and power on over the next before winding our way through deep snow and rocky outcrops, past the large metal cross, to reach the top in cloud cover. Patches of snow are still scattered around. Big change from when we passed Ben Ledi last weekend on our way to Ben Lawers as it was in complete snow cover!

A few rain soaked snaps on the summit and we decide to head back down at a fast pace.
We soon reach the boggy part and dodge our way through vast areas of bog. Its fun jumping over large wet areas, where we know our boots could be sucked in at any moment. At one part, Eric takes a massive leap off a high part and right over a really wide bog. I decide it isnt worth risking my knees now that they are much better. Plus, I over thought it and by then, the moment had past.

We keep winding our way down the path and before we know it, we are back below the clouds. From here, we slow pace just a little and chat as we walk down, enjoying the views and the river as it flows through the pine trees. We cross the logging road again and head down through the forest, where we see a couple of lads on a quad bike trying to negotiate round a rather large fallen tree.

Soon we are back at the car and taking our slightly soggy gear off. Good, brisk hike but even the dogs’ arent overly tired this time!

Ben Lawers via Beinn Ghlas - 19th Feb 2012

Pronunciation/Translation: ben law-ers (hill of the loud stream), byn glas (green grey hill).


It was well over a year since we'd last been up on Ben Lawers. On that occasion we had fallen victim to a slight navigation malfunction while experimenting with an unorthodox descent in cloud cover. Let's just say... it was our longest ever walk-out. Today there would be no wrong turns, the snow covered range was topped with beautiful bluey grey skies.

The old Ben Lawers visitor centre has been removed and the car parking area is now on the other side of the winding road. We realised this a little too late, so ended up parking just beyond the start point. We quickly got our kit sorted as the dogs frolicked in the snow covered heather, then set off across to the gate that would take us into the Lawers reserve. As we reached the gate, another couple of hikers were approaching from the proper car park. We all had a laugh at Alfie and Bracken desperately trying to beat each other through the deer gate. They were looking rather cute in their doggy waterproof coats.

Following the path up towards the valley, we crossed over the stream as the trail veered to the east slightly and starts to gain altitude on it's way up to Beinn Ghlas. We could no longer see the couple from the gate, so assumed that they were maybe breaking northwest onto the slopes of Meall Corranaich. A path continues north alongside the Edramucky burn, but it's better to stay on the higher track which moves east then northeast up onto the lip of Coire a' Chonnaidh.

The views get much better as you move up along the ridge to the steeper ground before the summit of Beinn Ghlas (1103m). It's only as you near the summit that you are rewarded with clear views of the next target, Ben Lawers. It was touch and go here as to whether we should switch to crampons or wait. We decided that the snow was still a little soft so waited until we were at the bealach between Creag nan Gabhar and Creag Loisgte before strapping on the prongs. It was a good thing too as much of the path up to Lawers summit was now frozen hard snow and ice.

With the skies being nice and clear, there were quite a lot of winter hikers on the Lawers range making the most of the crisp conditions. On Lawers summit (1214m) the trig point and cairn stood frosted and two other climbers were soon to join us coming up from the direction of Creag an Fhithich and An Stuc. Shona and I took a few snaps with our cameras but chose not to hang around for long as temperatures were way too fresh for standing on summits.

Descent was basically back the way we had come. Many people decide to drop off to 900m and walk down from the head of Edramucky burn, but we thought it would be good to climb back up over Beinn Ghlas again, does that count as two ascents in one day? From Beinn Ghlas we strolled down, taking in the amazing views out over the Tarmachan Ridge and Loch Tay. Crampons removed after the steep sections, we enjoyed the sensation of warming up again in the late afternoon sunshine and had fully thawed out by the time we got back to the car.