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Posts Tagged ‘Beinn Narnain’

A quick dash to the top of Beinn Ime and back!

The title for this blog probably breaks most if not all of the trades description act for as most of you know, I don’t actually dash anywhere, especially when I’m on a hill!  That said however, our trip to Beinn Ime yesterday was in a sense, a bit of a dash as up until mid afternoon the day before, we had no intention of going walking.  The forecasts seemed to have been suggesting wet and very windy weather for Thursday but when Nita double checked early Wednesday evening…. it seemed like the rain wouldn’t actually arrive until the end of the day.

Not wanting a silly early start as Nita had been working a night shift on Tuesday and didn’t get much in the way of sleep on Wednesday, we opted for going for a walk in the Arrochar Alps ….not much more than an hour and a half drive from Irvine.  The forecast had actually suggested there would be 90% chances of a cloud free Munro, but when we reached the side of Loch Lomond at just after 9am, everything was dark and gloomy with heavy banks of cloud shrouding all the hills above about 500 metres.  I have to say we weren’t at the time too happy with Geoff Monk at MWIS….. but we should have known better as, given another hour and the tops where clear.  And we used that hour by stopping at Luss and treating ourselves to a bacon roll and a cuppa ….so not bad after all!  My apologies to Geoff and his team at MWIS for ever doubting them!

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The Cobbler

Our target for the day was Beinn Ime, a hill we’d first climbed back in 1998 and one we’d revisited on five or six other occasions over the years.    It makes for a very pleasant wander through spectacular scenery and as you start at sea level and end up at just over 1000 m ….it gives your legs a good stretch.    We haven’t actually walked the path up past The Cobbler and Beinn Narnain to Beinn Ime for probably four years and it was amazing to see how much the lower sections of the path had changed in this time.  What had been saplings have grown and the big views you used to have out over Loch Long, have for the most part, been hidden behind foliage.    What you lose on the bigger scale however, you make up on the smaller scale.  Numerous wild flowers decorated the sides of the path almost all the way up to the edge of the forestry and from that point the views of The Cobbler and Beinn Narnain grab your attention.     The path itself has eroded quite badly in places despite it only being a little over 10 years old I think.  The top surface seems to have been washed away in places but it still makes a pretty easy way to gain height and get up into these spectacular mountains.

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The Cobbler from the upper slopes of Beinn Ime

I had expected the path to be quite busy at this time of year but in fact we only saw a few other folk throughout the day and the busiest spot was actually the summit of Beinn Ime itself.  Even so, there was only a few folk and they soon headed off back down and Nita and I had this lofty quiet spot to ourselves …… with the exception of one lone sheep and a couple of Ravens.  It had taken us about four and a quarter hours to the top and so we had plenty of time to sit and enjoy the views which, despite the generally grey skies, were pretty extensive.  Nita could make out Ben Nevis to the north but it still had its head in the cloud.  Most of the rest of the hills were clear just as MWIS had forecast.

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At the summit of Beinn Ime

Our return back down to the car was in increasingly gloomy light but the rain held off and I have to admit that I felt quite smug…. our lazy start and second breakfast in Luss paid off…. cloud free tops by the time we started walking and still dry eight and a half hours later on our return to the car.  A perfect day in the hills.

Walking isn’t always what hill walking is about!

Loch Lomond from the slopes of Beinn Eich

Loch Lomond from the slopes of Beinn Eich

It can be very easy sometimes when you go hill-walking …..just to walk.  You have a route in mind, a special hill or series of tops you want to visit and you can get very blinkered into doing exactly that….quite often at a rush ….and then if it takes less time to reach your objective than you thought, to simply return.   Or that is perhaps how I used to be many years ago when my sight was good, I was a few years younger and a good deal fitter!  Things have changed since then, if for no other reason than I met and have spent the last 25 years living with a sensible woman who has never worried greatly if we don’t get to the top of a hill, or do all the route, or take a meandering course way out of our way, (whatever that was) to have a look over an edge or check out an interesting rock.  In short, Nita has had a very good affect on me and I’m a much more relaxed walker than I think I used to be.  Of course, the fact that I can’t see too much these days has also slowed me, (us) up a great deal.  I simply can’t race up and down a hill any longer, even if I wanted to.  As I say though, it doesn’t seem to bother Nita and our slow, slow pace is just something that we’ve taken on board and have adapted our walking style too.  It gives Nita lots of time to look around, peer at strange plants or bugs and try, (usually without much success) to point them out to me!

From the slopes of Beinn Eich

From the slopes of Beinn Eich

Ben Lomond from the summit of Beinn Eich

Ben Lomond from the summit of Beinn Eich

Yesterday was just the case.  We’d driven up to Luss on the side of Loch Lomond and had planned to walk up the glen and then up onto Beinn Eich and then possibly continue over to the next hill.  It really was a beautiful spring day ….the first one of the year maybe. It was warm and the sun was bright with just a few clouds bubbling across the sky and casting deep shadows across the brightly coloured landscape.   It was perfect.  The whole way up we were accompanied by the sound of Skylarks and other wee birds and it was about as peaceful as you can get.  When we reached the summit and found a pleasant spot to sit looking out towards Ben Lomond, it was the obvious lunch spot and so we just sat down with this vast panorama in front of us.  Beyond Ben Lomond was the full array of the southern Highlands, be-speckled with the last remnants of the previous months heavy snow and over to our left we could make out the distinctive shape of The Cobbler, Beinn Ime and Beinn Narnain.  We just sat and looked, and ate, and drank our coffee and chatted ….and before we knew it ….two hours had gone by and it was 4 o’clock.  Amazing, in the past I would have been hankering to rush on, but now I was happy just to sit and fully appreciate the wonderful location we were in ….as I say, sometimes walking isn’t just all that walking is about!

The perfect lunch spot ...the summit of Beinn Eich

The perfect lunch spot …the summit of Beinn Eich

 

 

The Cobbler, Beinn Ime and Beinn Narnain from the summit of Beinn Eich

The Cobbler, Beinn Ime and Beinn Narnain from the summit of Beinn Eich

 

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A big little walk

Doune Hill from the slopes of Tullick Hill

Doune Hill from the slopes of Tullick Hill

One of the things I love about Scotland is that however well you think you know an area ….there is always something new to explore tucked away around the corner…..it’s great. Glen Douglas is just such a place. It runs from the western shores of Loch Lomond over to the eastern shores of Loch Long and a small single track road runs along its length connecting it to the main roads at either end. For year’s we’ve been driving past the end of this little road heading for other glens, or other hills and we’ve never really noticed or thought about it. On our annual visit to walk Beinn Dubh and Mid Hill however, we do, albeit briefly, get a view down into Glen Douglas …but that’s all we’ve ever seen of it ….until last Sunday that is.

On Tullich Hill

On Tullich Hill

The three hills to the north of Glen Douglas have not been completely out of mind though. I did a short winter walk with my friend Guy about ten years ago ….from Tarbet up steep slopes to the summit of Ben Reoch and it did make me realise what a great view point this group of hills made …especially of the Cobbler and its neighbours. So then, last weekend we decided to go and walk all three of these hills to the north of Glen Douglas ….making an interesting and quite strenuous little day.

Turning off the A82 just beyond the Inverbeg Inn, we were immediately impressed by how quiet and beautiful the glen was….a real little hidden gem. Indeed, in the bright spring morning light …well it looked stunning ….and these very modest hills somehow looked much bigger and more dramatic. The circuit we planned to do took in Tullich Hill, Ben Reoch and Beinn Bhreac, starting and finishing at Invergroin.

The Arrochar Alps from Tullich Hill

The Arrochar Alps from Tullich Hill

Access to the open hillside can be gained through a gate just beyond the bridge at Invergroin and from there it’s simply a case of making your way, at first, gently and then more steeply up the very obvious SE ridge of Tullich Hill. We’d only gone a very short distance when Anita spotted a very large bird …with several small birds following it. I barely saw it but Anita watched it for quite a while with a monocular and she was happy that it was a Golden Eagle she was watching ….a great start to the day. About half way up the ridge a small band of crags appears, but a steep band of grass leads through them and onto easier angled ground. Beyond this the ridge is a little more defined with the ground falling away steeply on your left with increasingly impressive views across to Doune Hill, Loch Long and as the ground eases as you near the summit, all the way to Arran and Ailsa Craig beyond. It’s a steep little climb and we were well glad of a sit down, sheltering from the cold wind behind a rock and just taking in the beauty and quietness of our surroundings.

The North Peak of the Cobbler, Beinn Ime and Beinn Narnain from An t'Sreang

The North Peak of the Cobbler, Beinn Ime and Beinn Narnain from An t'Sreang

Our next objective was the slightly higher top of Ben Reoch (661m) about 2km to the north east of us. To get there though is no easy stroll ….it involves descending just under 300m to the wild little col of An t’Sreang and then climbing very steep slopes to regain the height …plus a little, in order to reach the next summit. The views across to the Arrochar Alps were superb all the way. The Cobbler and Beinn Narnain had a little snow on them but their bigger neighbour Beinn Ime had a good covering and looked very dramatic against the now darker and mainly cloud covered sky. Near the top of the steep slopes my legs started to cramp and I made an undignified slump to the turf to wait for it to clear. It gave me a good chance to moan ….but then I remembered the views and forgot for a short while, about my complaining legs!

North from Ben Reoch

North from Ben Reoch

As you reach the small cairn marking the top of Ben Reoch, the views in the other direction really open up. The ground drops away in front of you and you can see for many miles up and down Loch Lomond. Across the water is Ben Lomond and to the north east the easily recognisable snow covered summits of Ben More and Stob Binnian.

Towards Beinn Bhreac

Towards Beinn Bhreac

By now it was about half past three and we still had quite a way to go across to our final summit of the day …Beinn Bhreac at 681m. Thankfully there isn’t another steep descent and climb between these two hills, just a gentle loss of height and a wander along a broad gently rising ridge. The final few metres are topped with small crags and the trig point sits atop a prominent little knoll high above Loch Lomond. It’s a lofty little spot and a great end to a fine circuit. The descent on steep grassy slopes back to Invergroin was easy albeit a little long winded ….with me going at my normal snails pace …but the views were still fine and as we got lower the late sun came out to give a bit of warmth and finish the day in style. We were tired though …we’d been walking for just on nine hours …..and as I said …there was quite a lot of up …and down ….Nita’s quote of the day as we walked the half kilometre back along the wee road to the car, ‘I’ve got legs like those of a rubber chicken!’ I knew how she felt …only thing for it was to head to the Inverbeg Inn for some much needed food.

Loch Lomond from the summit of Beinn Bhreac

Loch Lomond from the summit of Beinn Bhreac

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A Perfect day for spiders

Above Loch Long

Above Loch Long

Firstly, my apologies for the late arrival of this blog ….last weeks blog in fact.   Suffice to say it’s been another busy week and a visit to Blairmore Gallery on Thursday, a visit from Susie of The Gallery on the Corner, on Friday and working late most evenings meant that doing the blog went clean out of my mind! Oh well better late than never.

I don’t know what it was like else where but here in Irvine it was a pretty miserable week weather wise.  We had a lot of gloomy wet days and so we put off thoughts of another visit into the hills.  However, the forecast for the weekend was much better and so we decided to get out on Sunday.

The Cobbler

The Cobbler

For the last eighteen months, when we’d got out walking we’d been heading for some of the smaller hills and I realised that I hadn’t actually climbed a Munro for quite a long time.  I had a sudden hankering for reaching that magic 914 metres but with the clocks having just changed and it now being November it means short days ….not good when you can’t see too much and are very slow.  We decided therefore to head for Ben Ime, in the Arrochar Alps.  For me, it has the advantage of being reached by good well made paths (so quite fast even with a fuzzy eye) and the final ascent is nearly all on easy grass slopes with just one short steep more rocky section near the top.  Ideally though we’d need to make an early start in order to give me the maximum amount of daylight to do the walk and so we planned to set out from Irvine by 06.30 …this meaning we’d be walking by just before eight o’clock.  As it turned out though, we started an hour later.   Saturday had been very wet but by the evening everything was starting to freeze and we thought that the roads first thing the next morning might be a bit icy …hence leaving the hour later to give things a chance to warm up a little.

View from the lower slopes of Ben Ime

View from the lower slopes of Ben Ime

We reached the car park on shores of Loch Long and were walking by 08.50 and everything looked great.  We had almost clear skies, there was frost on the grass and there was mist drifting over the loch.   The route climbs quite steeply up through a young conifer plantation but still giving plenty of views out over the loch and the village of Arrochar  to Ben Lomond beyond ….and as we climbed we quickly gained enough height to get into the sun …it was lovely.   At last you are high enough to see into the glen leading to The Cobbler …and it’s quite a sight with its very distinctive and dramatic outline.  On your right the hillside climbs steeply to Beinn Narnain and higher up the slopes were quite white, although we weren’t sure if this was thick frost or a thin coating of snow ….or a bit of both as it turned out!  We followed the path up to the col between the north peak of The Cobbler and Beinn Narnain and from this point you get to see Ben Ime, at just over 1000 m, the dominant hill in this area.  The forecast had said that a weather front would come in from the west bringing increasingly strong winds and snow on the hills by the evening and even now the blue skies of the early morning had gone and cloud was moving in …it was very cold too with the ground increasingly frozen.

Near the summit of Ben Ime, a break in the cloud

Near the summit of Ben Ime, a break in the cloud

The good path ends here and the walk across to Ben Ime is normally on boggy muddy ground …but it wasn’t too bad being frozen and we were soon puffing up the what seemed endless grass slopes …and into the cloud …the weather really was deteriorating quite fast and it even started to snow  lightly for a few minutes.  We reached the top and everything was misty and white and with the wind blowing it wasn’t a place to sit and eat a sandwich but it was time to sit and put on the spiders!  For anyone who hasn’t come across these wonderful little instep crampons …(for some reason known as spiders) well, they are a pair of small plastic plates in which are mounted eight pointed metal studs.  The whole thing fits under the instep of your boot and is held there firmly by a strap.  Now, they’re not meant to do the job of real crampons but in conditions like this, frozen ground with patches of water ice and a very thin layer of frost and snow ….they’re perfect.  They give so much extra grip and allow you to walk with more confidence and safety.  This really was a perfect day for spiders and we descended relatively quickly.  As it happened, we had some great if rather brief views near the summit …the cloud suddenly broke and it made all the effort of getting up there worthwhile …Wow.

My frosted guide!

My frosted guide!

With the weather now definitely on the decline and a thick overcast layer of cloud above, the light was getting gloomy very early and so I had to move as fast as possible to get off the hill before all the light faded.  This is where the hours of practice over the last ten years have paid off.  When I need to move fast Nita walks just in front of me telling me all the obstacles, steps and gaps ….in this way even in the descending gloom we moved safely and quite fast.  It started snowing lightly when we reached the top of the long final descent to the road and we were back down to the car by just after a quarter past four and with just a little bit of light to spare.  What a day. Time to eat the sandwiches and drink the coffee we’d carried all the way up and down but had not had time to enjoy on the hill.  We like to use the day to it’s full!