‘From the east ridge of Ben Lui, April afternoon’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2011, 76 x 23 cm
Catalogue number: 209
Price: £720
I created this painting a few yeas ago after we had a very memorable day in the snow on Ben Lui. Yesterday Nita and I walked up Cononish Glen towards Ben Lui but on this occasion the weather was really foul and we had just the slightest glimpse of the mountain. This painting is currently in my studio…..for further details just call in or contact me.
Well then, yesterday saw Nita and I back out walking amongst the hills again…..after 93 days. We’d hoped to get out last week when the weather was reasonable, but work commitments put an end to that and so we decided that we’d get out on Sunday despite the poor weather forecast. After such a long break from the walking we didn’t want to head up hill…. we just wanted a low level wander for a few hours somewhere …… in amongst the hills.
As it was going to be a relatively short day we reckoned we might as well do things in style and so drove up to Tyndrum for a late breakfast at the Green Welly. A bacon roll and coffee would set us up for the driving rain and strong winds that were forecast. After the snow of the previous weeks it was amazingly mild and although the snow was melting quite quickly there was still plenty of it around …even in Tyndrum.
Once the food and coffee were downed, there were no further excuses and we climbed into the wet weather gear and headed off for the forestry track that leads from near Tyndrum low level station around the base of Meall Odhar and into Cononish Glen. The snow on the track was soft and my legs took only a short while to start complaining! But it was just so good to get out again and see, (albeit in a rather vague and misty fashion) the hills rising up into the low cloud around us. As the track descended into the glen we could hear the rush of the river…..swollen with the melting snows and quite heavy rain. It was quite an impressive sight and the water was racing along and bashing over the larger boulders. We passed a parked car with an empty canoe trailer ….brave souls but I guess if you’re a water person it must be quite an exhilarating trip rushing down the river in a canoe ….though not for me!
In Cononish Glen
We had no real plan for the day, just to walk up the glen for a couple of hours and stretch the legs and get some fresh Highland air into our rather rusty systems. About 10 years ago on a similarly grey, wet and windy day, we walked up the glen with our friends Guy and Roy and on that occasion headed up to the entrance of the gold mine beneath Beinn Chuirn ….where we sheltered from the weather in one of the disused huts. It made for a good lunch spot and we had thought about revisiting the hut. Despite the poor weather yesterday however, there had been a few lulls and during these we’d had tantalising glimpses of Ben Lui up at the head of the glen. For this reason, we decided to carry on up the glen rather than head for the gold mine cafe and carried on until just after half past one before turning around and making our way back. We did get a very brief look at the steep lower section of the east ridge of Ben Lui …where we did our only proper winter scramble with Guy a good few years ago, but mists and rain quickly returned and we were glad to have it at our backs as we wandered back alongside the river.
Below Ben Oss
Cononish Glen really is a magnificent place even when most of its fine mountains are shrouded in weather. This was the perfect wee walk for my very un-fit legs and the tight muscles this morning prove that they needed the exercise. If you’re ever looking for a spectacular but relatively short walk, then I’d thoroughly recommend a wander up Cononish Glen. The advantage of a short day is of course that you’re back to Tyndrum in time for another cup of coffee and a bowl of soup before the drive home.
In Cononish Glen
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Posted in Inspiring Mountain Walks, Mountain Photos 
Tags: beinn chuirn, ben lui, Ben Oss, Cononish Glen, Green Welly, Meall Odhar, Tyndrum 
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A remnant for the old Caledonian Forest
What a difference a few days make. After last weeks very grey and cloudy walk on Tinto, this week we saw the Scottish landscape at its very best under almost clear blue skies. The colours everywhere were stunning and although we only walked a fairly small hill we managed to spend over nine hours in the process. It was such a stunningly beautiful day that it just demanded that we keep stopping to look and take in the scene.
I really love this time of year with winter still very much around, (we set off with frost covering everything and the bigger hills white with snow) but summer closing in rapidly. It was great too that even setting off from Irvine at just after 06.00 there was light in the sky and the sun rose over the Glasgow sky-line as we crossed the Erskine Bridge heading north.
We were making for Tyndrum but not for Meall Odhar which had been our original target last week, but for its neighbour across the glen, Fiarach 652 m. We’ve never walked this hill and it was only last week while pawing over the map with my magnifier looking for the route up Meall Odhar that I spotted it and started looking for a route to it too. It’s basically the high point of a large area of wild upland ground that is surrounded on all sides by the higher hills, Ben More, Ben Challum, Beinn Dubhchraig and Ben Lui …to name but a few. It’s a fine location that just demands a perfect day ….and what better than a clear, cold early spring Wednesday in March?
Ben More from Fiarach
As we wanted to stretch our legs a bit more this week, we decided to park the car in the village of Tyndrum and walk back along the West Highland Way the few kilometres to the big bridge crossing the river flowing out of Cononish Glen. This is a beautiful little section of the West Highland Way ….a proper little footpath the meanders its way along through mixed woodland and alongside streams . The views from this path alone were superb and we got good views of the hill we were going to walk. From the river bridge we left the WHW and followed an estate track that lead over the railway and then lead around the flanks of Fiarach for a couple more kilometres to a large area of conifer plantation. On the way it went through a fabulous area of the old Caledonian forest that made this truly highland scene even more so.
At the start of the plantation it was simply a case of making our way up the open hillside, at first along side the trees and then climbing above them. I have to say that I’ve never been too impressed with these conifer plantations but on this occasion I was pleasantly surprised. We stopped level with the top corner of the plantation and sat down in bright sun to catch our breath, give the aching calf muscles a rest and to take in the views. As we did we were aware of all of the bird song coming from the dense trees to our left. One bird in particular ….we think it was probably a Thrush, was singing at the top of its voice and it made the place even more special.
Nita at the summit of Fiarach
A little higher up and the steep slopes eased and we came into the first big patches of snow. It’s a hummocky area of grass, moss, small crags and numerous little lochs and pools. The biggest of these, Lochain Fiarach, was almost completely frozen and had varying amounts of snow lying on it …where it was just ice, it was a beautiful shade of blue, green, and grey and this turned paler to white around the edges ….it reminded me of the ‘white’ sandy beaches we saw last year on the west coast of Harris.
Despite the generally featureless nature of the ground up here, the summit itself was a surprise ….set atop a craggy little spine that rose 30 or 40 metres above the rest of the moor. It made a great setting and a wonderful place to stand and take in all the bigger snow capped peaks around. The nearest of these, Beinn Dubhchraig looked particularly massive and Nita could make out three tiny figures plodding up the heavily snow covered slopes towards its summit. We stopped numerous times to sit and look and enjoy the colours, textures and patterns …and were impressed to find two other visitors to this little hill ….a pair of what we think were Golden Plovers.
The summit of Fiarach from Lachain Fiarach
This really was a fine day …..it had a similarity to the wee hill, Ghlas Bheinn on the edge of Rannoch Moor that we tend to visit most years. I definitely think we’ll be back to Fiarach again next spring.
Looking towards Beinn Dubhchraig
It doesn’t seem any time at all since we were hauling our way up the steep slopes above Cononish in bright very warm conditions with midges and flies buzzing all around and sweat running down our faces, heading on our way to Beinn Dubhchraig. On Sunday we were walking up Beinn Chaorach instead and looking across the glen to Beinn Dubhchraig, Ben Oss and Ben Lui ….but in very different conditions. Now, just a couple of months later, everything above about 400 m was white with fresh snow.
Towards Ben Challum
It wasn’t a complete transformation to winter though, as, with it still being only mid November, many of the trees in the glens below still had leaves …some showing the full array of autumnal colours and others still almost completely green. Even the grass was still quite green making for a stunningly beautiful mix of colour as we drove up the side of Loch Lomond under an intensely blue sky.
Ben Challum from Beinn Chaorach
Once away from the sound of the road, it was a very peaceful scene, (very appropriate, it being Remembrance Sunday) the only sounds, the crump of the snow under our boots and the occasional call of a circling Raven overhead. With the daylight hours being somewhat short at this time of year and our starting out late due to the icy roads, we didn’t have that much time. I reckoned we’d have to turn back at 14.00 at the latest and at about 13.40, still a good 15 minutes from the top, we decided to call it a day and sit and have our lunch. The views really couldn’t have been better with the great snowy bulk of Ben Challum close by, and Ben More and the Glen Falloch hills to the south east. A glance to the right as I sat eating my sandwich and I could see Ben Lui and it’s neighbours …..it really was very clear.
Towards Ben More
Our timing proved about right as the sun was setting behind the hills by the time we were back on the main track and as we descended back to the West Highland Way in the base of the glen, it was once again a very cold and quite dark scene with the white snow covered hills almost glowing against the darkening sky and a bank of low mist forming. The final couple of kilometres back along the West Highland Way to the car was the most difficult for me …trying to follow Nita as she picked her way around patches of ice in the gloom.
It hadn’t been a long day but a very fine way to start the winter…..apparently they’re forecasting cold weather again next week.
‘Below Ben Oss’
‘Below Ben Oss’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2013, 30 x 30 cm
This little painting has just some back from the framers and I’m really quite pleased with it. Based on a view we had earlier this year when we walked up Cononish glen, it tries to capture the very misty scene looking up from below Ben Oss to the lower flanks of Ben Lui. This was a low level walk but with the thick mist coming and going we got some beautiful views. It’s amazing, even in the dullest of conditions there can be so much atmosphere.
This painting will be on display in my studio at the Courtyard Studios in Irvine, as part of our annual Open Studios Weekend this coming Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th October. Open: 11 am – 5pm Saturday 5th Oct, 12 noon – 5pm Sunday 6th October. I hope you can get along to see the work.
‘Below Ben Lui, a cold, damp spring afternoon’
‘Below Ben Lui, a cold, damp spring afternoon’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2013, 30 x 30 cm
I tend to get drawn back to the Cononish Glen and to Ben Lui on a fairly regular basis. The two hour long walk to the base of Ben Lui from Tyndrum is a real pleasure in its own right even if you don’t go on to climb the hill.
This new little painting is based on a day a few years ago when we’d planned to walk Ben Lui by its south ridge. We’d gone with a couple of friends but the conditions where far from good and they weren’t really kitted out for what higher up turned out to be very cold, wet and snowy conditions. We’d reached the bealach between Ben Oss and Ben Lui but had met the snow at that point and it really didn’t take much thinking about to decide that the prudent course of action was to head back down. As we once again reached the end of the main track in Cononish Glen and stood right below the main bulk of Ben Lui, a heavy snow shower swept in. I remember standing there watching the big white snow flakes fall against the dark background of the hill. It wasn’t a hugely successful walk but that short moment has stuck in my mind and helped make the cold wet day a memorable one.
Near the summit of Beinn Dubhchraig
Ten or eleven years ago we went to walk Beinn Dubhchraig, one of the Munros in the Ben Lui group of hills around Cononish. On that occasion the weather was grim. I don’t remember now whether it rained all day but it was certainly very wet to start with and the hill never cleared from the thick mass of grey cloud that hung everywhere. I’m sure we enjoyed it …or at least, made the most of it, but we never saw a thing the whole day ….just grey.
Ben Oss and Ben Lui from Beinn Dubhchraig
We’ve been back to Cononish a good number of times since to walk the neighbouring hills and I’ve often thought that it would be worth visiting Beinn Dubhchraig again, (this time on a fine day) to see what it was actually like. The only thing that put me off all these years was the memories of the path in. It ran for a good way up the side of a stream through a section of the old Caledonian Forest before emerging out onto the lower slopes of the mountain. Sounds idyllic I hear you say ….but it was so boggy and wet underfoot ….not just boggy, but really BOGGY! On that first trip we’d made a circular walk of it and descended via the broad north ridge of the hill and then down very steep slopes to reach a bridge over the river close to Cononish Farm and so it was my plan this time to simply climb the hill by this route and return the same way, thus avoiding the boggy route.
Loch Oss and Ben Oss
On Sunday, with fine weather forecast, we drove to Tyndrum and headed off ….this time under clear blue skies. The steep slopes above Cononish that I remembered coming down, were even steeper on our way up! Sweat poured, flies buzzed but the views were wonderful. After what seemed an eternity the angle of the slope eased and at last we could see all we’d missed ten years earlier. As we approached the summit Nita asked me what I thought about turning it into a circular walk and descending by the dreaded path through the woods. Nita openly admits that she can’t remember one walk from another and so clearly thought I was making a bit of a song and dance of it and that it couldn’t be as bad as I remembered! So then, sat at the top, taking in the stunning scenery and feeling just great ….I agreed, and twenty minutes later off we headed in the direction of the path.
The idylic woods
Needless to say, it hadn’t improved over the intervening years, indeed, rather interestingly it had ….well, matured somewhat. It was still just as boggy and difficult but now it was rather overgrown too. It took me an age picking my way down, listening to an almost continuous commentary of guiding instructions from Nita ….she did a brilliant job as guide…the path was narrow in places and dropped steeply away through the undergrowth to the stream. Eventually after what was an age, I heard Nita say …’I hope that isn’t the bridge we have to cross’. Instead of the bridge we’d used to cross over the stream ten years earlier …there were two single steel girders …and no bridge! Ahhhhh!
Shame about the path!
It was by this time getting late and we had about an hour of proper day light left. The stream the bridge used to cross looked awkward to ford and only 50 m below the ‘bridge’ …it flowed into the main river. As we couldn’t return up the path in the dark, we either had to wait till morning or cross the stream. At first look, it seemed quite deep and was flowing quite fast, but Nita peered into the water and reckoned there was a shallower path across. I followed Nita and although the water was well above the top of our boots and flowing strongly, it wasn’t as deep as it at first seemed. We were quickly clambering up the bank on the other side, boots completely full of water (indeed, I swear I had a small brown trout in one of mine) and the lower part of our trousers soaked …but we were over and back to a civilized track before it got too late. I guess there must be another path now avoiding the missing bridge but I don’t think we’ll be going back at any point in the near future to check it out!
‘From the east ridge of Beinn Lui, April’,
‘From the east ridge of Beinn Lui, April’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2013, 30 x 30 cm
This little painting, originally shown in the exhibition in March at ‘the gallery on the corner’, is one of my favourites and as such, I’ll be including it in the exhibition at Blairmore Gallery in a few weeks time.
I often say to people that I think my best pieces are ones that are at the same time, Scottish landscape and abstract. This little painting based on a day we had on Ben Lui, seems to me to fit this category. Details of the Blairmore Gallery and my forthcoming exhibition can be found by following the link to the Blairmore Gallery website at the side of this page.
Posted in Artwork of the Week Tags: 'From the east ridge of Beinn Lui, April', ben lui, Blairmore Gallery No Comments »
Cononish Glen
It’s been a week of painting for the most part. As I think I’ve said before, I’ve been invited to hold an exhibition of my work at ‘the gallery on the corner’ in Edinburgh during March. The exhibition preview is on Friday March 1st and the show will run until the end of the month. I’m looking at providing around 17 pieces of work for the exhibition including a good selection of the smaller acrylic & pastel paintings. After three months of quite good sales in the lead up to Christmas, it’s meant that I’m a little short of the smaller paintings now and I’ve been working on some new pieces recently. I’ve completed four 30 x 30 cm paintings and have several more on the go. I’m also working on a couple new 76 x 23 cm paintings too. All of these are based on our most recent walks, to Rannoch Moor, The Ochil’s and I’m hoping, from the walk we did in Cononish Glen yesterday. On each of these walks we’ve had superb conditions creating beautiful colours, patterns and contrasts. Each day was different but very atmospheric in its own right. The latest small piece to be completed is based on the view we had looking across from the Ghlas Beinn ridge towards Achaladair a few weeks ago. Needless to say, it was cold and as we wandered along the broad grassy ridge a line of low cloud crept along the glen below us. This painting is my current ‘Work of the week’, ….just click on the ‘Home’ link to see it.
Cloud breaking around the base of Ben Lui
Our walk yesterday had similar conditions, except that we were down in the base of the glen, (Cononish Glen) and the banks of cloud and mist were drifting along at different levels, some at ground level, some higher, skirting around the hillsides like a tide-line. It made for strange and interesting scenes.
Below Ben Oss
I had actually planned this easy walk for quite a time, hoping to see the main big corrie on Ben Lui close up and under snow. But of course, the best made plans and all that! Instead of snow covered mountains as I’d hoped for in early January, we found almost no snow. The exceptionally mild conditions since New Years Day had meant a rapid and almost complete thaw, leaving just a few obstinate patches high up on most of the bigger hills and none whatsoever on the smaller ones. This said however, Ben Lui is one of the bigger mountains and rises to around 1100 m and its huge and magnificent corrie does face east …or north east ..I’ll have to check the map! But whatever the exact direction, it does mean that the corrie and the big gullies leading up from it, do tend to hold on to their snow a good deal longer than elsewhere. This was the case yesterday and although there wasn’t much snow, the big gullies leading up from the corrie into cloud and towards the summit, were still full and created a marvellous pattern against the dark rock of the upper mountain.
Below Ben Lui
Our walk yesterday was really just one for looking, taking a few photos and trying to come up with ideas for new work. It normally takes us just under two hours to walk from Tyndrum up Cononish Glen to the end of the estate track directly below the bulk of Ben Lui …the point where normally we’d ford the stream and start heading up. Yesterday though, we took nearer three hours! There was no rush and we could just wander along taking in the wonderful changing scene before us as the banks of mist and cloud came and went, sometimes dark and threatening, at other times, light, wispy and translucent as it moved across the hillside caught in a brief shaft of sunlight. Strangely, although I was hoping to get ideas for new paintings, I actually came away with ideas for some new graphite drawings! Not quite what was planned, but if there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years, it’s that you have to be flexible! After a great little walk, now all I have to do, is the work.
Looking east from Cononish
Beinn Chuirn
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‘Below the snow-line, Ben Lui, April’
‘Below the snow-line, Ben Lui, April’, Acrylic & Pastel, 2012, 80 x 80 cm
My apologies to those of you who visit my Face Book page, (Keith Salmon – Scottish Landscape Artist) as you will already have seen images of this recent painting. For anyone else though, this is the very latest of my paintings ….completed earlier this week. Over the last month or so I’ve completed four paintings all based on a walk / scramble we did on Ben Lui several years ago. This piece tries to capture something of the descent from the higher snow covered east ridge back down into the more friendly grass covered glen below. This painting is currently hanging in my studio along with around 20 other pieces. If you’d like to see this and the other works, do visit my studio.
You can contact me:
Tel: 07742 437425
Email: keith@keithsalmon.org or salmon21@freeuk.com