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To Beinn Dubhchraig and back ….with an added splash!

Near the summit of Beinn Dubhchraig

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

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

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

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!

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!

Back to Beinn Chuirn ….ice free this time!

Ben Oss from just above the gold mine on Beinn Chuirn

Ben Oss from just above the gold mine on Beinn Chuirn

The last time we went to walk Beinn Chuirn, (in the winter a couple of years ago) we encountered difficult conditions ….well, for me they were anyway!  There was virtually no snow, but it had been very cold for quite a long period and so there was a lot of ice ….thick and black amongst the grass and rocks.  I was really struggling to see it and this made for very slow progress.  After several hours we were only a little over half way up and with the prospect of having to descend on this slippery ground, we decided to cut our losses and retreat.  It was disappointing but wise ….and we had checked out a very good route up the hill ….perfect for a return trip in more favourable conditions.

as we thought...it was steep

as we thought…it was steep

On Thursday last week, with a reasonable forecast, (well at least not torrential rain all day) we finally got to go back to Beinn Chuirn and complete our previously curtailed route.  Beinn Chuirn lies on the north side of Cononish Glen, opposite Beinn Dubhchraig and Ben Oss  ….and next door to its much larger neighbour Ben Lui.  It took us about an hour and a quarter to walk along the estate tracks to a point just short of the hill.  A large track leads uphill from Cononish Farm to the entrance of a now disused gold mine.  The tunnel entrance leading under the mountain is sealed but a set of tracks leads out and there are still sheds there …presumably when the price of gold rises they’ll start working again.

Overlooking the corrie, Beinn Chuirn

Overlooking the corrie, Beinn Chuirn

Anyway, our route led up into the dramatic and rocky little corrie and then steeply up by way of a grass and rock ridge until the broad easy angled upper slopes were reached.  It makes for an exhilarating walk, the ground dropping away steeply on both sides and behind you and as we reached the steepest section near the top I felt glad we had turned back the previous winter!  We were lucky this time though,  as despite the dark heavy clouds, the rain kept away and we had good views in what was very clear air.  The top of the hill is littered with boulders and strangely layered outcrops of rock ….very beautiful natural sculptures.   Beyond these was the summit cairn ….the perfect lunch spot with views of mountains in every direction.

 "Monarch of the Glen"

Being watched!

As we ate our lunch though, the cloud started to descend onto Ben Lui and it became pretty obvious that we were in for a soaking.  Our route back did a wide circuit down easy angled grass slopes before a final steep section led back to the track in the glen.  Some way below the summit though, Nita spotted that we were not alone on the hill.  Above us standing on the sky line was a large stag …watching us carefully.   Despite the rain the views were still dramatic  in the dark and gloomy light.   We were back in Tyndrum in time for a pizza at the Green Welly and back home in Irvine at the reasonably respectable time of nine o’clock.  Another great day in the Scottish Highlands and maybe even one that I’ll get a painting or two out of?