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Posts Tagged ‘Tyndrum’

Ghlas Bheinn – what a difference a few months make!

Posted by admin on June 23rd, 2016

It has all been work, work, and work these last few weeks and so it was great to have an excuse to stop for a couple of days last weekend.  Some friends of ours from Germany are over visiting Scotland for a couple of weeks and have hired a camper van for the duration.  On Saturday we drove up into the Highlands with them and did a gentle tour up to Arrochar, over the Rest and Be Thankful, past Loch Fyne and on through Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy to Rannoch Moor.   Our visitors first few days in Scotland, spent exploring Edinburgh, were spent under cloudy skies and in wet conditions but on Saturday the conditions in the West Highlands were superb ….hot and sunny and the landscape looked at its very best.

vacation in Scotland

Andrea, Rudi and Nita on Ghlas Bheinn

Andrea and Rudi were keen to do some walking so long as it wasn’t a huge mountain hike and so our first thoughts were to take them for a wander along the Bridge of Orchy to Victoria Bridge section of the West Highland Way.  The path climbs a little but not much and reaches the most magnificent view point high above Loch Tulla…..we thought that this would be ideal.  And it would have been except that the annual West Highland Way race was taking part that weekend and as we arrived at the Bridge of Orchy…..the runners were passing through.  There were dozens of cars and vans and numerous people and stewards ….all very exciting but not the peaceful place we’d imagined we’d be able to show our friends from Germany!  We extricated ourselves, the camper van and our car from the mayhem and after a short re-think drove the few miles further on to the big view point on the road leading up onto Blackmount.

vacation in Scotland

Away from the crowds, a perfect summer evening in the West Highlands

We normally park here for our annual winter wander along the undulating little ridge leading to Ghlas Bheinn and this suddenly seemed to be the perfect solution for a walk now.  And so it was, with huge views and a good cooling breeze to keep the midges away, this short walk gave Andrea and Rudi a chance to experience a little bit of the Highlands off-piste as it were ….no paths and no other walkers.  For Nita and me it was great to see this familiar place under beautiful summer conditions with different colours and light.  We got back to the vehicles around half past eight in the evening and drove back to the Bridge of Orchy Hotel for food and refreshment ….a perfect end to a very enjoyable day.  My thanks to the staff at the hotel.  They must have been completely shattered by the time we wandered in at just after nine in the evening ….but they very kindly agreed to fix us some food despite us arriving after they had officially finished serving.  Great service and very friendly and if you are heading up or down the A82, this hotel is highly recommended.

Posted in Inspiring Mountain Walks, Mountain Photos, West Highland Way Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment »

A snowy Saturday in the Southern Highlands

Posted by admin on January 23rd, 2016

Last Saturday we were out for a short wander up near Tyndrum.  For once, the weather forecast got it a little wrong.  It had seemed to suggest that a band of rain and snow would move down from the north west late Saturday afternoon and so as we were only planning on a fairly short low level walk into Cononish Glen, we thought we’d have plenty of time to do our walk and get home before the bad weather arrived.  That was the plan anyway!

When we left Irvine just after eight o’clock in the morning however, there was already a lot of low dark clouds around and the few breaks in the east soon disappeared……and of course, the sun rise was quite interesting ….what do they say about red sky in the morning?! 

By the time we got to Loch Lomond it was already very gloomy although Nita said you could see the snow covered tops of the mountains.  At the southern end of the loch the snow level was a couple of hundred metres above the road but by the time we got to the top end of the loch …it was down to road level and at Crianlarich and Tyndrum there was quite a bit laying everywhere and the snow plough had piled it up a little at the sides of the road.

Of course, of course, we had to go into the Green Welly for a cuppa (we were good though …we didn’t have a bacon or egg roll this time) but on emerging out into the car park to get our gear on …Nita said that it was starting to snow lightly.  Not in the plan at all …but it didn’t seem much and so we headed off on our walk.  By the time we had crossed the railway by the station and started up the forestry track that leads over into the glen, it was snowing properly and a half hour after that ….it was snowing heavily.  It looked great though as there was no wind and it was falling straight down and settling on every little twig and branch.  

 

abstract scottish landscape paintings

Cononish Glen ….a rather white scene

Cononish Glen is really spectacular with big mountains all around and our plan had been to take some photos and to stop and for me to make some new sound recordings.  When we reached the glen it really was pretty snowy and white.  You couldn’t see more than a couple of hundred metres up the hillside and ice had made the river much narrower than normal.  At this point though, we did stop for 15 minutes while I set my sound recorder to work …inside a water proof rucksack!  On returning home I found I’d captured the soft noise of the snow flakes hitting the outside of the rucksack with the very faint sound of the river in the background.

abstract landscape art

Meeting the West Highland Way

Anyway, by this time we were starting to think that the roads might not be so clever and so decided to cut short the walk and to head back.  We didn’t just retrace our steps though but followed the glen back to a point where we could meet the West Highland Way ….and then follow that back through the beautiful Tyndrum Community Woodland into the village. 

abstract scottish art

By the West Highland Way, near Tyndrum

scottish hillwalking blog

In Tyndrum Community Woodland

It made for a lovely walk and we were back at the Green Welly by about two o’clock.  The road wasn’t looking great …snow with tyre tracks ….but as we got out of our gear the snow plough / gritter came along.

I had said to Nita that we shouldn’t worry as by the time we were back down to Loch Lomond it would be warmer and the roads would be fine there.  Got that wrong ….if anything it got worse and the snow fell harder…..and kept on falling all the way back to Irvine!!  Took us over two and a half hours to get back ….but it did look great and we’d had a fabulous if short day out.

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Diary of a trip to Assynt – week 1

Posted by admin on June 9th, 2015

Saturday 23rd May 

Had the perfect start for our trip and drive north, with clear blue skies and the hills of the Southern Highlands looking stunning in their spring colours.  Warm too, it being 17 C when we stopped for breakfast at the Green Welly in Tyndrum.  But the bright conditions weren’t to last, even by the time we were a few miles up the road driving across Rannoch Moor, we could see the high grey cloud moving down from the north west.  By the time we were in Glencoe village it was grey all over and just 9°C!  Little did we know that this was a taste of things to come?  The remainder of the trip north to Assynt was under increasingly dark skies and the final few miles along the single track road to the cottage we’d booked for the first week on the Storr peninsular, saw the rain start falling.  We’d picked a beautiful spot to stay all the same and even in the gloomy light and rain of the first evening, Nita could see wild geese grazing the rough pasture outside the cottage window.

Sunday 24th May 

Woke to bright sunlight and beautiful views across the land to the sea.  In between, in the hollow in these small hills, lay a wee loch and a short wander from the cottage took us to its shore.  I was surprised to find small banks of reeds growing around the edge which made for interesting patterns and possibly, some drawings in the future.

Monday 25th May  

Quinag, Assynt

Below Quinag, heavy shower

Heavy showers and high winds forecast, so decided on a lazy day checking out access to the ground leading up to below Sail Gorm on Quinag.  I’ve wanted to try and get up to below this part of the hill for some years in order to do some sketching and perhaps make a recording or two.  We found a convenient parking place and access, at least to start with seemed good …..we just needed a little dry weather.  Even the water proof drawing pen my colleague Alex Boyd had given me, would not do too well in the very  heavy showers that kept racing in from the north west.  Got some great views of Quinag as it was engulfed in one of these showers.  Time to head for lunch at the Scourie Hotel!

Tuesday 26th May

Assynt, Sutherland

The Old Man of Storr

More heavy showers and strong winds and so not a day for the high tops.  Instead, Nita suggested we walk the few kilometres from the cottage, out to Storr Head and the Old Man of Storr.    The 1:25000 map showed no fences all the way from the road near the cottage but we soon found  our way blocked and we had an annoying  hour and a half trying to find our way as two more tracks were blocked by fences and gates.  We did finally get to the open ground and had a fine walk out to Storr Head via a small hill that even at I think, 169m, gave impressive views.  The Old Man of Storr, a huge sea stack, was well worth seeing and the roar of the sea crashing against its base, made for some interesting recordings hopefully.  We returned along the cliff tops to the Storr lighthouse and then back to the cottage along the single track road in bright early evening sunshine.  Despite a few heavy showers early on, we arrived home dry!

Wednesday 27th May

Heavy rain and gales all day.  Feet up, heaters on, food, drink and much reading  / listening to books.  It finally eased around 21.00 and a few bursts of late sun had us driving the couple of miles to the nearest beach.  Big waves and very strange light …but good to get an airing.

Thursday 28th May

Scotttish Landscape

On the lower slopes of Canisp, 28th May 2015

No let up in the cold, showers and wind ….but it did seem that conditions would be a little better, so we decided to go for a proper walk and we headed for Canisp.  We’d done two big walks on this hill in the past.  One of them, on a fine hot day, saw us reach the summit of this fine hill.  The other attempt saw us do a circular walk up to a point about 600m on the hill before being turned back by high winds.  It seemed that conditions would be similar today and so we planned to walk the same route.

Sutherland, Scottish Landscape

Between showers, Canisp, 28th May 2015

This involved crossing a large footbridge over one of the streams flowing from below Canisp.  When we got to it though ….well, it was there ….but not crossing the stream.  At some point in the past it had been swept away and was left high and dry on the bank of the stream!  All was not lost though as we were walking in one of Scotland’s finest limestone areas ….and this stream simply disappeared underground a few hundred metres up-stream!  With the water levels being so high, it hadn’t completely disappeared and we spent quite a time picking our way through and across small but luckily narrow rushing streams.  Back on course we had a fabulous walk.  At first, enjoying some bright patches of sunlight but then becoming engulfed by a series of huge hail showers that blasted down with real force.  The landscape around Canisp is so wild and rough  and these conditions really made you feel quite isolated …..there was no-one else stupid enough to be out  that day, not on this hill anyway.

Friday 29th May

Suilven, Scottish Landscape

Suilven from the near the Stoor lighthouse, 29th May 2015

After the long walk the day before, we decided to head back to the Storr lighthouse so that I could do some sketching and try and make some more sound recordings.  It was still cold but the sun was shining and the cliffs and churning waves looked great.  Had a well earned cup of tea at Living the Dream …. sat with our mugs of tea looking out over the sea…. a magnificent end to a very enjoyable first week in Assynt.

We headed a few miles south for our second week, staying in one of the caravans close to the beautiful beach at Achmelvich.  More about this second week in Assynt in my next blog.

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93 days without a walk in the hills ….not that I was counting or anything!

Posted by admin on January 26th, 2015

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

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

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

In Cononish Glen

-o-o-o-o-

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It’s amazing what you can do if you get up at 03.45!

Posted by admin on March 22nd, 2014
Corrour Station, 09.15 Friday

Corrour Station, 09.15 Friday

Yesterday evening at 18.20 we were stood in a very cold shelter on Corrour Station watching the snow fall heavily and peering north through the whiteness hoping to see the lights of the Glasgow train.   It had been a day of very heavy snow showers but just when we thought they had finally fizzled out for the day, it started snowing again and this time just continued.  It was wonderful standing there watching the snow fall in almost complete silence …..with just a little concern that the train might be cancelled.  Those of you who don’t know Corrour, well, it’s the highest station stop on the West Highland Railway line and sits on the edge of Rannoch Moor at a little over 400 m above sea level.  The nearest main roads are the A82 …. a long way to the west and the A9 an even longer way to the east.  There is a small public  road that goes to Rannoch Station, (the next stop to the south) but even this is quite a few miles away across wild and unforgiving country ….especially so when it’s snowing hard!  The only vehicular access is by way of the estate road / track from I think near Dalwhinnie.   Suffice to say that if the train hadn’t arrived, there would be no way of walking out at that time of the evening and it would have been a very cold night huddled together in the open fronted platform shelter.  But I needn’t have worried of course ….at a couple of minutes to 18.25, we heard  the sound of an approaching train and soon Nita could make out its lights through the falling snow.   I guess when you live in the Highlands you get used to this type of weather and just get on with it, but as someone who lives by the coast and sees very little actual falling snow ….well, it was all kind of exciting.

Corrour Station, a wild location

Corrour Station, a wild location

Anyway, the reason we were stood on Corrour platform at 18.25 yesterday was of course because we’d gone walking again.  We’d originally planned to head for a hill somewhere but the winds were still very high and they were forecasting these very heavy snow showers …..sounded a bit out of our league.  So then, we needed to decide on a low level route, somewhere that the predicted high winds and heavy showers wouldn’t matter.

Ten or so years ago I went to Corrour with a group from Air na Creagan, our local mountaineering club.  At the time, the old signal box had been converted into a wee bunk house containing six bunk beds, a small kitchen and loo and a fantastic wee sitting room upstairs in the top of the signal box.  It was great and over the two weekend visits we made there, we walked several of the hills  and on one occasion when the weather was really vile, three of us did the walk around Loch Ossian.  Nita had been working on both occasions and so had never been to Corrour before…..  it seemed like a good option for our low level walk yesterday.

Heavy snow shower, Loch Ossian

Heavy snow shower, Loch Ossian

Of course with any day walk at Corrour, you need to fit it into the train times.  The first train north arrives at 09.00 and the next south bound trains are either around 12.30, 18.25 or 20.30 ish I think.  The actual walk around Loch Ossian isn’t too far …probably about 12 kilometres I guess and so with nine hours or so between arriving and catching the 18.25 back, we’d need to do a bit of exploring to use up the time.

Of course, the other decision to be made was whether to catch the train all the way, or to drive part way and pick it up at one of the stations adjacent to the A82.  Which ever we chose, it meant an early start and when the alarm went off at 03.45 neither of us was too convinced that our plans were particularly sensible, ‘whose  stupid idea was this’ sprang to mind as I dragged myself out of bed!  We decided to go for the drive / train option  and headed up to Crianlarich to meet the train north at 07.45.  Have to admit that we rather over did the ‘giving ourselves plenty of time’ bit  and arrived there almost an hour early ….but heck, we didn’t miss the damn train!

Corrour on our return at 17.30

Corrour on our return at 17.30

The West Highland Line really is a spectacular  railway and the section we were doing from Crianlarich past Tyndrum, Bridge of Orchy and up over Rannoch Moor to the lonely platform that is Corrour ….well, it’s just spectacular, especially so yesterday morning with the snow low on the mountains.  If you ever get the chance to ride this train ….go for it, it’s a visual feast.

We'd hoped to get back to Corrour dry!

We’d hoped to get back to Corrour dry!

The day was everything we’d hoped for …and a bit more ….snow too.  The conditions really were quite unpleasant at times but it was a wonderful way to see this remote and beautiful place.  The surprise though was at the end.  After a series of heavy snow showers interspersed with just brief brighter spots, the weather did start to improve by mid afternoon.  We’d started making our way back towards Corrour and were both thinking that we might make it back to the station in a reasonably dry state.  Big mistake!  At about 16.30 it suddenly started to rain and this quickly turned to snow again.  We thought it was just another shower but by the time we reached the station an hour later it was still falling hard  and well, it just kept on falling.  It didn’t look like it was going to be a pleasant drive back to Irvine from Crianlarich but as luck would have it as quick as it started, it stopped… shortly after setting off south on the A82.  We were back home by 21.30 after an amazing little adventure.  It’s amazing what you can do if you get up at 03.45!

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Spring colours

Posted by admin on March 13th, 2014
A remnant for the old Caledonian Forest

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

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

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

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.

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East vs. West?

Posted by admin on March 9th, 2014
Not quite the sunny east, but better than the west ...Tinto.


Not quite the sunny east, but better than the west …Tinto.

As you may have read on my Face Book page we’d planned to get out for a walk on Wednesday.  The forecast had been really quite good for the west Highlands that day, with low wind speeds, predominantly dry, reasonably high cloud and some sunshine.   We’d decided that we’d drive up to Tyndrum and walk Meall Odhar, a small hill that rises immediately to the west of the village and should on a fine day, offer great views into Cononish Glen and across to the bigger hills around it.  We’d walked this hill a good number of years ago with our friend Guy.  Quite when exactly (8 / 9 years ago perhaps) I can’t quite remember.  If you’re reading this Guy perhaps you can let me know.  Guy is far more organised than me and keeps a log of all the walks and climbs he does.  He did give me a copy of the spread sheet he designed for the purpose so that I could keep my own record …but of course  I never quite managed to keep it going after an initial bout of enthusiasm and now I’m working full time on the painting ….well I have a good excuse!  Anyway, the day the three of us all went to Meall Odhar it was pretty miserable weather. ….very low dark cloud and rain.  Needless to say that we didn’t see anything as we plodded our way up through dripping trees and then followed the steep zigzagging path up through the old lead mine to reach the open hillside.  It was, that day, a very damp walk but I’ve often thought that it’d be well worth going back on a fine winter day ….hence our plans for Wednesday

These plans however, were based on a forecast I’d seen on Monday morning and unfortunately after getting back late from my studio that evening, I’d forgotten to check the new forecast which is issued early evening each day.  The original forecast had suggested that Tuesday wouldn’t be good weather, but on Tuesday morning I found myself admiring the garden from the back door ….and it was bright sunshine.  At that point it occurred to me that perhaps things had changed and Nita grabbed her Kindle and went to the forecast page.  Sure enough, now Wednesday was looking really quite grim …instead of dry and bright and calm ….it was now winds gusting 45 mph, low cloud and persistent and at times heavy rain and higher up, snow.  Ahhhhhh!   Grabbing for anything that might give us hope, we went to the Met Office forecast instead …only to be met with the same ….and  ..AND ….a ‘weather warning’.  My language at this point was not good!

Now then, my good friend Norma, who lives in Angus, has been telling me for years that she lives in the sunny east and we live in the wet west ….and in all honesty, she has a point!  We looked at the forecasts for south east Scotland and sure enough, although not brilliant, it did suggest that we’d get a reasonably dry walk  if we headed in that direction.  Nita had been working night shifts at the weekend and was doing twelve and a half hour day shifts on Thursday and Friday, so we didn’t want a huge walk or for that matter, a huge drive…..just somewhere we could get a few metres of ascent and descent into our legs and some fresh air into our lungs.  Tinto, the small but prominent little hill to the south of Lanark seemed to fit the bill and so we made our way over there instead of north to Meall Odhar.

As changes of plan go, it was a good one.  We did get our walk and we did stay dry, if a little wind blown, especially at the very top of Tinto ….and what is more, we got back to the car and out of our walking gear just five minutes before the rain making its way over from the west arrived.  Perfect timing.  It’s good to be flexible!

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‘Below Ben Lui, a cold, damp spring afternoon’

Posted by admin on September 22nd, 2013
'Below Ben Lui, a cold, damp spring afternoon'

‘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.

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

Posted by admin on August 29th, 2013
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!

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‘Mists clearing Beinn Dubhchraig, winter’

Posted by admin on August 29th, 2013
31 'Mists clearing Beinn Dubhcharig,winterr', Acrylic, 2005, 30 x 30 cm, sold

‘Mists clearing Beinn Dubhchraig, winter’

‘Mists clearing Beinn Dubhchraig, winter’, Acrylic, 2005, 30 x 30 cm,

If you’ve seen my Face Book page in the last few days, or read the latest blog, you’ll know that on Sunday we walked Beinn Dubhchraig near Tyndrum in the Southern Highlands.

I thought then that it would be appropriate to use this small painting as my Artwork of the week.  I did this back in 2005 and it was based on a view of the mountain we had on a very wintry day from Ben Challum.  The snow everywhere was quite thick and the early morning mists were breaking and lifting from all the big hills around.

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