Crianlarich in October is becoming a tradition of the club. The area boasts big and interesting hills in all directions with great options available from the door of Inveradran Cottage, the Ochils club hut where we stayed, and many more within a short drive. Although there is plenty scope for rock climbing in summer and ice climbing and skiing in winter, many of the hills are of the big grassy variety and good Autumn tramping terrain.
Scotland had just seen a week of glorious hot sunny weather. Whatever anyone might say about Scotland’s weather, we always have a hot and sunny summer. This year there were two weeks of it. One in April and another week spanning the end of September and beginning of October. The question was would it last for the weekend… and who would be lucky enough to grab some pre-weekend sunshine?
Recently retired Alan headed to Cairndow on Thursday and climbed Stob an Eas from Kells Glen. He then enjoyed the hills to the north of Luss, Tullich Hill and Beinn Breac, on Friday before meeting the club in Crianlarich.
On Friday Joe skived work and met up with his friend Iain to climb on Ben Nevis. About five metres up Carn Dearg Buttress on cold damp rock swathed in cloud the decision was taken to abandon any plans for “proper” climbing and head for Tower Ridge. Once established on the ridge they poked their heads over the top of the cloud and enjoyed sunshine and a perfect cloud inversion for the remainder of the ascent and the subsequent descent of the Carn Mor Dearg Arete. Almost the entire Western Highlands was under the cloud with only the very highest summits standing clear. A spectacular and rare sight.
Bob and Fiona C also saw the forecast and realised there were much better places to be on a Friday than at work. They had an excellent day on Ben Challum, a handy hill to climb when staying the night at Crianlarich and an excellent day out. The thin swirling clouds did not obscure too much in the way of views and even enhanced the day with Brocken Spectres.
Malcolm invited his friend Tony along to the weekend. Together they climbed Beinn a’ Chroin and An Casteal on Friday. The former was clear beneath the cloud, giving great views, but the latter was stubbornly capped by the grey stuff. A swift descent meant plenty time for a beer in the Ben More Hotel before the hordes arrived. Once the hordes did arrive and made themselves comfortable in the hut Tony was warmly welcomed into the body of the kirk. The fact that he arrived with a bottle of Highland Park, and the fact that Malcolm assisted by pouring very generous drams may have helped.
Saturday morning dawned fine. Jake and Joe set off at the crack of mid-morning coffee o’clock to climb An Caisteal, Beinn Chabhair and Ben a’ Chroin. The aptly named Twistin Hill was followed to the summit of An Caisteal, at which point a thin high layer of cloud descended and covered the top. The descent west to the bealach looked complicated but not to worry, both mountaineers had a GPS. Unfortunately Jake’s had no batteries in and Joe’s was in his car. Luckily, as if by magic, the cloud lifted and the summit of Beinn Chabhair was reached without any troublesome route finding, a moment that was toasted with a couple of fine Alloa ales. Another group who were sharing the summit departed at this point, casting suspicious and disapproving glances at what they must have perceived to be alky bums littering the hills. A long descent and reascent through wild country at the head of Balquhidder put them at the summit of Ben a’ Chroin. But which summit was the one true summit? Strangely enough, one map suggested the eastern one while the other said it was the western one. Not to worry, all tops were diligently scampered up and the view was superb. The hills of Arran were visible to the south poking out behind Arrochar and the Highlands stretched away to the north, fading into a light blue haze, many hills indistinguishable from this unusual southern angle.
On Saturday Alan and Fiona D climbed Beinn an Damhain and Meall an Fhadair. The only notable thing about the ascent of these hills was that Alan was astounded by the kit that Fiona was carrying. For the first time that anyone can remember, Fiona carried a map and a compass. She even had a GPS with working batteries.
Graeme M, Steven, Donnie and Dave W parked at Inveruglas and climbed Ben Vane and Ben Vorlich. These two hills are close together and handy to do in one day but are not exactly connected by a handy ridge. The group of four braved bog, steep slopes and crowds of people (alas, these hills are within easy striking distance of the metropolis of Glasgow) to firstly climb Ben Vane, and then Ben Vorlich. The weather and views were excellent.
David T set off early with the intention of climbing Beinn Sheasgarnich, Creag Mhor, Meall Glas and Sgiath Chuil. He soon realised that, shock horror, sticking to this plan would mean that he wouldn’t be back in time to watch the rugby. The hills had to take a back seat and the first two were climbed, leaving the others for another day and the rugby to be watched. David adds that “Beinn Sheasgarnich is certainly not a hill to do when it’s recently been wet. There was still a moat of bog surrounding it after a week of dry weather.”
Kevin also had a good long day, walking over four hills to the west of Tyndrum. He started at Dalrigh, passed Scotland’s largest gold mine to climb the right hand ridge of Ben Lui before dropping down to climb Beinn a Chleibh to the west. He then contoured round the south of Ben Lui to climb Ben Oss and then, the fourth Munro of the day, Beinn Dubhchraig.
Ray, Adrian and Evelyne also walked past the gold mine from Dalrigh. Ray and Adrian (another welcome guest on his first weekend meet) climbed Ben Lui, Ben Oss and Ben Dubhchraig and Evelyne decided on a slightly shorter day climbing Ben Chuirn. A pleasant day out.
Dan and Simon headed to the crags to make the most of the last of the summer climbing season:
“After our previous outing our measure of success was fairly low. So there were pats on the back for finding a suitable parking spot and avoiding all the ditches, walls and other natural hazards. The ascent from the A83 was short but steep and eventually lead to the summit of the Cobbler (via the wonderful hole). However, the summit was not our goal. It was Punster’s Crack, a three star Severe. We geared up and watched another pair struggle up the first pitch. They took ages, well, the second did. Simon was up front for the first pitch and successfully placed the first two pieces of gear… and then dynamically tested them. The first bit failed but the second held. Simon, now about half a metre above the start, decided that leading was far too hard. Dan took over and made it to the first belay. The next pitch involved a tricky little step across a gap with an awkward overhang above. No worries mate, to borrow an Aussie expression! Pitch three was the easiest and the best. Great climbing, good gear! After some discussion we also completed another V Diff mountain route at the far end of the crag. Lovely weather for October!”
Bob, Fiona C and Gordon climbed the highest and closest hill to the hut, the appropriately names Ben More… Fiona takes up the story:
“The objective of the day was Ben More and Stob Binnein. Great hills, but only when you can see them. Succeeded in choosing the only hills where the cloud stayed all day – d’oh. Also picked a route where hydro was being constructed – double d’oh!”
Malcolm and Tony ignored the warnings that the western hills would be cloud covered and headed off to the Cruachan Power Station, intending to climb Ben Cruachan, Stob Daimh, and maybe the Corbett Beinn a’ Bhaimdh. Things went downhill – three attempts to find the start point which included careful negotiation of the railway. But after this false start they made good progress to the dam, up over the Corbett and up onto the ridge. The cloud, at times, obscured views, but all three summits were reached, with good views from each of them. The hill was busy and a party of three was particularly memorable. Two ladies and a man, all in their 20s, could be heard chattering from 200 metres away. Eight hours later, at the end of the walk, they were still chattering. Tony and Malcolm had by this time run out of conversation and were nursing creaking knees. Another excellent day.
Drummond and Ella had a lovely day out on Beinn Udlaidh and Beinn Bhreac. They met a couple of gold panners at one point during their journey. The gold panners had been successful and begged the passing wanderers to keep their location a secret in case the hills of Argyll become the next 1890s Klondyke.
On Sunday Dan, David, Kevin and Joe set off for Meall Glas and Sgiath Chuil. These hills seem to blend into the background of grass and bog when viewed from the main road in Glen Dochart but they are surprisingly lovely, with plenty of lumps and bumps and craggy bits to add interest. A few deer, both stags and hinds, were spotted along with an eagle, much to the annoyance of the resident ravens, and some tiny jumping frogs. They also managed to disprove the theory that there is a clear path to the summit of every Munro. Given the heights of these summits the assumption is that they are listed in Mr Munro’s tables but very little in the way of a path could be found to the tops, and not a trace between them. They sat on the final summit, the glorious views etched into their minds as the wind, getting colder by the hour, picked up and a band of cloud steadily approached. This, evidently, was the final day of summer.
Fiona D, Jake and Alan delayed their Sunday departure over coffee and bacon and egg rolls and for the mist to clear. They drove up to Auch and climbed Beinn nam Fuaran and Beinn a Chaisteill, walking under the viaduct as an old train went past. They encountered steep ascents with biting wind on top but clear throughout. The contents of Fiona’s rucksack with regard to navigational aids was left unreported.
Malcolm and Tony, despite their two long days in the hills, headed for the summits once again on the Sunday. They had a great long day out on the hills at the top of Glen Lyon and Malcolm, who holds the committee positions of Treasurer and Membership Secretary successfully managed to relieve Tony of £28 of his hard-earned money in return for membership of this club.
The club’s Munro junkies will no doubt be fully aware of the history behind Beinn a’ Chroin’s mysteriously moving summit, but for those who don’t know, the wisdom of Wikipedia produced the following:
“Beinn a’ Chroin’s summit ‘moved’ in the 1990s. It has a 1.2 kilometre long summit ridge, two-thirds to the west gently undulating with four tops and then one-third with a distinct top at the eastern end, of the ridge separated by a col with a height of 877 metres. The recognised summit location of highest point of Beinn a’ Chroin changed in 1998. For all years prior, the official highest point of the mountain was the eastern end 940 metres. OS Landranger 1.50k map only showed a 938m spot height on western ridge. However autumn 1997 amateur cartographic sleuth (Charles Everett) noticed on the new OS 1.25k map, two small 940 metre contour rings without spot heights, on the western ridge, just 75 metres apart, one to NE one to SW. Realizing that these both had to be higher than the eastern top, he sent a number of letters to the Ordnance Survey over next six months asking for 1. The exact heights inside these contour rings and 2. Why these two points, both of which were clearly higher points on the mountain than the eastern 940m top, hadn’t had spot heights detailed on the map. Initial response from some departments was unhelpful and frustrating and stating they were unable to give any information. Persistence with another couple of letters eventually hit the jackpot with a July 8, 1998 letter confirming that there was a spot height of 941.5m in one of the contour rings, but frustratingly not specifying which. Subsequently Harveys maps, when they republished their Crianlarich map, gave the NE contour ring on west ridge, 941m.at 388186 and SW one 942m. at 387185 representing the new summit position of Beinn a’Chroin. The eastern top has now become a subsidiary Munro “top” at 940 metres.