The Beinns from Arinabea

[iainR]

After pondering over a few different routes for these Corbetts i decided on the most direct approach from Arinabea Cottage at the eastern end of Glen Lochy. The path i chose was absent from both OS Landranger and Explorer maps of the area but a quick check on the Bing maps aerial view showed me it was definitely there.
After parking near the gated entrance to a forestry road near Arinabea Cottage i set off following the road for a couple of minutes when i spied a very faint track leading off through the long grass on the left where it ran parallel with a nearby burn. The track soon became much more defined as it wound its way very steeply up through the forest where despite some muddy areas the going was relatively good. On reaching the open hillside it was a short distance to the deer fence which runs above the tree line and is indicated on the map. There was a stile over the fence here which was very handy and a good marker for the return journey but the remainder of the pathless route to Beinn Bhreac-liath was just as steep as the forest path but the bonus was that the views of Glen Lochy and the neighbouring Corbett of Beinn Udlaidh really opened up at this point as did the weather front that was heading my way from the west. By the time i climbed up past the numerous small crags and reached the summit of Bhreac-liath i found myself fully in the damp clag with no views for my efforts!

Start of the walk

Forest track above Arinabea

Cairn on Beinn Bhreac liath

With no reason to hang about i beat a hasty retreat back down the south side of the hill where the clag was clearing nicely but only because a strong wind had picked up from the north. Making my way diagonally down to the deer fence towards Beinn Udlaidh was tricky and time consuming because of the crags but the weather had got so much better and looked set to remain that way. At the bealach between the hills there was a gate in the fence where i picked up a faint path which led up through the crags a good bit to the left of the formidable drop into the Coire Ghamhnain.

View down to Glen Lochy

Beinn Udlaidh

Towards the bealach

Soon the climb up Udlaidh began to level out as i passed a few small boulder fields and lochans then the cairn appeared which had a kind of collapsed look about it but the views from here were amazing with the hills around Crianlarich, Tyndrum, Bridge of Orchy and Ben Cruachan looking mostly clear but unfortunately the camera on my humble Moto couldn't do them justice.

Lochan on Beinn Udlaidh

Summit of Beinn Udlaidh

The strengthening wind began to chill up on the summit and after a quick walk around i retraced my route back down to the bealach where i finally had my lunch huddled behind a rock outcrop. Despite the steep ascent from Arinabea and the clag on Bhreac-liath the views from Udlaidh more than made up for it....a good day.