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...views to the right of them ... and views all around them
.
A gloomy January day is the perfect time to reminisce a wonderful three days of perfect hill weather last September (2020). Autumn tints, coolish breezes, clear air and no midges
. We were rounding off a leisurely romp in the Grey Corries (followed by a bit of Neptune's magic) with a wander up Beinn a'Chreachain and Beinn Achaladair, the last of the Glen Orchy Munros we had to climb.
Target hills seen from the A82 heading south, the previous day
We followed the WH route (except for an unscheduled short cut towards the end).
Loch Tulla from the car park
We were there so early there were plenty of parking spaces, no longer true by the time we came back. After a brief chat to a man from Inverarry, who was waiting for his walking companion to arrive, we headed off along the track soon passing Achaladair farm with its ruined tower.
The ford over the Allt Ur, no problem today
Boggy path with reflections
The ruined farm of Tom na Grobh
The bridge over the Water of Tulla
At this point we left the main track and head for the bridge that is ...
... down ...
... and then to find an easy place to splash across the Water of Tulla
Next obstacle - the railway bridge
I had just gone under the bridge and had put the camera away when I turned to see a train thundering over the bridge - one of the surprises of being deaf
Artistically displayed fungus
Artistically displayed mountain (Beinn Achaladair)
Looking back towards Ben Cruachan
Following the path by the Allt Coire an Lochain
We eventually crossed the Allt Coire an Lochain (as per the WH route), but we noticed many of the people following us stayed on the path leading for the Lochan. We met up with some of them further on; by now the mountain was getting busy. The next part of the route can only be described as a slog to get up to the ridge above Lochan a'Chreachain, but the rest stops were worth it for the view that were opening up behind us.
The Ben and friends
and a panorama as far east as the Grey Corries, complete with mist
On the ridge and looking down at the Lochan (in the bright sunlight I didn't realise I's chopped off part of the Lochan
From the ridge an easy stroll to the top of Beinn a' Chreachain
With views of Loch Lyon and to the Ben Lawers range
Made it
We were fortunate that many of the people who had passed us seemed to be in a hurry to get on the the next mountain, so with the exception of one couple we had the summit to ourselves.
From the top it was 360 degrees of jawdropingly beautiful views over the Central Highlands. To the south east
From the Ben to Creag Meagaidh
West, Meall a'Bhuiridh and Creise with Buachaille Etive Mor and the hills of Glencoe curving round behind them
Looking towards our next destination, Beinn Achaladair, with the 'horns' of Ben Cruachan to its left and the hills of the Black Mount to its right
Down towards the Tyndrum and Crainlarich hills
By now the wind was becoming chill so we dropped off the top to find a sheltered spot on the slopes above Meall Buidhe for lunch.
Meall Buidhe with the hills of the Black Mount and Glenn Etive behind
The route to Beinn Achaladair starts off fairly benignly with a wander across Meall Buidhe
From the top of the crags on Meall Buidhe
before a steepish pull up Achaladair
which gave us a different angle on these amazing views
The Ben with the A82 snaking over the western end of Rannoch Moor
The southern Glen Orchy Hills with the Crainlarich hills behind
Looking towards Etive, with Beinn Starav
Ben Cruachan
Loch Lyon and the Lawers group
Eventually the photography had to stop and we headed home. At some point we followed a path that wasn't the path we were supposed to follow and ended up partway down a very steep but grassy mountainside. At this point we realised the error of our ways but also decided the grass was dry and the challenge was fun, also we didn't fancy retracing our steps to find the correct and longer route
. At least we found a dry descent.
We came down this slope (somewhere)
We were soon back on the main path, which to be honest was a wet, boggy slog, and the least enjoyable part of the day. With the relatively new path which bypasses Achaladair a real quagmire. But even this couldn't detract from an amazing hill day (and no I haven't counted how many times I've used the word amazing in this report, or how many times I've regaled anyone who would listen about the amazing views
)