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The day after the Voodoo investigation, weather improved enough for us to consider climbing a Corbett or a Graham. Our choice was Beinn nan Imirean, mainly because we haven't done it before. I have heard stories about this hill, especially the infamous peat hags en route to the summit, so we prepared mentally for a long, boggy slog. We had climbed the nearby Munros,
Meall Glas and Sgiath Chuil in 2017 but didn't bother adding the Corbett then, probably assuming we never will. Oh, how wrong we were then. 4 years later, hungry for any new "tick", we are ready to drive 2.5 hours south to spend half a day on a hill. Something is seriously wrong with us
Our route follows the WH description. Interestingly, it proved much less boggy than expected. Yes, there are peat hags and muddy stretches, but most of them can be avoided or hopped over, generally it was pleasant going, though we lost the path somewhere and simply aimed up the ridge. We met some sheep on the way up and a couple of snow showers on the descent, but overall, Beinn nan Imirean was a nice surprise!
The starting point is the same as for Meall Glas and Sgiath Chuil, from A85 across the bridge to Auchessan:
Two other walkers were just in front of us, but they were heading for the Munros. I'm so glad we had already ticked them off, so no need to endure the bogs any more
Instead of taking the vague path on the right side of the stream, we crossed the bridge and followed the grassy track on the left side of the burn, leading to a small hydro construction.
Sgiath Chuil from the upper end of the hydro track:
As we climbed out of the glen, views were getting better. Just south of us, the bulky shape of Ben More dominated the horizon:
After another km or so of steady uphill, we spotted our "target" and were pleased to see it cloud-free. Weather forecast for today warned against snow showers, but we had been lucky so far.
It doesn't look too difficult from here...
Panoramic view of Sgiath Chuil and Meall Glas:
The two big Munros block any views to the north and east, but the SW panorama of Glen Dochart/Glen Falloch and surrounding mountains is lovely:
We were pleasantly surprised how easy the terrain was, only one steeper section and the ground was mostly grassy:
About 60m below the summit we took a short break by a small lochan:
Soon the summit was in sight and I felt a wave of disappointment it turned out so easy. Too easy in my opinion. We should be doing this one in winter conditions, Kevin said, shame it is so far way from home.
Panther presenting the usual symptoms of hill madness:
The summit came soon... too soon. A new Corbett for us all: no.167 for me and Kevin, no.122 for wee Lucy:
Ben Lui group from Beinn nan Imirean. We have already climbed them, but we're planning to return to Ben Lui to photograph an interesting plane crash site on the SE slopes. The site is very high up the mountain and in a shallow gully, so better wait for all snow to melt before we investigate.
Crianlarich hills from Cruach Ardrain to Beinn a'Chroin. From this lot, the only one I really would like to revisit is An Caisteal and its famous Twistin' Ridge:
Zoomed:
Snow showers coming from the north:
Meall Glas so close yet so far:
We had a quick warm cuppa on the summit and decided to descend before the snow shower hit us. Of course, being a panther, I had to detour to sniff around a few boulders
Looking for scrambling opportunities on the way down:
The shower caught up with us eventually and we spent the next 30 minutes walking through it. We didn't get wet surprisingly as it was more frozen rain than snow. Not the best weather for the last days of April, but better an odd shower than low cloud and constant drizzle.
We were back down in just under 4.5 hours. One of Auchessan residents decided to walk us out of the farm
Overall, a nice hill, would be perfect for a shorter winter outing. Maybe after a period of wet weather it does become the boggy monster it is said to be. Maybe we were just lucky...
My next story will take us back north, to a certain Graham in Torridon. Very underrated and often overlooked - and unjustly so. TR in progress.