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Panther's biathlon

Panther's biathlon


Postby BlackPanther » Thu Aug 19, 2021 8:49 pm

Route description: Leum Uilleim, from Corrour Station

Corbetts included on this walk: Leum Uilleim

Date walked: 24/07/2021

Time taken: 9 hours

Distance: 60.8 km

Ascent: 1136m

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This is my version of biathlon: biking and hiking in western Scotland to reach an inconveniently positioned Corbett!

By saying Leum Uilleim is awkwardly positioned, I mean it is not convenient for car-based baggers. The easiest way of reaching this hill is by taking the train to Corrour, but Kevin was adamant he didn't want to go anywhere near trains (public transport phobia due to COVID? I don't know...) so for us, there were two options: walking in with overnighting equipment or cycling to Corrour from the north. Had we had more tops to tick off in this area we might have opted for the overnighter, especially that weather was lovely, but we had already climbed everything else here, including Grahams. In such case, "biathlon" was the logical choice. Not that I really knew what I was signing up for :lol: :lol:

Track_LEUM UILLEIM 60.8KM.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts


We started from Moy (the usual starting point for Beinn a'Chlachair & friends); the layby by the bridge was already full (it was a Saturday so no wonder) so we parked at another one about 200m west. With bikes it was not an issue.
The track leading to Corrour is generally decent though the gravel surface is harder to cycle on than tarmac or well-beaten dirt, very energy-sapping. Or maybe it just felt that way because the sun wasn't joking. Initially, in the forest it wasn't so bad despite the track heading constantly uphill...
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...but as soon as we emerged on the open hillsides above Strath Ossian, the "biathlon" turned into "sauna-thlon":
DSCF3391.JPG

The road actually climbs from 250 to over 400m. The distance from Moy to Corrour is roughly 25km and the track passes through some magnificent country. We had seen this scenery before and in winter conditions, when we walked from Fersit to the summit of Ben na Lap but today we were going even further, "into the wild".
Looking back north at Binnein Shuas, a cracking Graham:
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The first glimpse of today's target, William's Leap, across Loch Ossian (which I like pronouncing "Loch Ocean" :lol: ):
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The final part of the cycle-in, along the loch, was again through the forest with some welcome shade. I didn't know how hot it was but if it is warm enough for me to wear shorts, it must be seriously baking!
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We reached Corrous station at the same time as the midday train:
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We chained our bikes to a tree (hoping they won't melt in the heat by the time we come back!), crossed the railway carefully and headed up the track towards our target Corbett:
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We decided to go up Sròn an Lagain Ghairbh despite the other side of the c-shaped ridge looking much less steep. We prefer to tackle the steepest bits in ascent. Initially, it was easy walking on a good track/stalkers path:
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...but later on we had to leave the path and hike across the boggy moorland. Thank heavens for the dry spell of weather or we might be forced to use snorkels :lol:
View back to Corrour and Loch Ossian from the lower reaches of Sròn an Lagain Ghairbh:
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Once on the steeper section, we actually located a path avoiding all difficulties. We didn't exactly stick to it - Kevin prefers going of-piste :lol:
2021-07-24 leum uilleim 001.JPG

The climb is not long; after all it's only 500m of ascent from the station to the summit. Most of the ridge is grassy with an occasional rocky section.
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Happy Panther = Cheshire Cat

The Munros around Loch Treig: Chno Dearg and the Easains:
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Kevin staring back at Loch Ossian and the long way back home:
2021-07-24 leum uilleim 011.JPG

The Grey Corries and Ben Nevis:
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Once on the flatter section of the ridge, it was only a short walk to the big summit cairn. We met another walker who came up the other side, but it was otherwise very quiet. I was glad to see some cloud bubbling up; they didn't look threatening and the shade was welcome!
Corbett no. 172, 128 for wee Lucy:
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Kevin in shorts, not a common occurrence but happens more often than Panther in shorts :lol:
2021-07-24 leum uilleim 017.JPG

View SW to Glenoce peaks:
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Zoomed:
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Nevis and the Mamores:
2021-07-24 leum uilleim 021.JPG

Whatever you say about Leum Uilleim, you can't take away the fact that it is an excellent viewpoint, especially to the more distant hills of Glencoe and Fort William. We would probably have saved this Corbett for winter if it wasn't for its awkward location. I don't know if we ever do it again, but we can walk off this mountain with our heads held high. We just turned a quickie into an odyssey - and it wasn't over just yet!
Time to go home - he's not happy at all :wink:
2021-07-24 leum uilleim 034.JPG

To complete the circuit, we continued our walk, descending via An Diollaid, easy walking on an estate track (a bit eroded here and there but nothing too tackling). We still had two bottles of water left but we were careful how much we drank; still a long journey home awaited :D
Views on the way back:
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Leum Uilleim from the lower reaches of An Diollaid:
2021-07-24 leum uilleim 041.JPG

Back in Corrour, we were glad to see that the tyres on our bikes didn't go flat (it happened on another occasion when we left them in direct sun on a hot day). We jumped on and started the long cycle back. At least the afternoon weather wasn't such a baking oven, so we actually enjoyed the return leg much more than the cycle-in.
2021-07-24 leum uilleim 060.JPG
I completed my biathlon!

Beinn na Lap and the cliffs of Creagan nan Gabhar from the top of the pass:
2021-07-24 leum uilleim 050.JPG

So this was the last listed summit in the Fort William area, but that doesn't mean that we will not come back here. We already have several ideas for new routes to repeat mountains and some of them are worth a go in winter conditions. But we have to rest our backsides a bit, before getting back on the bikes :lol: :lol:

In my next story we will return to our favourite subject in recent years - air crash sites. Another heartbreaking story from the far north - TR in progress.
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BlackPanther
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 3839
Munros:268   Corbetts:182
Fionas:136   
Sub 2000:75   
Joined: Nov 2, 2010
Location: Beauly, Inverness-shire

Re: Panther's biathlon

Postby gld73 » Sat Aug 21, 2021 11:56 am

Suspect it'll be some time before I get round to doing that corbett; great effort you doing it as a day trip from the north though!
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gld73
 
Posts: 899
Munros:178   Corbetts:76
Fionas:69   Donalds:12
Sub 2000:94   Hewitts:60
Wainwrights:107   Islands:13
Joined: Aug 11, 2015
Location: Inverness

Re: Panther's biathlon

Postby BlackPanther » Sat Aug 21, 2021 4:04 pm

gld73 wrote:Suspect it'll be some time before I get round to doing that corbett; great effort you doing it as a day trip from the north though!


It depends how much you like rough cycling. I'm a rubbish biker so for me any uphill, especially on bumpy tracks, is a nightmare.
There's always the train option, you could combine Leum Uilleim with Beinn na Lap, though I think the latter is much more enjoyable approached from Fersit :D
User avatar
BlackPanther
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 3839
Munros:268   Corbetts:182
Fionas:136   
Sub 2000:75   
Joined: Nov 2, 2010
Location: Beauly, Inverness-shire

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