Inversion on the Crianlarich Hills

[weaselmaster]

Bit of a different weekend this - my son is having a housewarming tomorrow (Saturday) to celebrate moving to Stirling. So a one-day hill day on Friday, and hopefully another two days out, this being a holiday weekend for Allison, on Sunday /Monday. So we needed somewhere close for our Friday walk...I'd put together a route for Caistael/Chabhair/a'Chroin then it occurred to me it would be more fun to add on Cruach Ardrain and Beinn Tulaichean as well - we have only ever done these Crianlarich hills as pairs or singles (Chabhair) so it was about time we did something different.

2021-09-02_1819 Raw.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

I picked Allison up at the usual time and we motored to Crianlarich in beautiful sunshine. It took, like, an hour to get to the starting point - what a pleasant change, after spending most of Sunday in the car coming down from Torridon. I planned for us to head up to Sron Garbh where we could hopefully camp high, meaning that we'd have a fair amount of elevation under our belts when we started walking again on Friday morning. Walking along the track we passed a few stragglers who had all enjoyed their day out on the hills. It was a gorgeous evening - we crossed the stream then followed a vague path that leads up to Grey Heights. But we were not going that way - we continued along the fence line to the north of Grey Heights and then began the steep grassy climb up to Sron Garbh. Allison was not especially enjoying this part and I pressed on ahead, mindful that we needed to find a spot to pitch before darkness arrived - the loss of the long, light nights is sorely felt at this time of year. I made for the 816m spot on the back of Sron Garbh and managed to find a fairly level place that would also take pegs...pitched, in the welcome absence of midges. The sky glowed a deep red as the last light left, tiny lights from the A82 were visible in the distance.

79520A9B-5F8E-40AA-90E9-EEEF6641EE6F_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

19E462ED-37C1-4EA7-ABB5-F8BF88659A29_1_100_o by Al, on Flickr

1B6D6A40-DEB3-4E58-A65B-067A2A9A1740_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

B19DFB98-362C-424D-951A-44D71C1817A4_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

D164C247-0773-457D-BE98-4CA11F1EA690_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

We woke to an inversion - sitting at around 750m, so that only the higher hills around were peaking through. Having been above the cloud, the grass and the tent were dry and I wandered about in bare feet, conjuring Brocken Spectres at will and generally enjoying the scenery. These inversions are becoming ten a penny however We dawdled over breakfast with the feasting for our eyes, then got packed up and set off to the top of Sron Garbh, being followed by spectres all the way up the hill. We used the sheep tracks to pick our way down to the bealach with Cruach Ardrain in the mist, then began the steep 200m climb up the nose of Ardrain - there is a path which would be a bit treacherous in wet conditions, especially if you were descending it. From the top of Ardrain, the summit of Beinn Tulaichean looked tiny, much less than the mere 100m difference in heights between the two hills.

DE225D84-1930-4DD5-A2AA-2FCD342E8FDB_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Ben More and Stob Binnien
170E3893-7875-45C7-811B-36472F11281C_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

E658B71F-3558-4608-9818-D9FEA2BD2D86_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Double-header Brocken
58D15414-E333-4EF1-8B97-9B37A55B5196_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Cruach Ardrain
8EB19701-84CF-4AFD-8F00-43725770B5A2_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

8F619B79-C286-4012-82F5-4F267066AB3A_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ED44CBA8-7FF0-450A-9E10-56DA061F3A17_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

197DD703-F787-4228-9F77-5FECDEB9125F_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Brocken and Fogbow
B4CCFADC-524C-4CBB-89AC-5DA112339AD0_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Tiny Beinn Tulaichean
EAFA6BDD-AC48-4B75-BFC3-642F0DF28962_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr


On we went following the standard path to Tulaichean. Much of this was in mist, and I wasn't much looking forward to the next section, contouring round Coire Earb towards Beinn a'Chroin as this would all be under the clouds. The grass here was soaking with condensation, wetting our legs and boots. We disturbed a number of sheep as we picked our way along in the mist, grateful for the GPS. Over Stob Glas and managing to avoid the worst of the crags, we came down into the valley by the long ridge from Beinn a'Chroin. A short section of pathless climb then we met up with the path again and continued to the 940m Top. Fogbows and more spectres up here. As we started to head down, who should we meet coming up but Andrea, a former colleague and friend of mine. Once upon a time we jointly looked after 120 or so psychiatric trainees all over the West of Scotland. I'd just last week noted she was back into her hills on Facebook and we'd messaged each other - what are the chances of meeting up just a few days later...

9D6D0D5E-588F-4DC7-80F4-B39968CCC7A4_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

2DB5F380-572E-4551-9E77-7FA907E47F76_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

AF17B7FE-D53A-4F0A-826E-C254A5DD0742_1_100_o by Al, on Flickr

DE5340FB-6395-4619-9B6A-A2FB5F20C593_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Our next three hills
7F39001C-B962-4F7F-A269-5F982C96C210_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Reclining Stob Binnien
EDF07DA8-EBC8-45FD-AF0A-D95AFEA953D1_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

a'Chroin Top
36B88D4D-EA9D-462B-84A2-098C82CEBD5A_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Andrea
9D4B1BCD-4662-4E57-AA92-5DBE28A90013_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

We continued over to the summit then started the descent. I was a little concerned about getting down the scrambly bit with a big pack on, but it was absolutely fine. My plan was to head up An Caisteal a bit, then down to the bealach with Beinn Chabhair...we noticed a cairn and faint path at Bealach Bhuidhe, but I don't know if this went to Chabhair or not, so we stuck to the route I'd planned. This dropped about 250m then there was the joy of 300-odd metres ascent up Chabhair. We did find a clear path at the lowest point, which rather petered out higher up, but there were no real difficulties ascending Chabhair - any crags were easily avoided and we popped up close to the summit. No views due to the mist - we headed back down following the same line, retrieved our rucksacks and had a much need ed snack before heading steeply upwards once more to rejoin the path leading to the top of An Caisteal. Both of us were pretty tired - it's a fair amount of ascent in the day, particularly with a big pack.

A'Chroin summit
AF1A73C9-B100-41DB-A140-DDD5818BED6B_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Beinn Chabhair
F90FF9C8-3FB9-435D-ADCE-DC7CDE990B7C_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

4740485C-0FF2-49CE-9F87-383C4AD987D2_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

An Caisteal summit
845D4C9D-F80B-419C-994E-82BD47B1F7D2_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

I had thought we'd be back at the car by 6, but it was just gone 7 by the time we arrived, having passed the farmers rounding up their sheep, with about 20 dogs. One elderly farmer, who'd passed us the night before on our walk in, asked if we'd enjoyed our camp. Yes - most definitely. Waking up above an inversion is always a joy - to see our "local" hills in a different light is also heartwarming. It's easy to be dismissive of these Loch Lomond hills because they are so close to home, but the do provide a great day out too.

11556DEE-73C0-4042-A3C8-489A45919171_1_100_o by Al, on Flickr

[Graeme D]

More great inversion shots!

[Andrea Caldwell]

Great to see you both and great pics Andrea