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There was a query by Robertgee as to which is the least climbed mainland Marilyn. As of today's date, this would seem to be it, at least in terms of reports on Walkhihghlands, so, in case people are interested, I have copied this from elsewhere. It was six years ago when we were both fitter (who wasn't?) but not fit enough to post any sort of time that might be useful to others.
We set off for Strontian on Saturday 6th June 2015 in heavy rain, assured of a better day to come. Across Rannoch Moor we saw what low light can do: a deer had been hit by a car coming the other way, and two motorists were looking on in incomprehension. Later we saw a police car blaring its way up Glencoe. Meanwhile we stopped at The Study. The waterfall was fuller than we had ever seen it.
What? Druim Leathad nam Fias
When? Sunday 7th June 2015
Weather? Sunshine and showers, very windy at first
Who? Sgurr and R
Distance? 10.1 miles
Ascent?2503 feet
Sunday dawned overcast with a high wind, but the sun soon came out.. Having driven round to Glenn Scaddle, we abandoned our plan of cycling up the glen(Plan A) as we would have made little faster progress against the wind than on foot. We also abandoned Plan B which was to climb up the ridge early, as we didn’t want the wind in our faces high up.
Below, the eastern end of the ridge hiding behind some trees
In between the showers, the waterfalls looked fairly replenished, and we were glad we wouldn't have to wade across it.
At the second bridge on the right at Creag Bheitheachain, we crossed.
After walking through the ruined building we set off uphill.
Below, our route as seen from the others side of the glen next day.
We contoured round below some crags,
We came to a waterfall
We set about climbing up. I was steadying myself with a hand on some dry grass, when I saw this, six inches from it
After the waterfall, it was still quite steep
I should really have looked at the map properly earlier, as I wouldn’t have had my hopes raised. A while past the top of the waterfall, I really hoped we were getting somewhere, but we weren’t. We still had nearly two miles to go.
We walked round to some lochans on the ridge,
Setting off towards the summit
Please leave the gate as you found it
and then to the top. Behind Sgurr Domnail et al. At last
Summit views
The weather gods decided to let us eat lunch in peace.
Climbing over the intermediate hill on the way home
A shower behind
We had decided to walk the length of the ridge following rusty fence poles. The Ben was in view all the way down
Down
Down
Down
Down
Down
We thought if we followed the fence, it wouldn’t descend too precipitously
But whoops
We scrambled down some crags following the fence
Then we made for the first bridge
On the way back home we stopped for a rainbow.
We arrived back at the hotel so late, we didn’t feel that we could ask for a proper meal, and R went to bed, but I scrounged some soup, thinking that was all I could really ask for given the poor proprietor had an accident and was in the Belford with suspected concussion.
What? A Bheinn Bhan
When? Monday 8th June 2015
Weather? Warmer sunshine, little wind
Who? Sgurr and R
Distance? Cycling 6 miles Walking 5.6 miles
Ascent? Cycling 430 feet Walking 1817 feet.
As for the previous day, we set off for Glen Scaddle, but the wind had dropped and we got ready to cycle in
There were still deep puddles across the road where we dismounted and dragged the bikes round the edges through surrounding bog.
When we got to the forest edge the road looked as if it went up and down too much, so we abandoned the bikes and walked
The track was delightful, if on the long side
From the track we could see our objective. The summit is the indistinct hill to the left rather than the craggy one to the right which is Meall na Freuma.
At approx. NM950675 we made our way through the deciduous trees
When we came to the edge, luckily a tree had knocked down the deer fence, so we were able to get through
We then angled our way up towards the summit, crossing a stream en-route
Views from the summit
Coming down, I saw two of the very few frogs I have managed to spot all year
We discovered a flap in the fence only about 50 metres from where we had originally exited
Walking along the forest track I saw a (?) roe deer rush across my path
And there standing on the track was its tiny fawn
You can see how small it is compared with R
We were literally a few feet away. At first it seemed to bleat weakly for help, and then it went into survival mode and crouched in a heap on the track, so we walked quickly on hoping it’s mother would soon be back. If we had been thundering past on our bikes, we would never have met it.
Once outside the forest, we could look across to yesterday’s summit
But now we were glad we had brought the bikes, since they made easy work of the three miles back.
