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Inverawe-some Weekender

Inverawe-some Weekender


Postby weaselmaster » Sun Dec 19, 2021 9:12 pm

Fionas included on this walk: Beinn nan Lus, Meall Garbh

Date walked: 19/12/2021

Distance: 51 km

Ascent: 1992m

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I didn't really expect to be away this weekend. On Tuesday I had an appt at the See and Treat clinic at the Plastic Surgery OPD at Glasgow Royal, in connection with a suspicious lesion on my thumb. In the end, they just took a biopsy from it, which didn't inconvenience me over much - although I reckoned I'd not be up for using an ice axe...not that there seems to be any snow left anyway. The forecast seemed to suggest it would be dry, without any wind, misty but with the likelihood of inversions. I wondered about doing the two Grahams out below the Etive hills, Beinn na Lus and Meall Garbh, but this time taking the long walk in from Inverewe. Last time these had been right at the end of our Graham-bagging, numbers 5 and 4 respectively and we'd come in from Glen Strae, which is a bit shorter.

We headed along to Inverawe on Friday morning, intending to walk in Friday, climb on Saturday and walk back out on Sunday. I had tagged a couple of possible Simms along the way, outliers of Ben Cruachan - but one involved a sea level to over 900m climb, so the chances of getting them past Allison were never high :roll: As it was, we wouldn't have had time to do them anyway, this being the shortest weekend of the year, light wise.


2021-12-17_1033 Raw.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



We parked in the sizeable car park in Inverawe Country Park. People with bows were going about - this is a place to come if you fancy being Robin Hood, or maybe a Legolas type elf...we noticed the warning signs about Argyll Archers on the way out. I was a little wary about leaving the car for two nights in the car park, having previously experienced the mooks that go about Argyll Forest car parks at night (see my report on Dun da Gaoithe from a couple years back). Anyway, we set off, first time with big packs for quite a few weeks. The sky was cloudy, but it was surprisingly mild and we ended up walking just with shirts on. The Etive hills started to come into view - the Grahams first, then Creach Bheinn, then Trilichan and finally the big one, Starav himself. The waters of the loch were still and reflective.

Image5D56E3C4-DF3E-4A7A-A396-7CD30B7F7013_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageB7290245-E24D-4E69-874A-D929A13409B1_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageD47023C0-6B75-468D-88BD-713F553D67C0_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr


We walked down to the water's edge at Inverliver and stopped for lunch. This would be a nice camp spot in such conditions - the lapping of the waters, great views. But we had a lot further to walk today. The track is good quality - there are a surprising number of houses/farms hidden away down these tracks. It does undulate a fair bit - in fact in walking to where we camped we'd done almost 400m ascent and ended up at a lower altitude than we'd started at :lol:

Before Ardmaddy we turned left into Glen Kinglass. There's a new track on the south side of the river that you could take if you were cycling as it has a better surface - we preferred to walk through the oak woods. Mossy boulders, mossy walls, mossy tree trunks. Next we passed by Narrachan Bothy and had a peep inside. Norman Grieve's report for Beinn na Lus back in 2012 states that it had no door, but it appears to have been done up with new windows and seats, and awaiting a log burner being installed (log burner sitting in a corner). It has a dirt floor, but would be perfectly serviceable- and it now has a door, though one of those ones that has a slide bolt on the outside that always freaks me out a little at the thought of being looked in.

Image24CC4518-0661-40F6-BBED-BF0B9812BD37_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageCCD30690-2207-4B85-AA52-E0B4FB62A4EA_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageE447D19F-1B79-4FE3-805C-92858CCD8DF2_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image26C236DC-7C40-42A5-95EF-832A9CDE5035_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageAB5E1554-CB9C-46C7-96AD-0380AA634EE7_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageA9BD2D65-4074-4476-AD19-CBB435C4E8F7_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr


We continued on, aiming for the ground between the two Grahams. From last time I remembered camping spots being scarce - a lot of tussocks and stony ground. We had used a grassy spot near where the Allt Hallater joins the River Kinglass. However this seems to have been bulldozed by a new hydro scheme. We did find a spot on an old track just off from the suspension bridge which I thought might be too stony under the surface, but it was alright and the pegs went in alright. I was using a flinty stone to hammer the pegs in and little nuggets of fire spiralled down to the earth.

New hydro works
ImageE51A137C-083D-4A59-A53C-24D6EF80858C_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image00DB2AC0-8B11-4DE2-A69B-584461C6AEE6_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

The night was bright, thanks to an almost full moon, not too cold either. We looked out in the morning to see clag right down to the ground - this was going to be fun going up craggy hills in this! Allison opted to do Meall Garbh first which would mean she got the bridge crossing out of the way early. She doesn't like this bridge - indeed last time we were here she insisted in walking 3km to the next bridge along to avoid having to re-cross it. That wasn't going to be happening today. The bridge does look like it could do with a bit of TLC - some of the boards are missing and others are rotting, They also bend quite a lot when you tread on them.

ImageE5D32CE9-0CAD-4BF8-BDB1-877D0FE2C01B_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image601A15AC-D0C4-4539-8570-3A45C7E85394_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

We crossed without mishap and started up Meall Garbh. Last time we followed the fence line up, this time we decided just to pick our way between the crags. Deer tracks helped with this and we enjoyed the fab views out to Mull with an inversion stretching right down Glen Kinglass right over the sea. From the summit there were grand views east to Beinn Dorain and the Rannoch Munros. We descended much the same way, paused for a sandwich on the way down and followed this with a coffee back at the tent.

Image5F3F81F0-1211-464B-AFEF-53E71AD52ED0_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageCE93286A-2448-4546-A44A-1DB15A301F08_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image8920BB52-FDAD-4FB4-80ED-E870EC8DC33F_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Beinn na Lus then out to Mull
ImageFA868BB8-F749-40A4-8A8C-6A9F297F8093_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageAF60F3E5-765F-43A2-93DA-43F4A413127A_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Meall Garbh from the tent
Image5AA22280-01A1-42E1-AC28-1BD9A3592751_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

1pm and we set off up Beinn na Lus. I opted for a direct route from the track, which took us steeply up a gully onto the flatter summit plateau. Bits of bog, frozen lochans and wonderful views - pointy Ben Cruachan, massive Ben Starav. We reached the summit about 3pm, the sun starting to sink into the still-cloud inverted sea. I was tempted to watch the sun set, which I image would have been rather special, but then I didn't fancy a descent from this craggy hill in the dark. We headed for the eastern shoulder to descend less steeply, although this involved finding more crags to negotiate. As we walked east, a huge full moon hung suspended in the reddening sky over Stob Coir' an Albannaich. This was some compensation for not seeing the sun set. We walked and watched the sky reddening further then turning blue as we neared the track. Just got back to the tent as the last of the light fled, about 4.30pm.

Image97BC9AC7-6525-405C-92AB-873ADF9D48A7_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Starav/ Aighean
Image433D5F33-E93B-4CBA-B183-D7842B6FFB48_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Cruachan
Image831D6975-01D5-405F-96EC-70147C150EA0_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image292944F7-0EB1-42F6-8D2E-FBE1D41F594F_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image9D151277-3759-4A47-80A9-DE40E784AC34_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image473D71F4-0E78-43AE-8E5B-FA930A5E0608_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image8D882E2A-33EE-45EF-837B-E1C278B782F3_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Moonrise
Image713FBFFD-9A1D-4409-825E-01F1B2947FC9_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageBC50A28D-5A7C-449F-8AF7-202BCBA88D35_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image17B83EB3-724F-497C-B419-7EF5CE8D23A4_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageB299DC1E-24B0-4B9C-8A13-0D7B9EFAE24B_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

A cold night, bright again with moonlight, but this time frosty into the bargain. We awoke to hoar frost covering the grasses and trees and indeed the inner layer of the tent. Packing up with gloves on, we set off along the track, another fine day with blue sky and scarves of cloud hanging along the valley. A Ute pulling an ATV drove towards us - looked like a keeper out with a customer. The keeper chatted away asking where we'd been and saying how cold the night had been, the customer, a somewhat supercilious young man said not a word. We had him pegged for a Russian prince off to kill things - but then we have been reading a lot of Dostoyevsky recently :wink: Walking through the oak woods I stepped on a carpet of frosted oak leaves, which crunched slightly under my boot.

Image21851CC9-7A26-471C-A461-688ABDE9E630_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageF3510719-CED1-4553-AC70-709EBC57C7EB_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image6D752C68-D33D-41FF-86A4-3BECFA73B39E_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

An Ent, surely?
Image0D2DC536-E761-44AC-ABB6-3BCF6A6F3762_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageF18BFCD9-D702-4B41-8877-5E3E7B24F282_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image37206947-5DEC-407B-99C2-DEE168E85927_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image9F38D570-3DFE-4536-BDB1-DF32668E33C6_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr


The views along Loch Etive were even better than on the way out, sun hitting the hills on the western shore. We paused for lunch watching three canoes paddle down the loch, amidst the reflections of the mountains. I was feeling the effects of a heavier rucksack on my shoulder, which has been giving me a bit of problem recently and it was good to stop for lunch in the sun. We were otherwise in frosty shade the rest of the walk until we returned to the car park, where I was pleased to see the car was unmolested. A gorgeous drive as far as Tyndrum, where we entered the land of cloud inversions.

ImageF799DD5B-7D76-44E1-95A1-BC11A78095AD_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

Image263EAE85-1CF8-4A78-A0B9-C04A1791EB9C_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageFFBED839-6B00-42CE-B8D3-EEBF0CB475FD_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr

ImageF8FC2DA7-FD44-4C64-BCFE-6C5D0758B5BE_1_201_a by Al, on Flickr.
weaselmaster
Hill Bagger
 
Posts: 2429
Munros:277   Corbetts:216
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Sub 2000:391   Hewitts:33
Wainwrights:15   Islands:28
Joined: Aug 22, 2012
Location: Greenock

Re: Inverawe-some Weekender

Postby rockhopper » Fri Dec 24, 2021 12:41 am

Certainly was a good weekend compared to the current weather. These two are on the to-do list for some time in the future. Still debating the pros and cons of going from the west or east though - cheers :)
User avatar
rockhopper
 
Posts: 7446
Munros:282   Corbetts:222
Fionas:136   Donalds:89+20
Sub 2000:16   Hewitts:2
Wainwrights:3   Islands:20
Joined: May 31, 2009
Location: Glasgow

Re: Inverawe-some Weekender

Postby weaselmaster » Fri Dec 24, 2021 7:38 pm

rockhopper wrote:Certainly was a good weekend compared to the current weather. These two are on the to-do list for some time in the future. Still debating the pros and cons of going from the west or east though - cheers :)


You could go in from the Starav hills, would make a nice northern option :D
weaselmaster
Hill Bagger
 
Posts: 2429
Munros:277   Corbetts:216
Fionas:183   Donalds:73+30
Sub 2000:391   Hewitts:33
Wainwrights:15   Islands:28
Joined: Aug 22, 2012
Location: Greenock

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