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2021 had been a year of firsts in many ways. July had seen my first visit to Knoydart, the spring months of April and May had seen first proper hill walking outings with Luna since she came of age, and talking of age, the autumn had seen me turn 51 for the first time in my life!
Progress in terms of turning red Munros into blue ones has been fairly slow over the past five years or so, even before COVID put the brakes on even more, with my average annual new Munro count having hovered around the 8 mark for several years now. That said, I had somehow managed to get my to-do list down to a fairly respectable 52. If I could get one more red Munro ticked off, I could be 51 with 51 Munros between me and the finish line!
I had identified Beinn nan Aighenan as a suitable target for the relatively short days of the early part of the year, accessing it by the long, lonely walk through Glen Kinglass from Victoria Bridge. It is one of only half a dozen or so "single hit" red Munros still on the board. I had last ventured this way during the Great Summer of Temporary Freedom of 2020 when I had rounded off a multi-day trip by faffing around doing the Graham of Beinn Suidhe. Nothing wrong with Beinn Suidhe, or Grahams in general, or faffing around, but I had decided that 2022 (touch wood) would be a year where I would concentrate heavily on lowering my remaining Munro count and spend less time "faffing around" on the likes of Beinn Suidhe. With 52 remaining, I was hoping to almost cut that figure in half over the course of the coming 12 months. In fact, I decided that my target would be to do 22 in 2022, thus taking me to a nice round 30 left to deal with. Maybe then I could start to envisage a compleation at some stage during 2025!
The date was set for Saturday 29th January and John and Bruce were roped in, Bruce in particular keen to get some mileage and ascent under the belt before we tackle the Strathfarrar Round at the beginning of May. Then on the Friday night, that wee b*wbag Storm Malick went and screwed our plans up entirely by arranging to visit winds of up to 3,000mph on the high ground of Scotland. I was keen to get out, but not so keen that I was prepared to have my trousers blown clean off on Beinn nan Aighenan!
I thought about going for it myself the following weekend (Bruce and John both being unavailable) but the weather was grim that weekend too. Not that I was desperate to get my 22 in 2022 plans off the mark or anything, but I then pencilled in the following weekend. Bruce couldn't make it but John could, although we ended up switching from the Saturday to the Sunday, it being the slightly less unpleasant of the two days.
John was at my house at 06.10, only 10 minutes late on account of having left the Costa del Kinghorn without his walking boots. Fortunately he had not gone far before some subconscious realisation had kicked in. This would definitely not be a day for anything other than sturdy boots!
We transferred his gear into my car and were off just before half past. A quick stop was made at the Green Welly in Tyndrum for a caffeine top-up and we were parked up in the walkers car park at Victoria Bridge and away on the stroke of 08.30.
Achaladair and Dothaidh across Loch Tulla from the tarmac to Forest LodgeAbhainn Shira (downstream towards Loch Tulla) from Victoria BridgeAbhainn Shira (upstream towards Beinn Suidhe) from Victoria BridgeIn the shadow of Achaladair and under the careful watch of a couple of localsJohn was on new ground here, but I had tramped the track alongside the Abhainn Shira on several previous occasions. Most recently had been 18 months ago and Beinn Suidhe but I had also been along as far as the Clashgour climbing club hut on two other occasions to separately pick off the Munros of Stob Gabhar and Stob a' Choire Odhair. As we passed the little green hut, I could see someone inside, I think the first time I have ever seen anybody actually using the place.
Approaching Clashgour with our distant, snow-capped target far away up Glen KinglasLet the bog hopping commence!We carried on, leaving the track at the access gate to Clashgour Farm and onto the bogfest of a walkers path that hugs the edge of the river, at times perilously close to the overhanging bank. A solo walker soon caught us up and passed us before turning back just before the stepping stones. He had been hoping to head up onto Stob Gabhar but had been blocked by a locked gate in the deer fence. He wasn't too keen to do it via the usual ascent route so thought he might just take the quicker option of Stob a' Choire Odhair before heading for his ferry back to Belfast.
A particularly dry sectionA particularly wet section, or maybe it's just the Abhainn Shira. Kinda hard to tell!We carried on to face the stepping stones, which came as a bit of a nasty surprise to John. Oh, had I not mentioned the hair raising crossing of the stepping stones!!!???
It was certainly more of a challenge than it had been in the dry summer of 2020, with the stones today looking decidedly slippery and a fair depth of water lapping around them. Still, we both managed across without incident although knowing that it would be dark for the return crossing later in the day, we were less confident of similar success a second time around.
The Stones of Doom! If Beinn Suidhe could talk, I bet it could tell a story or two of botched crossings on these stones! Safe from the stones for at least another 8 or 9 hours but a few scary bridges still lie in wait!Once through the fire break in the section of forestry, it was a straightforward squelch over the open moorland to the wooden suspension bridge. I didn't remember it being quite as swingy when I last crossed it 18 months or so ago.
Skirt around? Plough straight through? Does it really matter? 
First crossing of the second scariest bridge of the dayThe long, rising track then stretched ahead of us, past Loch Dochard and on down to the foot of the knobbly east ridge of Beinn nan Aighenan. On the way I popped into the rather sorry looking fishing hut on the shores of Loch Dochard and chuckled about a conversation I had with 3 anglers here on that day in the summer of 2020, Luna did what your average Labrador does and "took the waters", and John and I chatted away about the usual stuff.
First sighting of Loch Dochard and the rear end of the Glen Etive MunrosZoomed on Meall nan EunThrough the window - who lives in a house like this?Splashdown in Loch DochardAfter lobbing a few stones into Loch Dochard for Luna to chase, we carried on past the point where I came off Beinn Suidhe in 2020 and down to the great stone slabs of Coire Beithe to the south of the long arm of Sron na h-Iolaire.
Track dropping down towards Innseag na h-Iuraiche with Beinn nan Aighenan ahead and Meall Garbh further down Glen KinglassAighenan from one of several stream crossingsAcross Sron na h-Iolaire towards a cloud shrouded Stob Coir an AlbannaichLuna on one of the massive sections of pavementWe spotted the old, rusted iron fixings of the original footbridge over the River Kinglass but I knew that despite my battered old OS sheet (which would barely survive the rigours of this outing!) not showing another one in the neighbourhood, there was a new one a short distance downstream. After a very rough and boggy section alongside the river with only the sketchiest hint of a path for company, the new bridge eventually came into sight. It is in a spectacular location, spanning a section of the river where it cascades down a narrow gorge in a torrent of white water with massive boilerplate slabs on either side for optimal viewing and photography opportunities.
The new bridge with our approximate ascent line of Aighenan behind it and Meall Garbh across Glen KinglassUpstream view from the bridge and John availing himself of the photography opportunitiesLuna leading John over the bridgeOnce over the bridge, we found a decent spot by the side of the track to have lunch and a cup of tea before the exertions of the ascent up the eastern slopes of Beinn nan Aighenan. I say "we" had a cup of tea, but to be more accurate, "I" had a cup of tea while John managed to drop his flask mid-pouring and ended up looking like an incontinence sufferer!
Meall Garbh and lower Glen Kinglass from the early stages of ascentHeight was quickly gained, as was the snowline. Small patches steadily gave way to larger expanses, wet and mushy with little in the way of weight bearing properties. At least not for bipeds. The quadraped in the party seemed to be having fewer issues relating to sinking knee or waist deep in the mush.
On the rollercoaster ridge - into the snow and the clagWhence we came - Loch Tulla the furthest away body of waterProgress was unsteady, faltering, at times laborious when we stumbled into particularly awkward terrain and sank up to our waists in the mush. But eventually the small, unassuming summit cairn was gained and my first Munro of the year, my first hill of any description this year, was done and dusted. Well, apart from the
VERY long walk back to Victoria Bridge that is!
John getting a bit bogged downTwo specs in a vast landscapeThe connecting bealach to Ben Starav and Glas Bheinn MhorBack down the ridge across the head of Coire a'BhinneinIt's finally within sniffing distanceThe summit views were not summit to get too excited about, but it was just good to be there. It was fairly mild (certainly for mid-February), there was next to no wind (as opposed to the tempest that had been forecast for our initially planned date) and there had been no rain (or at least nothing that required full metal waterproofs).
John's third of 2022 and 65th in totalMy first of 2022 and 231st in totalWe had debated what would constitute the best route off the mountain and back onto the long track past Loch Dochard for our second encounter of the day with the Stones of Doom. In the end, we took a bearing down to the head of Coire a'Bhinnein from where we could drop down to Glenkinglass Lodge and pick up the track a few kilometres downstream from where we had left it earlier.
Dropping into Coire a'Bhinnein with Beinn Suidhe and Loch Tulla in the distanceThe coire was a minefield of concealed sink holes and on several occasions we found ourselves waist deep in the snow with our feet in a stream bed. We fled to the higher ground to the west and picked a careful line down into the glen.
It's a fair way down into Glen KinglassMeall Garbh and Glenkinglass LodgeIt was with some relief that we gained the track at the bridge at Glenkinglass Lodge and we celebrated with a can of Williams Brothers Six States White IPA, white chocolate buttons and wine gums!
Then it was a small matter of the 12km or so back along the track to the start.
There were some lovely sections of waterfalls on the river to our right as well as a rather questionable looking suspension bridge over one of the streams coming down from Coire a'Bhinnein.
John crossing the scariest bridge of the day in the gathering gloomMeall Garbh and the River KinglassBy the time we were back at the section of large boilerplate slabs, it was time to fire up the headtorches and relive memories of last October and a similar, long Sunday evening head torch yomp out. Maybe it was just the psychological effect of crossing it in the dark, but the original swing bridge over the Abhainn Shira near Clashgour seemed even swingier than it had done on the walk in, and we knew we still had the Stones of Doom to contend with.
Second crossing of the second scariest bridge of the dayWhen push came to shove, weary and hungry and faced with a crossing on wet stones (the drizzle had been on fairly constantly for the last hour or so) in the dark, we bottled it and choose to do a skip and a hop job a short distance upstream from the stones.
A warm glow was flooding out of the window of the Clashgour hut and the thought of whoever was in there, I imagined with a few beers and a hot meal, caused me to feel a pang of jealousy. We still had half an hour or so to go and we knew that we might struggle now to find somewhere still serving food.
We trudged back into the car park a full 5 minutes short of the 12 hours. Luna inhaled her dinner while we got ourselves sorted out and hit the road in search of dinner. At the Bridge of Orchy Hotel we were out of luck, the kitchen already being closed. We were more confident that we would get something at the Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum but it had closed at 8 o'clock. The Tyndrum Inn it was, but even there the kitchen was closed so we had to settle for a packet of scampi fries. Damn good they were too!
So, 1 down and only 21 to go to hit the 2022 target. Like I said, ambitious, possibly unrealistically so, but with plans for Strathfarrar made and Fisherfield being very much in the sights for July, it's not beyond the realms of possibility and the bigger target of getting the journey done by 2025 remains.
