A' Ghlass-bheinn - what a charming little munro!

[Milo12]

Another day with great weather forcasted - time for something with good views. I kept passing A' Ghlass-bheinn - a munro that at 918m certinaly is one of the smaller ones. It looks massive from below and I understand is recommended to be climbed together with Beinn Fhada. That's all nice - but it is Sunday, the weather is nice and I am really just in for enjoyable stroll.

I parked my car at the Falls of Glomach parking lot just before Morvich. Clouds had come in, covering the tops of the surrounding munros. I crossed my fingers that they would still disappear and set off along the road towards the Kintail Outdoor centre. There is a nice little trail under the tree cover along the river that avoids the road. I crossed the bridge, following the trail towards Falls of Glomach. It goes through a meadow with cows and then very quickly follows the river before opening up into a meadow and providing a great view at A' Ghlass-bheinn - now without a cloud cover. I may just be in luck - after all, this munro comes with recommendations for the stunning views it offers.

At the crossing in the middle of the meadow I take the trail to the right, through a gate and follow the excellent trail up the valley. The initial trees soon disappear and the steep mountain sides create a wonderful sense of ruggedness and remoteness. The trail raises gently and the saddle at which I will have to face the climb up the steep sides of A' Ghlass-bheinn is ahead. A quick crossing of a river that is running down the mountain side and a zig zag up towards the saddle.

I reach the saddle with a rather large cairn and brilliant views over the loch and the surrounding hills in the next valley. Even just walking up to this saddle would have made for a great outing. But - I am hear to climb a munro. So, up it goes the very steep trail towards the top. I have to say that I was rather surprised. While the maps say this should be off-grid walking with no trails, the trail is very well trodden and in rather good shape all the way to the top. Yes, there are some rocky sections and yes, every now and then you need hands and feet to make your way - but hey, this is luxury walking compared to other munros. Not even a bit of bogginess!

The trail finally starts to level out a bit, but now seems to take pleasure in teasing me with a series of false tops. There are at least 6 or 7 of these before I reach the actual top. The cairn there is very small, but the views.... Just fantastic. Not a mountain range in the surrounds that you can't see. Be it the Kintail munros, the Glenshiel ones, Skye and Skye bridge, the Applecross peninsula, the Torridon range - you name it. Time for a good long break at the top to enjoy the views, the sunshine and the lack of strong winds. Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to come up here.

For the way down I chose the option of walking over the grassy western ridge to join the main trail leading to Glomach Falls at a little bridge at the end of the forestry road. It is quite easy to pick the direction - you just follow the right end of the woodlands on the opposite hill. Very soon, I could see the trail leading up the mountain side towards Glomach Falls too.

The walking over the ridge is initially rocky and mossy and soon turns grassy, from around 500m also boggy in places. It is quick walking though - there hasn't been much rain in the past few days. Every now and then I can pick up a trail that must have been taken by other walkers. It appears and disappears again - not to worry, with the views ahead, there was not chance to loose the direction. The last 200m down to the bridge are very steep and take a lot of attention not to fall or slip. But within a short while I was down at the bridge. There are quite big rocks in the sunlight along the river which make for a lovely picnic spot, complete with trees, birdsong and peace and quiet.

I set off again to follow the forestry trail which soon turns into a forestry road. At the crossing I take the right option - I had done the left one across a meadow before. They both join again at some point. The forestry road to the right opened up lovely views over to A' Ghlass-bheinn and the surrounding mountains. After that it leads into the woodlands, through some farms and back to the parking.

Yes, you can connect A' Ghlass-bheinn with other munros or even add on a walk to the Falls of Glomach. But to be honest - it makes for very enjoyable outing on its own too.