Beinn a'Bheithir in the sun
Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 11:38 pm
I was camping at Duror with friends Bod and Val (on Walkhighlands) and Andy and Gill. Saturday dawned bright and sunny so it looked a great day for us to pay a visit to our neighbouring mountain, Beinn a Bheithir. Having two cars to work with opened up possibilities and we decided to leave one at the forest car park at South Ballachulish and drive on to Ballachulish village to start our traverse of this mountain range. We set off past the school and soon had amazing views of the north-east ridge of Sgorr Bhan which was to be our means of approach.
Soon the hard work began with the ascent of the ridge which became steeper as we ascended higher!
Then there was some scrambling needed to take us forward.
Eventually after a minor diversion off the ridge to the left and then scrambling back up we joined the crest of the ridge again. With hindsight it might have been just as good to stay with the ridge but the scrambling might have been harder. All the hard work was worth it when we took in the views.
The ridge led us up to the summit of Sgorr Bhan and we found ourselves wondering how the round pink stone had arrived at the top of the cairn - presumably on somebody's back, as it wasn't from around there.
From Sgorr Bhan the summit of Sgorr Dhearg could be seen rising up along the beautifully symmetrical ridge line. "That's the way to go!" Bod was heard to say!
The walk along the ridge to Sgorr Dhearg was delightful. There was a real sense of space and altitude as we made our way up the narrow ridge line.
Soon the team was gathered at the summit of our first Munro of the day.
Setting off from the summit heading for Sgorr Dhonuill, the views to the west were stunning.
From there it was downhill for a time on the way to Sgorr Dhonuill, passing some mystical looking stones on the way!
The climb up Sgorr Dhonuill was grassy at first but soon we reached some rocky ground and there was a bit of simple scrambling again - but it wasn't as hard a climb as it looked at first from below.
Soon we were on the very spacious summit enjoying the views again! And it was even less windy up there!
From there we walked west heading for the beallach about 1 km west of the summit. The views out over Loch Linnhe were amazing!
At the beallach we discovered our way down was a rather steep and unpleasant scree-filled gully which needed care on the descent. It is the way the SMC handbook brings you up to Sgorr Dhonuill - but it wasn't much fun! Maybe it would be easier climbing up it!
Once down it was a straightforward walk on a woodland path and landrover roads down Gleann a' Chaolais back to our parked car at South Ballachulish. Looking back we caught tantalising glimpses of the ridges of Sgorr Dhonuill in the evening sunlight. It had been a great day out on Beinn a' Bheithir.