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Beinn Gaire and Croit Bheinn. Most hillwalkers don't even know of theses hills existence and maybe it is for the better because anyone deciding to tackle this duo doesn't really know what they are facing. Neither did we. We hoped for a decent day in a remote, quiet corner of Ardgour, but what we got was... a nice walk over the ridge of two Grahams/Fionas, followed by the stuff of our worst nightmares. Just one word of warning for those mad enough to follow us: be ready to face Glen Moidart, also known as THE GLEN STRAIGHT OUT OF HELL. And bear in mind that we walked it after a long period of dry weather (it was showery on the day we did it, but I can't even imagine how much worse this glen could be after a period of wet weather? In spring, when the melting snow turns the bottoms of all valleys into quagmires).
And it all started so well...
We drove to Ardmolich and took a minor road into Glen Moidart. There is room for 3-4 cars at the end of public road (just after the track divides, the left branch heading for Glenmoidart House, the right one further into the glen). It was raining when we arrived so we sat in the car for twenty minutes, waiting for the shower to pass. It did eventually and we could get ready for the planned walk over two G/Fs.
- The parking area (picture taken after the trip).
Initially, the route goes along a decent track (judging by the amount of droppings everywhere, used more by cattle and sheep than people
), following the eastern side of River Moidart. Weather was improving as we neared the ruins of Glenforslan, where we planned to leave the track and climb up Sron Dubh an Eilich.
- The wet nature of Glen Moidart
I must admit, the surrounding hills looked very... lush. So green, so "juicy". Lovely and friendly, one might think. Little did we know that the real monster was hiding behind this inviting facade...
- So far so good...
Once we reached the ruined croft of Glenforslan, it was time to say good bye to decent underfoot and tackle the unknown... The vegetation was quite wet after the morning shower but apart from that, we found the climb relatively easy. There was even a path-of-sorts to start with...
- Up the initial climb, lower Glen Moidart behind me
...but soon it vanished in the lush, green grass. We kept pushing towards the minor top (Sgurr Gorm) which is in fact not a separate top, but a rocky, steep southern end of the whole Beinn Gaire ridge:
Looking down to the Glenforslan Reservoir and Creag nan Lochan (498m) across the glen:
After a short sunny interval, weather was beginning to deteriorate again, dark cloud pushing in from the south-west but we were desperate to complete our task and bag both G/Fs!
After a few hundred meters of stiff, steep climb, we crossed Allt an Fhithich above a small yet noisy waterfall. The ground eased off closer to the summit and now walking was much faster, I was powered up by the happy thought of finishing off Ardgour & Moidart Grahams/Fionas... These were the last two on our list...
- Come on, let's finish the job!
After another short, steep section we emerged on the nearly flat, wide ridge and discovered that what we thought was the summit, was actually a false top, about 10m short of the true highest point of the mountain:
- The true summit in sight now!
F. No. 133 (115 for Lucy). Sgurr na Ba Glaise behind us on the horizon.
The summit was windy so after taking a few photos we hid behind a large rocky outcrop just below the top. Kevin attempted to record a few panoramas but due to the grey cloud hanging just above the summits, the only interesting view was west to the Rois Bheinn ridge:
Not the best of days but at last the wind was low and we had views, even if a bit grey and depressing:
From the top of Beinn Gaire, now we faced a long ridge walk over wet ground to the second G/F. We kept fingers crossed for the showers to stay away from us:
The ridge walk proved to be much less squelchy than we expected from the looks of it. So far, so good! Maybe this round will not be as bad as it is told to be, I thought, marching towards the shapely bulk of Croit Bheinn which now dominated the horizon line in front of us:
The drop is well over 200m and the bottom of the bealach would be a peat hag challenge in wet conditions... Thankfully, the long period of dry weather in June meant that we could walk over most hags without drowning in mud...
- Kevin assessing the peat hag challenge
On the final climb to Croit Bheinn. The body of water behind me is Loch Shiel:
Croit Behinn is much more rocky and as a result, much drier underfoot. At the moment, the rain was staying away, but I was worried the sunny spell won't last... So was Kevin:
A rocky corridor just below the summit of Croit Bheinn:
Entering "the gates to hell"
Notice the cloud cooking something up behind me!
Reaching the tiny, quite airy summit was a relief. We managed to arrive about 10 minutes before the rain caught up with us - enough time to take a few photos and quickly swallow a sandwich. F. No. 134 (116 for Wee Lucy):
The first signs of Armageddon coming!
Beinn Odhar Bheag and Beinn Mhic Cedidh, which we only climbed in early June this year ... Shame we didn't have more time and better conditions to really appreciate the amazing views from Croit Bheinn, but it was what it was. At least we saw something
The shower arriving:
We wrapped ourselves up in waterproofs and started the long and laborious descent into the upper Glen Gluitanen. The rain arrived but it turned out to be much lighter than we expected. We kept pushing, carefully descending the green slopes first to Bealach a'Choire Mhor, then down into the upper reaches of what we would soon discover to be a boggy hell. By the time we dropped to the level of the stream, the rain has passed, but this would be the only consolation for us for the remaining part of the walk...
- Looking back up towards Croit Bheinn from the upper Glen Gluitanen
We followed the stream for the next mile or so. There was no path apart from faint deer tracks and the ground was quite squelchy, even after a dry spell. I can't imagine how terrible this glen could be in wet conditions (aka typical Scottish weather) and I'm glad we didn't have the chance to experience it
- Might look picturesque but this is a squelchy hell! Beware hillwalkers! You might get sucked in!
Glen Gluitanen joins the upper Glen Moidart by a narrow ravine called Bealach na Lice, which looked impassable, at least from our point of view, too steep to our taste, so we decided to climb the northern (right hand side as you face downhill) side of the glen, hoping that the other side wouldn't be too steep to descend and we won't find ourselves trapped in this hellish world of gloomp-gloomp-squelch...
- The narrow passage
I allowed Kevin to take over the lead. He discovered what he thought was a path, but as soon as we started climbing up, we realized it wasn't a path but a small burn! Higher up, after dragging our feet out of the muddy bottom of the stream, we had to fight through a field of bracken almost as high as we are... Eventually, we arrived at the highest point of the pass and we sighed with relief. At least the other side looked walkable and, maybe against logic, we hoped it would prove less boggy than the upper Glen Gluitanen?
- Into Glen Moidart, hope still alive...
Black Panther still has not lost her sense of humour... And her determination to finish the trip with a smile!
Looking back into the ravine we decided to avoid:
From Bealach na Lice we struggled on for another mile to the ruins of Ulgary, a former township cleared in mid 19th century. So depressing to see the sad remains of croft buildings in what was once a living glen... As if having to fight the battle of the bog wasn't depressing enough...
- The ruins of Ulgary
Past the abandoned croft, the conditions underfoot didn't improve, quite the opposite, they actually got worse... Kevin was totally fed up by this point and I decided to be quiet just not to upset him even more...
- The battle of the bog continues...
One of very few highlights of the return route, this waterfall on the N slopes of Beinn Gaire:
From Ulgary we stumbled on for another mile to the next ruin, Assary, where we picked up what we hoped would be a dry ATV track, but in Glen Moidart the word DRY has no use even in the middle of summer...
- Looking down at the final section of the return walk through Glen Moidart, about 2 miles of seriously muddy ATV track
The bog just seemed neverending and the desired dry underfoot conditions didn't appear until we walked past Glenforslan. The river can then be crossed back to the better track on the eastern side of the glen by a decent footbridge (not to mention that the path leading to this crossing should be tackled with snorkels on and possibly wearing a lifebuoy and flippers on your feet
):
- Kevin successfully wrapping up the battle of bog crossing the bridge over troubled water...
Back in the car after over 9 hours of bogfeasting, my husband stated:
" I can't believe how anyone completes a second round of Grahams or Fionas? How can ANYBODY persuade themselves to come back to this hellish place?"
Despite the long, painful experience in Glen Moidart, we were actually very happy to have completed our task. Now all G/Fs in Ardgour/Moidart have been ticked off. A minor achievement which we were happy to celebrate in the evening with a small glass of Smokehead whisky. Nothing could make us feel dry better that that!
Seriously, if considering Beinn Gaire and Croit Bheinn, especially in wet season, maybe it would be better to avoid the squelchy glen and retrace your steps over Beinn Gaire. It adds about 250m to the overall ascent but at least you won't need your flippers and life jacket. Good luck to all of you who dare to enter this boggy hell. Happy battle of the bog for all the brave baggers!
