Ardverikie three and a camp

[johnbythell]

I'd intended to do a multi-day camping trip from Loch Laggan south around the Ben Alder group, but after crossing the boggy waste of the Bealach Leamhain and the long, waterlogged path along the Loch a' Bealach Leamhain (where a lifejacket may have come in handy), my feet were soaked. I set up camp at the bottom end of the Loch and then did the 3 Munros around the northern end, which although in the cloud and raining for part of it, gave some great views when the clouds lifted and a nice round. I had a good night's camp with only a few showers, but the weather didn't look too promising, so with my final pair of socks soaked as soon as I put my boots on, I decided to bail and headed back out to the car, Of course, at the bealach the clouds lifted and it started shaping up to be a good day.

Geal Charn 30 Aug 2023.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Shortly after setting out from the layby on the A86, the very pleasant-looking hamlet of Luiblea

Heading up the track, recently improved for the hydro scheme development in the area

The cloud base not looking promising as I headed up towards the Bealach Leamhain

The Lochan Na H-Earba looking tranquil in the early morning

The bealach was very wet underfoot, and the path petered out, leading to some confused wandering about to navigate the bogs, not helped by the low cloud and occasional rain squalls. The Loch a' Bealaich Leamhain emerging mysteriously out of the cloud..

The path re-emerged after the bealach, but consisted mainly of a series of boggy pools and my feet were pretty soaked by the end of it,

I picked a spot on the high ground at the far end of the loch and set up the tent and offloaded my camping gear and then crossed the Allt Loch a' Bealaich Leamhain and headed up the heathery slopes of the broad east ridgeline of Beinn a' Chlachair

And the clouds started to lift along the way

With some atmospheric views along the broad ridge, which was quite long, with several false summits along the way

The final pull up to the summit of Beinn a' Chlachair

The cloud base was above the top for a while with some great views of Glen Spean - and the next approaching rain squall

Looking south towards Ben Alder and Beinn Bheoil

I couldn't get the camera out fast enough to get the rainbow at its brightest - just as the next rain cloud came up the coire

I retraced my route down the ridge then skirted round to the west, following the high-level pass to the Bealach Leamhain, which was a much more pleasant than the northern route, now with spectacular views of the Loch

The next objective, Creag Pitridh. It was raining again or most of the way up

But the clouds lifted again for some fantastic views from the summit - here looking towards the northern end of Lochan Na H-Earba

It was raining again for most of the ascent of Geal Charn

The summit trig point near the summit cairn

And then it was another trip down the unpleasantly boggy northern traverse of the Loch a' Bealaich Leamhain

I slept very well that night and awoke to a beautiful early morning with low cloud hanging in the glen around Loch Ericht. By then though I had had enough of wet feet and decided to bail out, making my third trip along the northern traverse to the bealch

And of course, the cloud lifted at the bealach and I had a great view of Glen Spean with a cloud inversion. I nearly decided to carry on with the trip, but the thought of a fourth trip along the dreaded traverse was too much, so I descended back to the layby to regroup and plan what to do next with the weather definitely looking to be improving.