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Once again, a brief weather window presented itself this week, so I had to get out. Ben Alder has been on the to do list for a while, but I had it in my mind this needed an overnight stay in the tent at Culra. Having checked distances and times however, I reckoned that I could make it easily in a day trip from Dalwhinnie.now that the nights are drawing out.
Driving over the hills from Aberdeenshire, the weather was not looking great, and at 7:30am in Aviemore when I had a pit stop, it was pretty nasty, heavy rain and cold. The Metoffice is usually quite reliable though, and it was meant to improve, so I continued on to Dalwhinnie where sure enough the rain had more or less stopped. I parked up at the filling station, paying the £3 fee. Very convenient for the railway underpass and saves a cycle from the walker's car park down from the station. This time I had made sure I had both bike wheels in the car unlike Gulvain a couple of weeks ago. Walking in would not be an option today. I also had bike panniers to carry the winter boots, an extra flask and some food. Cycling in with trainers rather than boots was certainly a good idea. This was my first run on the bike this year, so thankfully the run along the side of Loch Ericht is mostly flat. I made decent progress without too much effort although there were a couple of short sharp climbs where I dismounted and walked to stretch my legs as I am not that keen a cyclist. I had not been on the Ben Alder estate before so was surprised by all the flashy new buildings built in a Disney/Romantic Scotland style. Perhaps not in the best taste, but the estate looks after the track well, and certainly doesn't discourage walkers and cyclists, so no complaints.
From the rather grand and manicured Ben Alder lodge (which the track by passes) 10km along the loch side, the route then climbed steadily in the direction of Loch Pattack. It's not that steep an incline, so I could stay in the saddle progressing in a lowish gear. Some hill ponies at the top of the hill provided a distraction.
- Hardy animal
Although it was not raining, the cloud was still low so I was counting on improving weather.
- Ben Alder over there somewhere
At this point, I had to decide on following the vehicle track down and around Loch Pattack or take the stalker's path directly over the bog to Culra. I chose the latter, as it looked OK and was more direct. It turned out to be a decent path, although more difficult to cycle on given it was mostly a single narrow rut with some softer boggy sections and a small broken bridge that required the bike to be carried over. Brave and skilled pedalists would probably ride across of course.
- My cycling skills not up to pedalling over this.
I continued on the path on the south side of the Allt a Chaoil-redhe, past the foot bridge, parking up just opposite the Culra lodge. The cycle in was 15.9 km and took 1 hr 35 mins, which put me just ahead of schedule for getting back in daylight. After some tea and a bite to eat, I got the boots on and continued on foot along the very good stalker's path.
The path leaves the river and climbs gradually. At about 525m there is a clear rough path off to the right towards the Long Leachas route which I followed. This was very waterlogged as a result of recent rain and snow melt, but not too far to go. Crossing the Allt a Bhealaich Bheithe was a problem however, as there was a fair spate in the river. Although I could see the path on the other side heading up to the Long Leachas, getting there would have likely meant getting very wet. So I continued up beside the burn to above 650m elevation, where a couple of well positioned rocks allowed a leap over and I made the north side unscathed.
- Not so easy to cross today
I was so far up I briefly considered continuing up to the Short Leachas, but decided to err on the side of caution and stay with plan A traversing across to the Long Leachas over wet but easy ground. Once up on the Long Leachas it was just a case of following the ridge into the murk.
- Long Leachas in the mist
The Long Leachas looks quite imposing, but the path picks an easy route through the crags, with only a couple of points needing hands on rock briefly. It would be entertaining in good snow conditions, but today there were only small patches of wet snow, easily avoidable. The mist lifted pretty much at the same rate I was climbing, so by the time I reached the plateau it was clear. The plateau does give the impression of a wild and desolate place.
- Ben Alder plateau from top of Long Leachas
It was then just a gentle climb over rocky ground to the summit of Ben Alder about 1.5km to the south. There was not much snow and conditions remained clear, so no difficulties navigating, but in whiteout conditions you would need to take care with the cornices on the coire rim.
- Melting cornice
At the summit I was surprised to see fresh footprints in the snow, as there was no sign of anyone heading up in front of me. Later I met the owners of the footprints on Beinn Bheoil, they had walked in from Corrour, climbing Ben Alder from the west. The weather was just about behaving itself, although the views were somewhat impaired.
- Ben Alder summit
After some more warm tea, I continued on around the Garbh Choire keeping well back from the rim cornices, and descended south east into the Bealach Breabag. This was mostly wet grass and rocks with snow patches, but I did put the crampons on and get the ice axe out for a short steep section of snow where a slip might have had undesirable consequences. Once down to the bealach,the path was easy enough to follow up onto Sron Coire na h-Iolaire. A short detour out to the cairn on this top at 956m allows a great view east down Loch Ericht to Dalwhinne which must be over 20km away. By this time the visibility was very good.
- From Sron Coire na h-Iolaire
After a short drop it was a straightforward climb over rocky ground to the summit of Beinn Bheoil where I had a chat with the two walkers from Corrour.
- Ben Alder from Beinn Bheoil
I followed the approximate descent route in the WH guide, initially along the ridge more or less due north, then dropping north west to the Allt a Bhealaich Bheithe. It was pathless but easy ground at an ideal inclination for making good progress downhill. By this time Ben Alder was clear and there were some great views of this impressive hill as well as across to the Lancet Edge.
- Beinn Bheoil and Ben Alder
- Lancet Edge and Geal Charn
After this easy descent, I picked up the stalker's path from Loch a Bhealaich Bheithe and rejoined the outbound route a little lower down. A few minutes later I was back at the bike. Although bicycle theft and vandalism in remote locations is probably unlikely, it's always a relief to find the bike present and correct where it was left. I would not have fancied a walk back out to Dalwhinnie. The walking part of this route was about 16km and took 5 hrs 50mins at a reasonably brisk pace (for me).
For the return bike journey I crossed the bridge over the river to the Culra bothy side and took the track around Loch Pattack. This was no better and seemed a bit tougher than going straight over the bog on the stalker's path, as there was a bit of uphill to start and the track round the loch was gravelly and not so easy to cycle on. I thought I had read about an exciting wobbly bridge on this track, but there were just a couple of new wooden bridges. It was with some relief I reached the top of the rise where the ponies were still munching hay and I could enjoy the long freewheel down to Ben Alder Lodge. The rest of the pedal out was uneventful, and I got back to the car with plenty daylight left. The return bike journey was 16.7 km, so slightly longer than outgoing route, but was quicker at 1hr 20 mins due to the fast downhill section. My out of condition cycling muscles and posterior were hurting a bit at the end of it, but although I don't like cycling much, it wasn't too bad an experience. I'm looking forward to returning to climb the Lancet Edge and bag the four Munros to the north later this year.
