3 Loch Ossian munros in 24 hours

[Pken84]

Arriving off a late running train at Corrour, I headed straight for Beinn Na Lap, with the aim of the other two Munros the next day. The whole was up on the train from Glasgow, I was anxious about the weather (thanks, Storm Kathleen). This trip was going to get me to the halfway mark however, so I was extremely determined.

On leaving the vehicle track onto the hillside, I completely missed the 'faint boggy path' and instead climbed up the ridge through boggy heathers and tussocks. The wind was unpleasant but not unbearable at this stage, and progress onto the top was relatively straightforward. Moving towards the summit cairn, visibility was poor and the wind was picking up, so I didn't get the promised views down the Loch. Then things got worse. The wind picked up to about 60mph, and were blowing straight into the open side of the summit shelter. I turned straight back around, but with the wind, the driving rain, and somehow managing to miss the path on the way down too, I was cursing this stupid hobby. I was amazed to be arriving at the hostel 2h 50m after getting off the train - I really was determined to get up and even more so to get down.

After a night at the Loch Ossian YHA, I set off for the 2 Munros on the other side of the Loch. I had thought I'd like to walk up the Loch in the morning and tackle these hills the opposite way to that described on WH, but the wind direction meant Carn Dearg first was the best choice. It was a bit damp and windy, but good deal better than the day before. The going is really rather gentle as an unmade, very wet, but reasonably clear path meanders all the way to the summit. No views here today, and still rather blowy, so I didn't linger at the beehive cairn.

The clag lifted en route to Sgor Ghaibhre, and once the initial direction off the first summit was figured out it was pretty easy navigating to the second. Again, it's pretty wet and boggy, but I didn't have to detour much to keep my feet fairly dry. Lovely views in all directions from this summit - Schiehallion and Ben Nevis the only two I can reliably recognise by shape!

Pathless descents are really not my favourite, but at least it was easy to spot the road and the Loch and head for those. Right at the bottom it was extremely wet, making me very glad that I didn't start the day that way. It was a little tricky to find the gate in the deer fence, and then through the trees to the track, but that might have been because I was happily distracted chatting to two companions from the hostel I came down with. Approx 6h20m for the circuit, with a leisurely pace down.

So that's half the Munros done. Only 141 more to go...