Back onto higher ground

[ChelseaMurray]

Decided to tackle these 2 from Crainlarich. I wasn’t even going to write a detailed report but it’s always good to recognise what you think is a “bad” day as well as the good.

No lies here, I hated them. I know I’ll never win any awards for being the fittest or the quickest but I had to work for every single meter. No idea if I was just having an off day having read posts from folk who favoured them from this side. But not to be down for too long cause it was actually still a good day with the weather, views and folk spoken too.

Parked in the lay-by on the A82 a mile south of Crainlarich and followed the track that you would for an Castiel before cutting down left and crossed the bridge

Followed the fence up by the forest

Just keep trudging on up onto Grey Height then over Meall Dhamh before ascending up to a Bealach leading to Cruach Ardrain. From here it’s a short walk to the summit.

Cruach Ardrain Summit

Head down to Bealach then it’s a short ascent up to Beinn Tulaichean

Beinn Tulaichean summit

From here I did consider descending into the coire but hadn’t really looked into it enough to be confident so retraced my steps back into the Bealach then up to around 900m. Decided here to skirt around the side before then picking up the descent path and plod on down.

The great views all around made up for how much I felt I had to work today. And what you feel to be a bad day on the hills is always better than no day on the hill

Couple of points to consider…. Follow the fence right up to the 2nd stile before cutting across, don’t go early like me. There is actually a bit of a path for the majority of the ascent so long as you find it.

Pretty wet underfoot at times but nothing that couldn’t be passed by
Care required if poor weather coming off Grey Height, I lost anything that resembled a path here and skirted round the north side before realising the forest I could see didn’t quite look like the one I wanted. Quick check of the map and back on track.

The last 250m of ascent after Meall Dhamh are STEEP.

Just cause it’s only the 20th April doesn’t mean you won’t need suncream!

Where I skirted round at 900m probably wasn’t worth it. Probably aswell just adding in the extra 50m of ascent if your legs will alllow it

6hr 55 moving/short breaks
About an hour sitting about on the ascent wondering why I’m doing this
Then about an hour chilling at both summits grateful that I carried on and taking in the views.

Next time I’m going to go from Inverlochlarig and decide what I prefer

Anyway, 52&53 done for me.

[Coop]

Great report and stop dissing yourself so much.
Hardest part of any walk is getting out of bed or out of the car - and hitting the hills !!
Well done 👏

[MRG1]

Yeah I second what Coop said, well done.
You bagged both and got home to tell the tale, sounds like a good day to me
I've only ever done those two from that side, I quite like them but by god they're a "bit of a slog" aren't they.
Just a note re the path: (I know that they divide opinion but) the maps based on the Openstreetmap data pretty accurately represents the path on the ground. Even on Grey Height.
However, your notes about poor weather on Grey Height are important.
Even armed with openstreetmap I lose the path there.
Every.
Single.
Time.

Great photos btw.

[ChelseaMurray]

Great report and stop dissing yourself so much.
Hardest part of any walk is getting out of bed or out of the car - and hitting the hills !!
Well done 👏

Thanks Dad, feel a bit better on reflection I’ll not be back up in a hurry though!

[ChelseaMurray]

Yeah I second what Coop said, well done.
You bagged both and got home to tell the tale, sounds like a good day to me
I've only ever done those two from that side, I quite like them but by god they're a "bit of a slog" aren't they.
Just a note re the path: (I know that they divide opinion but) the maps based on the Openstreetmap data pretty accurately represents the path on the ground. Even on Grey Height.
However, your notes about poor weather on Grey Height are important.
Even armed with openstreetmap I lose the path there.
Every.
Single.
Time.

Great photos btw.

Thankyou, it wasn’t half a slog. Even where it petered out after Grey Height for a bit it still felt tough going. Descending took as long as ascending. Just one of those days 🤣 I’d never heard of OpenStreetMap but have just had a Quick Look. I do us OSMaps regularly and just took one “path” too soon but figured on the descent there was a decent “path” pretty much the whole way give or take. The “path” I took ultimately was just a sheep trail and some that others have used but just petered out.

But as you say, I done them and for that I am grateful I carried on and persevered. Gave myself a good talking to today, timings don’t matter neither does taking a seat with the sheep when the going gets tough

[MRG1]

Yeah I second what Coop said, well done.
You bagged both and got home to tell the tale, sounds like a good day to me
I've only ever done those two from that side, I quite like them but by god they're a "bit of a slog" aren't they.
Just a note re the path: (I know that they divide opinion but) the maps based on the Openstreetmap data pretty accurately represents the path on the ground. Even on Grey Height.
However, your notes about poor weather on Grey Height are important.
Even armed with openstreetmap I lose the path there.
Every.
Single.
Time.

Great photos btw.

Thankyou, it wasn’t half a slog. Even where it petered out after Grey Height for a bit it still felt tough going. Descending took as long as ascending. Just one of those days 🤣 I’d never heard of OpenStreetMap but have just had a Quick Look. I do us OSMaps regularly and just took one “path” too soon but figured on the descent there was a decent “path” pretty much the whole way give or take. The “path” I took ultimately was just a sheep trail and some that others have used but just petered out.

But as you say, I done them and for that I am grateful I carried on and persevered. Gave myself a good talking to today, timings don’t matter neither does taking a seat with the sheep when the going gets tough

I don't use the OS maps app but in my understanding their basic map (if that's the right word) uses the Openstreetmap data and lights up like a Christmas tree with all of the paths missing from the proper OS maps when activated, I don't know if they can download for offline use though.
Be wary though, the maps can be edited by anyone and it turns out that the definition of "path" is very subjective.
But they're generally quite useful maps.

[ChelseaMurray]

Yeah I second what Coop said, well done.
You bagged both and got home to tell the tale, sounds like a good day to me
I've only ever done those two from that side, I quite like them but by god they're a "bit of a slog" aren't they.
Just a note re the path: (I know that they divide opinion but) the maps based on the Openstreetmap data pretty accurately represents the path on the ground. Even on Grey Height.
However, your notes about poor weather on Grey Height are important.
Even armed with openstreetmap I lose the path there.
Every.
Single.
Time.

Great photos btw.

Thankyou, it wasn’t half a slog. Even where it petered out after Grey Height for a bit it still felt tough going. Descending took as long as ascending. Just one of those days 🤣 I’d never heard of OpenStreetMap but have just had a Quick Look. I do us OSMaps regularly and just took one “path” too soon but figured on the descent there was a decent “path” pretty much the whole way give or take. The “path” I took ultimately was just a sheep trail and some that others have used but just petered out.

But as you say, I done them and for that I am grateful I carried on and persevered. Gave myself a good talking to today, timings don’t matter neither does taking a seat with the sheep when the going gets tough

I don't use the OS maps app but in my understanding their basic map (if that's the right word) uses the Openstreetmap data and lights up like a Christmas tree with all of the paths missing from the proper OS maps when activated, I don't know if they can download for offline use though.
Be wary though, the maps can be edited by anyone and it turns out that the definition of "path" is very subjective.
But they're generally quite useful maps.

I have noticed peoples definition of the word “path” differs quite a bit 🤣 I’ve generally found the OSMap quite accurate and useful, yesterday was my own doing by coming off too early and following what I see for a while instead of checking and double checking but with good weather and a clear view of where you’re headed that’s easy to do. Lesson learned, must have only been about 10m below the much better path for some of it. Couldn’t believe it when I was descending and I thought “I remember being a bit closer to that Lochan on the way up”

[MRG1]

I feel I should point out for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread that I think OS mapping or it's equivalent should always be carried in the hills (whether digital or paper or both).
I never rely 100% on the Openstreetmap maps, I always have access to an OS map for those "now where did that rockface / impassable burn come from" moments

Oh and yeah, that Lochan deserves to be in a Harry Potter book. The Lochan of befuddlement

[ChelseaMurray]

I feel I should point out for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread that I think OS mapping or it's equivalent should always be carried in the hills (whether digital or paper or both).
I never rely 100% on the Openstreetmap maps, I always have access to an OS map for those "now where did that rockface / impassable burn come from" moments

Oh and yeah, that Lochan deserves to be in a Harry Potter book. The Lochan of befuddlement

I could have studied and have access to the best mapping system in the world and will still have those moments “that definitely wasn’t mentioned anywhere or seen on any map”… until I check again, and see it most definitely was