free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Corbetts: Beinn an Oir.
Grahams: Beinn Shiantaidh, Beinn a' Chaolais.
Date: 26/06/2024.
Distance: 17.5km.
Ascent: 1430m.
Time taken: 8 hours 50 minutes.
Weather: Initially promising turning to misty (and extremely wet) cloud and quite breezy in places.
Today's walk was intended to be the centrepiece of our trip down to Islay and Jura. The day started off quite well - we were parked up a few miles outside Port Askaig and drove down to get the first ferry over to Jura. Although the paps were in the cloud at this point it felt like it would probably lift as the day went on - that's certainly what had been happening recently. The ride over the sound was in lovely sunshine and after passing through Craighouse we stopped for breakfast by the beach watching seals on the rocks.
Jura ferry 
Looking back to the north end of Islay 
Breakfast near Craighouse 
Seals It was a little greyer when we parked up at the bridge over the Corran River but it still had time to clear. We just needed to keep walking fast enough to outpace the bugs and midges that are part and parcel of the warm, muggy weather. The path into Loch an t-Siob can't really be described as 'good' but it is certainly obvious and as it had been dry recently we made reasonable time along it. Unlike my last visit we were aiming to stick to a fairly conventional round of the paps - I had warned Jackie about the nature of the off-piste terrain here (and indeed some of the paths as well). The round is popular enough that there is something of a path to follow the entire way.
Start of the walk At the outflow of Loch an t-Siob we had a quick break, pleased to be able to pause for a few minutes without being eaten alive. On the other side of the burn we left the obvious path to follow a fainter one towards Beinn Shianntaidh. The cloud hadn't lifted yet. The path took us most of the way to the base of the SE ridge before disappearing, and as we hit the cloud we joined a more obvious route which had come from Corra-bheinn (we had decided that the basic walk over the 3 paps would be plenty enough without adding extras like Corra-bheinn in). We stopped for a break here as we thought it might be the last time we would have a view for a bit.
Beinn Shiantaidh from Loch an t-Siob 
Lowlandmans Bay from the slopes of Beinn Shiantaidh Carrying on, the way was pretty obvious (although we took the lower options where the path forked, leaving us with a 100m high scree slope to climb in one go). Now on a ridge of sorts, the cloud was damper than we had hoped. No matter, we were on the summit in good time, albeit with nothing to see. This wasn't the way we had hoped things would go!
Jackie on Beinn Shiantaidh 
Descending Beinn Shiantaidh The way down was obvious higher up but became obscure as we dodged between outcrops, eventually depositing us near a tiny lochan on the col - slightly further north than we wanted to be. This was an opportunity to bail on the route and leave it for a more enjoyable day but we decided that now we were here we may as well carry on to Beinn an Oir at least.
The ground was OK lower down (although we had lost the path) but became a bit more broken and scree-covered higher up. The trick was to pick up one of the little ribs that made up the edge of a slab of rock - these could be followed for quite a time before they joined back into the face of the hill. Eventually we hit one of the main routes up here that traverses up the higher part of these slopes - this made the going much more straightforward (and provides a surprisingly well-graded route to the summit of such a pointy pile of scree). On the summit ridge, the wind had increased as had the moisture of the air. I still wouldn't really call this rain - more just moist cloud due to the humidity (I know that is basically what rain is but anyway) - but it was the wettest I had been this year. Rather than falling on us and running off, the water was blown into every gap in our waterproofs and boots and we ended up soaked! We had a very quick stop in the corner of the old bothy ruin then followed the cleared pathway to the trig point. Yuck!
Pathway to the summit of Beinn an Oir 
Jackie on Beinn an Oir Again the way down was obvious but steep - there was an entertaining scree run before we encountered firmer ground. The wind was right in our faces for this bit too, making it rather unpleasant. Eventually down at the col, I waxed lyrical about the spot I had camped at Na Garbh-lochanan a few years back, where I had watched the sun set over Colonsay. Jackie was close to slapping me - although we must have passed within 50m of the lochan, we saw nothing
Still, the air was drier at this point and through sheer stubbornness we decided to carry on. We had flagged this as one of the toughest things Jackie had done since Covid and she was still feeling good at this point, so despite the day being rubbish in terms of views we decided it would make a nice challenge.
My memory was of Beinn a' Chaolais being the toughest of the trio but it wasn't awful in the end - certainly very steep and unrelenting but the scree was probably less awkward than the other two. Perhaps I didn't pick the best route last time. The summit was actually relatively dry (especially compared to Beinn an Oir) and the wind had dropped a bit - almost pleasant. So perhaps my report title (which you may have gathered does not refer to the route profile!) was not entirely accurate
.
Jackie on Beinn a Chaolais Despite having a couple of options we retraced our steps to the invisible lochans - a case of better the devil you know.
Beinn a Chaolais descent Then we dropped into Gleann an t-Siob. Previously I had followed the south side of this glen but from what I had seen before we went into the cloud, the north side looked like it might have more of a path. Finally we cleared the cloud for the first time since we had gone into it on the way up Beinn Shiantaidh. It still looked gloomy but it was nice to see something at least. The path was as rough as everything is on Jura but fairly obvious and we made good time back to the loch. The final bit back to the road felt like a bit of a route march (and somehow rougher than on the way in) and by the time we reached the road we were both quite glad! Jackie was pleased - no reason that she couldn't do this but getting around this reasonably challenging route in good time just gave her more of her confidence back. So there were good sides to the day even if it wasn't what we'd hoped for. It had even been fun in a masochistic sort of way.
Walking out along Gleann an t-Siob We had hoped to spend a couple of days on Jura but after having an evening back in Craighouse, the forecast was to deteriorate further with rain and high winds moving in. This didn't inspire us to cycle and walk out to the Corrievreckan whirlpool so after spending a leisurely morning wandering around Craighouse and having lunch in the local bistro we headed for the ferry. The bounciness of the crossing (before the worst of the wind had arrived) confirmed that we had made the correct decision and we knew we would be back.
Craighouse from the Jura Hotel 
The rest of CraighouseConveniently situated near the Jura side of the ferry were the Caol Ila and Bunahabhainn distilleries which provided a perfect diversion for a wet afternoon
.
