Bridge of Orchy marathon

[djarvie]

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I stayed the night in Tyndrum, ready for an early start. The forecast had been very good, with plenty sun, warmish and light winds, but yesterday it was downgraded, with the possibility of low cloud coming in from the east during the day. I knew it would be a long walk, 12 hours plus, and hoped I'd manage it after a month since my last walk. It would certainly need an early start at this time of year, with sunset at 8pm, to avoid returning in the dark.

I planned to follow Steve Fallon's route. Doing it anti-clockwise as he describes seemed sensible, since that would get the worst climbs out of the way first, and leave the ridge to come back along at the end, leaving little choice by that time but to do all 5 hills.

I parked in the car park beside the Bridge of Orchy Hotel, and set off at 7am. The sky was mostly cloud free, so it looked very promising for the morning at least. After walking under the railway, there was a path which, when it went to the side of a phone mast, seemed to come to an end, but it was just obscured by overgrown bushes to the side. It then headed gently uphill to begin with. The path was wet from rain last night.

The path up to the bealach between Beinn an Dòthaidh (left) and Beinn Dòrain (right)

After a while, the path became steeper, with lots of loose stones often amounting to scree, and several boggy patches. I felt quite energetic, but it seemed to take a long time nonetheless. Shortly before reaching the top, my first raven of the day flew over. I was relieved to reach the bealach between Beinn Dòthaidh and Beinn Dòrain, with the added bonus that I was now in the sun.

View east from the bealach: Beinn a' Chuirn (left), Loch Lyon, Beinn Sheasgarnaich

It was again a fairly steep climb from the bealach, and my foot slipped more than once on wet rocks, so I had to be careful in places.

Loch Tulla seen from above the bealach

The slope became quite slight for a bit, and it seemed quite idyllic in the sun, although ominously clouds were beginning to gather on some of the nearby hills. Was the low cloud coming in from the east already, setting me up for a day walking in mist with no views?

Lochan on Beinn Dòrain's shoulder

After climbing more steeply again, the sun started to dim as cloud started blowing in.

Beinn Dòthaidh from Beinn Dòrain's shoulder

The cloud was coming and going before I reached the first top, Sassenach's Cairn, where fortunately it lifted. Beinn Dòrain's summit, further on, was mostly in at least thin cloud, although it also eventually lifted.

Beinn Dòrain's summit seen from Sassenach's Cairn

Beinn Dòrain's summit, clear now, Beinn a' Chaisteil (left)

There was only a small dip before the path rose up to the summit. I saw a raven flying and landing on the cliffs below the summit. There were also meadow pipits moving about, not for the last time on the walk.

View east from path to summit

By the time I reached the summit, it was full sun again, although there were thick wreaths of cloud sitting on Beinn Mhanach and Beinn Achaladair in particular. It looked as if I might be doing the rest of the walk under low cloud. At least I was ahead of the SMC Munros book time for the first summit.

Beinn Dòrain summit

Ben Lui group from Beinn Dòrain summit

I then returned to the Sassenach's Cairn, where I headed off down the north east ridge on a faint path above the corrie edge, towards Meall Garbh. This was initially easy, down a gentle slope, although the path petered out.

Meall Garbh, with Beinn Achaladair (left), Beinn a' Chreachain (centre right), Beinn Mhanach (right)

Looking back up to Beinn Dòrain from Meall Garbh

Beinn Odhar to the south seen from Meall Garbh

Beinn Achaladair (left), Beinn a' Chreachain (centre), Beinn Mhanach (right) seen from Meall Garbh top

Once past the top of Meall Garbh, the grassy ground dropped steeply for some distance. At the bottom of that slope at 850m, I stopped in the sun for a small breakfast, and saw a bird perched on a rock not far away. I thought it was a meadow pipit, but looking in the binoculars could see that it was a wheatear, probably juvenile. Once, it flew out 10 yards presumably to catch an insect, and then straight back to its rock.

I then continued down and was going to head straight for where the plan was to cross the burn at the bottom, Allt Coire a' Ghabhalach. However, there were lots of pools and peat bogs in the way, so I followed the planned route by going down to the bealach before Meall Tionail, and then heading down the hillside by a small burn, over ground which although often wet, wasn't too boggy. Some tiny frogs tried (and I hope, succeeded) to jump out of my way.

Beinn a' Chuirn seen from near bottom of descent to Allt Coire a' Ghabhalach

After crossing Allt Coire a' Ghabhalach, I tried to maintain height by contouring round the significant slope, herding some sheep on the way, heading for the bottom of Beinn Mhanach.

View south from traverse towards Beinn Mhanach: Beinn nam Fuaran (left), Beinn a' Chaisteil (right)

I came round the hill at roughly the right height to cross the burn and the track which goes round below Beinn a' Chuirn (which is the west end of Beinn Mhanach), and started the steep ascent up rough grassy slopes round Beinn a' Chuirn. By this time, I didn't have the same energy as on Beinn Dòrain, so it was hard work and I needed frequent stops to catch my breath. I'd originally planned to go round to the bealach between Beinn a' Chuirn and Beinn Mhanach, but after a bit saw where it would be possible to go directly up Beinn a' Chuirn, and went straight up the pretty steep slope. I was very glad to reach the top after an hour's climb. After all that, the tops of both Beinn a' Chuirn and Beinn Mhanach beyond were decidedly unexciting.

Beinn a' Chuirn summit, with Beinn Mhanach behind

There was a small but significant dip across a bealach to a path up Beinn Mhanach. This path was, apart from the brief section of track at the bottom of the hill, the first since I'd started the descent from Beinn Dòrain. With reduced energy, I found the easy climb up the other side harder than I normally would. It was now 6½ hours into the walk and I had only reached the second summit - it began to dawn on me why this circuit takes so much time. It was time for a sandwich, which would perhaps boost my energy levels. After a 20 minute break, I started off back down towards the bealach.

Looking back to Beinn a' Chuirn from below Beinn Mhanach summit

Beinn Achaladair (left), Beinn a' Chreachain (right) from below Beinn Mhanach summit

I bypassed the bealach, heading down a very wet hillside to cross the burn at the bottom near its highest point, and then climbed up Meall Buidhe. The slope wasn't too bad for a while, but got steeper higher up. Probably thanks to the sandwich, the climb went better, even if I wasn't bounding with energy. Eventually, I reached a path which skirts along below the top of Meall Buidhe to Beinn a' Chreachain.

Beinn Mhanach seen from traverse of Meall Buidhe

On this path, I stopped for a brief chat with the only other people who I saw on the walk, 4 women who were climbing just Beinn a' Chreachain. After a small dip, the slope steepened up Beinn a' Chreachain, where I heard an almost buzzing sound made by the wings of a group of over a dozen ptarmigan flying past in close formation. I reached the top in 15 minutes, without having to stop much at all. There was then a short walk along to the summit.

Beinn a' Chreachain's summit ahead

Beinn a' Chreachain summit, with Beinn Achaladair behind

View north east from Beinn a' Chreachain's summit

At this summit, which was the furthest point of the walk, I was a bit dismayed to see how far I was going to have to walk to get back. Beinn Dòrain seemed far in the distance, and the ridge back stretched out for a long way. I was already 9½ hours into the walk, so I would clearly overrun my 12 hour target, the question being by how much.

The route seen from Beinn a' Chreachain's summit: (left to right) Beinn a' Chuirn (Beinn Mhanach), Beinn Dòrain, Beinn an Dòthaidh, Beinn Achaladair, Meall Buidhe

Meall Buidh seen descending Beinn a' Chreachain

As I was descending, another raven flew by. At the bottom, I thought that rather than having to make the effort of taking the path straight up to the ridge along Meall Buidhe, I might find an easier path part way along the traverse, leading gradually up to the ridge. Unfortunately there was no such path, so I had to cut up across rough grass to reach the path along the top. Once there, the views to the west over Rannoch Moor were great in the late afternoon sunlight.

View north west from Meall Buidhe

The top of Meall Buidhe was as expected uneventful.

Meall Buidhe summit, with Beinn a' Chreachain behind

Beinn Achaladair from Meall Buidhe

By the time I could see down to the bealach before Beinn Achaladair, it was obvious that there was quite a climb up to its top - by this time, I could do without another 200m ascent. Again, I heard the obligatory raven calling from the cliffs ahead. The path up was very steep for about 70m, with a number of big rock steps requiring hands to be used, before the gradient eased.

Seen from the path up Beinn Achaladair

The cairn marking the top at 1036m sits right at the corner of the summit ridge. On my OS map printout, it was the only marked summit, although after getting home I discovered that smaller scale OS maps show the 1038m summit as well! So the apparent contradiction between map and text descriptions made me confused as to where the actual summit was. I visited both cairns along the straight summit ridge edge, and now I know that the summit is marked by the small cairn.

Beinn Achaladair summit (small cairn), with the lower 1036m large cairn in the distance behind

The views over the western edge were really good in the early evening sun.

Loch Tulla (and Loch Dochard) from Beinn Achaladair's summit ridge

There was now quite a long walk along the ridge to Beinn Achaladair's south top. On the way to it, I got good views of the next (and last) hill, Beinn Dòthaidh. It looked quite a distance away, and big.

Beinn an Dòthaidh from Beinn Achaladair

Beinn Achaladair's south top, looking back to Beinn Achaladair

After reaching the south top at 6.30pm, I could soon see the bealach below Beinn Dòthaidh, and could see how big the climb ahead was. I was pretty tired by now, so another 250m climb wasn't welcome, and I could see my return time stretching out further.

Beinn an Dòthaidh ahead, beyond the bealach, with Beinn Dòrain (left)

Once at the bealach, the sight of the hill towering up ahead wasn't enticing. I had to pass Beinn Dòthaidh anyway to get back, so although the thought of trying to skirt round it occurred to me, it seemed daft not to climb it since I was most of the way up it already. So I trudged up, at some points stopping frequently to rest, and managed to reach its first top in 30 minutes. From there, it was an easy stroll over to the summit.

Beinn an Dòthaidh's summit ahead

I'd been looking forward to reaching Beinn an Dòthaidh's summit for quite a while today, and after nearly 13 hours walking, I was finally here. There was no view in the cloud, but it didn't really bother me by this time. But I couldn't help wondering, if there was a raven at each of the other Munros, why wasn't there one here - was it past their bedtime?

At last I could begin the final descent. I headed south west over easy grassy ground towards a path which I saw on the way up, leading towards the bealach beside Beinn Dòrain. After walking for a bit along the path it became very boggy, and I lost the path. The ground was fairly rough, but walking down was so much easier than walking up! By the time I reached the bealach, the sun had set although there was still plenty of light for now. The light gradually faded as I descended on loose stones, and I didn't care about the boggy bits any more except that their dark colour made them difficult to see what I was treading on. As I got lower, the lights of Bridge of Orchy getting gradually nearer were a welcome sight. It was pretty dark by the time I reached the lit railway underpass, but I just managed without having to get my head torch out.

Soon I was at the car, 25 minutes before my deadline. I bunged my stuff in and drove in my wet boots straight to Tyndrum in the hope that there might be some food still available. Luckily, at 9.45pm the Ben Lui restaurant still had its doors open, so although they were closing, they were able to offer me a small choice of pizzas. My primaverdi pizza was very tasty, with good dough, so that kept me going on the drive home. I got back about 1.20am, tired but pleased to have managed to do the walk even if it took 14½ hours.

Looking back on it, I can see why this isn't a standard walk described in the books. Even compared to other 12+ hour walks which I've done, it seems a bit of a marathon, probably because it involves such a length of walk over pathless rough ground and lots of ascent, with sometimes several hours between peaks. But I'm glad I did it, even though it was so tiring at the time.