Druim Tarsuinn and a hail shower

[JOHNGG]

The forecast for Friday was good - excellent compared to some days we have had recently, so I decided to add another Corbett to my list, and Druim Tarsuinn (or Stob a Bealach an Sgriordain if you prefer for the 770m summit itself) was selected as one of the remaining ones that I could do on my way up the A9 for what turned out to be a very unsuccessful weekend fishing.

I am indebted to foggieclimber for his excellent report on his walk of this hill and its two neighbours and for that reason haven't uploaded many pictures as the ones I took are almost identical to his. I've added just a few of mine below.

Druim Tarsuinn ridge from the East

The 770m highest point of Druim Tarsuinn ridge

Obligatory rucksack on summit cairn shot

One thing I did differently from foggieclimber was that I used my bike and rode and then pushed it as far as the end of the track at the Hydro dam . It saved a few minutes on the way in, but at the end of the day I enjoyed the luxury of a free wheel all the way back to my car rather than a plod along the road. Worth thinking about if you are planning the hill.

Other than that it was a good walk and a well earned tick. I've walked the path along to the head of Cona Glen twice now and each time it has been extremely wet, so don't worry about crossing the river Cona when doing this particular hill as by the time you get to it your feet will be soaking anyway.

I made good time - just under 3 hours from car to summit and then about 2 hours 20 back to the car. The views from the top were well worth the long walk in , but it is pretty craggy and rocky on the summit ridge and could be difficult in very misty weather were it not for the fence posts along the ridge.

I was worried by the dark clouds coming in from the west so took a direct line down. Half way down the hill side I came under attack from a short but very heavy hail shower - in June !! Tried to get a photograph but not sure it shows it very well. Still - better than getting soaked in a downpour ...

hailstones on the ground

Anothet thought is that it would be extremely possible to climb this hill and then , going clockwise, to stay on the ridge and do the two neighbouring corbetts, rather than as two separate expeditions. But then, it's maybe no bad thing to spend an extra day in such a wonderful part of Scotland ....

[malky_c]

This area has me wondering how best to approach, as I have quite a few unclimbed summits dotted about in it. Ideally I want to do some long overnight routes with a bivvy, but I haven't quite worked out a satisfactory route yet. Maybe as you say, the best thing to do is to do a couple at a time and just keep going back.

[JOHNGG]

Hi Malky

The car park at Callop would be a great spot to stop over-night if you had a campervan as it's off the main road and pretty quiet. I didn't see any "No overnight parking" signs when I was there. You could camp there at a pinch (there's a flat space by the bridge) to save carrying a tent into the hills. The Corbetts off the Glenfinnan to Mallaig road all make good day trips, but I'm not convinced that there's a great deal to be gained by wild camping like in Fisherfield, for example. Better to get a good base (a nice B&B) and do them as day walks in the area in my view.

John G