free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
DATE:02/08/09
TIME TAKEN:approx 8 hrs walking
DISTANCE:approx 20km
WEATHER:crap for first 4 hrs then brilliant walking weather
started by parking one car at the car park off the A85 at glen lochay then drove round to the car park at dalrigh to start the walk to beinn dubhchraig.the waterproofs where on from the start here as the weather was pretty miserable with a low cloud base and heavy drizzle.followed the road over the west highland way with the railway to the left until you cross a bridge over the track following the path until you reach a small cairn marking the way down to a really unstable bridge that looked like the romans built.
the next hour or so wasnt great with one of the worst paths i have followed with water up to the ankles in some parts,really hard going here which was made worse by the heavy rain in recent weeks.
the only good thing aboout this part of the walk was the cracking wee waterfalls.
once out of the trees the slopes of beinn dubhchraig come into full view with the first steep climb not far away.
the weather was at its worst here with high winds and heavy rain so a quick ascent to the summit and down out of the wind to head for ben oss.be carefull here not to miss the cairn marking the way off the stalkers path to the slopes of ben oss as we done
the heads were down and we never noticed this until the cloud lifted and i noticed loch oss to my left,just to be sure i checked my mobile where i had filmed the route from virtual highlands from this site on to my phone and noticed where we went wrong,a poor mans sat nav
(i left my waterproof map cover in the car oops)
around half an hour wasted here so headed quickly up the steep slopes of ben oss where the rain and wind had died down and the cloud base slowly lifting we had to make the choice to turn back or head to ben lui.
after a break we headed for ben lui down to the col from ben oss when all of a sudden the cloud started lifting quickly and we were able to see our route up ben lui and finally got a chance to get the camera out
the walk round the coll from ben oss was great with no more boggy paths but as you approach ben lui you can tell its not going to be easy,a real hard slog up the slopes here which seemed to take forever
a good feeling of acheivement here with a good rest and first class views all round,one of my favourite munros and one i was glad to have done
on looking down to ben a'chleibh you cant help but wonder how it is a munro from here it looks more like a wee hill stuck to the side of ben lui
headed quickly down the steep slopes for beinn a'chleibh which by now the thought of climbing another hill wasnt very appealing but this seemed rather easy cosidering what we had just climbed and were at the summit in no time
didnt hang around here to long as time was getting on so back down and headed for the forest back to the car park.
the walk through the forest was one to forget and i knew there was a slightly better path than the one we took but if theres a path to be missed im certain to miss it
not a good route here for dogs as we were to find out there is a stream here that joins the main one and you have to cross it which was very difficult with a stubborn collie.
was glad to get out of this but there was good views back up to beinn a'chleibh and some more nice wee waterfalls
i know why there isnt a bridge to cross the river here as you smell like sh*t after walking through that forest and it was good to get a wash
altough the river was high due to the rain and we did get soked as the water was about a foot high,wasnt bothered by now tho
a long day out this walk but worth it to get all 4 in
would like a return to ben lui from the nort east side
cheers alan
