A wander above Water of Tulla

[Gavin99]

The plan for today was to follow the standard route clockwise to take in these two fine hills . I was slightly concerned about the forecast , MWIS giving strong gusty winds , wintery showers and severe windchill , as it turned out they were spot on . Parked up at Achallader Farm and was walking for 0730 . The route is easy to follow , fording the Allt Ur then crossing the Water of Tulla via a fine crooked undercut bridge . Passing the old farm at Barravourich the good track continues NW on the northern side of the river with great views of the beautiful ancient woodland .

Barravourich ruins

Beinn Achaladair rising behind ancient pinewoods

Coire an Lochain in the distance

Crossing the footbridge brings you into the woodland , a faint and wet path leads up to the sheep creep under the railway . As mentioned in the WH description the forest regrowth in fenced areas is amazing , on one side of the fence the ground cover is rough grass , on the other it is crowded with pine, birch , aspen and rowan seedlings , lovely to see .

footbridge to pinewood

To graze or not to graze....

Leaving the trees behind I followed a clear path up beside the Allt Coire an Lochain ,a pleasant way up, although by now the wind had starting to pick up ,feeling distinctly nippy . On reaching Lochan a'Chreachan I stopped for second breakfast before heading up to the ridge , pausing to put on gloves and extra layers as the MWIS windchill had definitely arrived . Once on the ridge there were fine but fleeting views , before long the summit was reached .

Allt Coire an Lochain

Tea by the loch

Route up to low point on ridge

Loch Lyon

Ridge up to Beinn a'Chreachan

View back down to lochain

Wind and rain sent me scurrying off the summit to lower ground and the gentle grassy ridge to Meall Buidhe and onwards to Beinn Achaladair . Between showers I had views north over Rannoch Moor,lasting just long enough to decide I didn't have a clue which hills I was looking at , a job for another day . From the bealach at 813m the ascent of Beinn Achaladair starts steeply but soon eases to reach the cairn balanced on the edge of a long drop , one I gave a wide berth to in the gusty wind .

Ridge west from summit

Rannoch Moor

Beinn Achaladair

Summit cairn

Heading south from the summit the path passes over a lower top before reaching the bealach above Coire Daingean, from there it heads north down Coire Achaladair before crossing the railway above the farm .

Heading south over pt1002

Auch Glen corbetts , nice .

Coire an Daingean

Northern crags of Beinn an Dothaidh

Allt , rowan hanging on

Wet Wet Wet

West Highland Line bridge

Imposing car park

A fine circuit and a good try out of some new winter gear

[pollyh33]

Great report Gavin but don't you get hate it when the weather forecast is right!!! And not in your favour.

Your photos are smashing. Loving the 'dappled' one of Rannoch Moor and the rainbow one

Aye window wipers for glasses, that would be a sight to see

[Gavin99]

Aye window wipers for glasses, that would be a sight to see

Rained off work today , might go to the shed and work on it

[LaurentB]

“Footbridge to Pinewood” no longer exists (or at least the wooden bits that stop you falling off don’t). The only safe bridge to cross now seems to be at 338452 (Explorer 377). Hopefully save people a 6Km detour.