Beinn a' Chocuill and Beinn Eunaich
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:15 am
After being out last week with Jonny and Andy on Beinn Fhionndlaidh and not getting the best of weather I was determined to get back out this weekend as the forecast was brilliant, even though I was going to be night shift at work. Got up early at 0630 (actually 0530, bloody clocks changing!! ) got my gear together and out the door. After a quick pit stop for petrol I was on my way up a very foggy Loch Lomond side. By the time I hit Tyndrum the sun was already getting up and burning off the fog.
Arrived at the car park down the wee road to Stronmilchan about 0815 and was the first car there. Sorted myself out and got moving off along the road, through the gate on the left etc as per the WH report. The weather by now was looking like the forecast and it wasn't long before I stopped and got the fleece off and carried on in short sleeves.
You soon come to the first obstacle of the day, the big heelan coos that are ever present on the track that you need to take. Thanks to some advice from Polly though I knew how to overcome this. Take the gate on the left in the pic below and follow it along the fence line, there is a well worn path, funny that
Here you will meet the locals, seemed docile enough but they had calves with them so wasn't taking any chances
Once past the big scary coos it's a very pleasant walk along the track that will take you all the way up to the 400m mark
It then drops down slightly before climbing again. Once you reach the junction take the path on the right and follow it up until you reach the wee cairn on the left shown below
The views really open up at this point and the going gets a wee bit steep as you now make the pull up the spine towards the ridge above. The wind really sarted to get up at this point too.
Before long you are making the final approach to the ridge
Once on the ridge you can clearly see your first target of the day, Beinn a' Chocuill dead ahead
The summit is reached not long after. It had taken me just over the 3 hour mark to get to the top so not too bad. Well worth the effort though as the views all around are superb, the best of which is the Cruachan ridge just opposite
The walk along the ridge is lovely and was only slightly spoiled by the fierce wind which was blowing meaning I couldn't hang around too long cause it was flippin freezin! Once you head back along the ridge you get a great view of your second target of the day, Beinn Eunaich
The path drops down to the spot height at 728m before starting the climb up the ridge to Ben Eunaich.
The going gets steeper the higher you go but just do what I did and take plenty of pic breaks as the views are great.
You get a really nice view back along th ridge to Beinn a' Chocuill too
An hour after the first summit I was on the second and in the wind again but the views back across to Beinn a' Chocuill made up for it
Still some snow cornices here on the north side hanging on for dear life, even though some folk have chosen to chuck the cairn stones at them to try and dislodge them, tut tut
Again stunning views all around, in particular Ben Lui making its presence felt through the haze
Dropped down out of the wind and sat for the best part of an hour having some lunch and just enjoying being out in the hills on such a fine day. I could have sat there for hours but the drive home and the night shift beckoned so reluctantly I set off down the broad ridge that would take me back, all the while soaking up the scenery
Wasn't long before I was at the last 250m drop off the ridge back to the track. Once again some sound advice had been given by Polly about the steepness of this part of the walk. Her advice was to just take my time as the path is very steep and very badly eroded with lots of loose stones etc. She was right, it was Not the best part of the day I have to say but luckily it was dry all the way down which made a huge difference. Really wouldn't fancy coming off there in the wet.
After a very careful descent I was back on the track where a big cairn marks the path. Funny, I completely missed this on the way up even though I was looking for the descent path as I walked in
From there it was about a 30 minute walk back to the car, once again passing the locals. Got back to the car just under 6 hours after leaving it.
These two hills are in my opinion vastly underrated. You never really hear a lot of people talking about them and I can't think why. Take my advice, if you're looking for two relatively easy hills with great views and a nice wee ridge walk then these are the two for you. Just pick a good day and enjoy. Just watch out for the big coos on the way in and out
Arrived at the car park down the wee road to Stronmilchan about 0815 and was the first car there. Sorted myself out and got moving off along the road, through the gate on the left etc as per the WH report. The weather by now was looking like the forecast and it wasn't long before I stopped and got the fleece off and carried on in short sleeves.
You soon come to the first obstacle of the day, the big heelan coos that are ever present on the track that you need to take. Thanks to some advice from Polly though I knew how to overcome this. Take the gate on the left in the pic below and follow it along the fence line, there is a well worn path, funny that
Here you will meet the locals, seemed docile enough but they had calves with them so wasn't taking any chances
Once past the big scary coos it's a very pleasant walk along the track that will take you all the way up to the 400m mark
It then drops down slightly before climbing again. Once you reach the junction take the path on the right and follow it up until you reach the wee cairn on the left shown below
The views really open up at this point and the going gets a wee bit steep as you now make the pull up the spine towards the ridge above. The wind really sarted to get up at this point too.
Before long you are making the final approach to the ridge
Once on the ridge you can clearly see your first target of the day, Beinn a' Chocuill dead ahead
The summit is reached not long after. It had taken me just over the 3 hour mark to get to the top so not too bad. Well worth the effort though as the views all around are superb, the best of which is the Cruachan ridge just opposite
The walk along the ridge is lovely and was only slightly spoiled by the fierce wind which was blowing meaning I couldn't hang around too long cause it was flippin freezin! Once you head back along the ridge you get a great view of your second target of the day, Beinn Eunaich
The path drops down to the spot height at 728m before starting the climb up the ridge to Ben Eunaich.
The going gets steeper the higher you go but just do what I did and take plenty of pic breaks as the views are great.
You get a really nice view back along th ridge to Beinn a' Chocuill too
An hour after the first summit I was on the second and in the wind again but the views back across to Beinn a' Chocuill made up for it
Still some snow cornices here on the north side hanging on for dear life, even though some folk have chosen to chuck the cairn stones at them to try and dislodge them, tut tut
Again stunning views all around, in particular Ben Lui making its presence felt through the haze
Dropped down out of the wind and sat for the best part of an hour having some lunch and just enjoying being out in the hills on such a fine day. I could have sat there for hours but the drive home and the night shift beckoned so reluctantly I set off down the broad ridge that would take me back, all the while soaking up the scenery
Wasn't long before I was at the last 250m drop off the ridge back to the track. Once again some sound advice had been given by Polly about the steepness of this part of the walk. Her advice was to just take my time as the path is very steep and very badly eroded with lots of loose stones etc. She was right, it was Not the best part of the day I have to say but luckily it was dry all the way down which made a huge difference. Really wouldn't fancy coming off there in the wet.
After a very careful descent I was back on the track where a big cairn marks the path. Funny, I completely missed this on the way up even though I was looking for the descent path as I walked in
From there it was about a 30 minute walk back to the car, once again passing the locals. Got back to the car just under 6 hours after leaving it.
These two hills are in my opinion vastly underrated. You never really hear a lot of people talking about them and I can't think why. Take my advice, if you're looking for two relatively easy hills with great views and a nice wee ridge walk then these are the two for you. Just pick a good day and enjoy. Just watch out for the big coos on the way in and out