In the clouds of Beinn a'Ghlo
Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:16 amA nice early morning start, driving away from house at 5:30am to head down to Loch Moraig (a 2 hour drive). Weather looked okay, if a little cloudy.
Parked up at the Loch and immediately you see the first peak of the day (or would have except the top was shrouded in cloud). A nice short walk to the wooden hut, then across the boggy heather to the start of the first climb, a steep one with a loose stone path slightly zig-zagging up towards the top. This got the heart going and the lungs working, headed into the clouds around 900m as we climbed. Reached the top, Carn Liath, in good time and once out of the cool breeze we had a quick break (light snack and a drink).
From here we headed along the ridge – in cloud so no view at all, which was a shame as reckon the view would have great as it was a fairly narrow ridge with views either side. As we descended to the bealach we dropped below the cloud and saw some of what we missed view-wise in the clouds – and it looked like it would have been stunning from the ridge.
It was a fairly steep climb from here (not as steep as the first climb of the day thankfully) up the clear path with loose stones. Back up into the clouds and on to the summit of the 2nd Munro, Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain. Again no view to appreciate, so we plodded on. Followed the ridge, but lower than we should have and ‘missed’ the path down to the right by about 50m so ended up carefully heading down to the Bealach an Fhoidha and a cracking view of the glen. As we descended we spotted the path and got back on it. The path towards the final summit of the day could be seen – again heading into the clouds.
We decided to complete the final summit and descend again before stopping for food, and ‘joy’ another steep ascent. The climb up the initial ascent was tough but straightforward, once it levelled out a bit we were back in the clouds. Probably due to tired legs the walk from here to the Summit of Carn nan Gabhar seemed to go on longer than expected over stony ground. I can say at this point the GPS made finding the summits a lot easier in the clouds. Final summit done and with no views to see, we headed back down to the Bealach. As we met the stream to head south we stopped for eats. Having not seen a soul all day, as we sat and ate we spotted 2 walkers in the distance on the ridge heading to the Bealach an Fhoidha – and another 2 on the main ridge between the first 2 peaks. The clouds had lifted a bit now so you could see where we had been walking and as we looked down south you could a sense of how good the views must have been for those walkers.
From here we walked back along the river on a boggy and ‘broken’ path that made you think about every footstep - carefully
. We made good time along here despite the rough terrain. Once across the stream we followed the path around Beinn Bheag and after a long slog we met the track heading back to the Wooden hut near the start of the walk. Then a steady walk back to the car for a chilled bottle of water and change of footwear to let our poor feet rest.
One we will do again, hopefully with the cloud base above the peaks as this would be one of the better walks for anyone to do if only for the views.
Parked up at the Loch and immediately you see the first peak of the day (or would have except the top was shrouded in cloud). A nice short walk to the wooden hut, then across the boggy heather to the start of the first climb, a steep one with a loose stone path slightly zig-zagging up towards the top. This got the heart going and the lungs working, headed into the clouds around 900m as we climbed. Reached the top, Carn Liath, in good time and once out of the cool breeze we had a quick break (light snack and a drink).
From here we headed along the ridge – in cloud so no view at all, which was a shame as reckon the view would have great as it was a fairly narrow ridge with views either side. As we descended to the bealach we dropped below the cloud and saw some of what we missed view-wise in the clouds – and it looked like it would have been stunning from the ridge.
It was a fairly steep climb from here (not as steep as the first climb of the day thankfully) up the clear path with loose stones. Back up into the clouds and on to the summit of the 2nd Munro, Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain. Again no view to appreciate, so we plodded on. Followed the ridge, but lower than we should have and ‘missed’ the path down to the right by about 50m so ended up carefully heading down to the Bealach an Fhoidha and a cracking view of the glen. As we descended we spotted the path and got back on it. The path towards the final summit of the day could be seen – again heading into the clouds.
We decided to complete the final summit and descend again before stopping for food, and ‘joy’ another steep ascent. The climb up the initial ascent was tough but straightforward, once it levelled out a bit we were back in the clouds. Probably due to tired legs the walk from here to the Summit of Carn nan Gabhar seemed to go on longer than expected over stony ground. I can say at this point the GPS made finding the summits a lot easier in the clouds. Final summit done and with no views to see, we headed back down to the Bealach. As we met the stream to head south we stopped for eats. Having not seen a soul all day, as we sat and ate we spotted 2 walkers in the distance on the ridge heading to the Bealach an Fhoidha – and another 2 on the main ridge between the first 2 peaks. The clouds had lifted a bit now so you could see where we had been walking and as we looked down south you could a sense of how good the views must have been for those walkers.
From here we walked back along the river on a boggy and ‘broken’ path that made you think about every footstep - carefully
. We made good time along here despite the rough terrain. Once across the stream we followed the path around Beinn Bheag and after a long slog we met the track heading back to the Wooden hut near the start of the walk. Then a steady walk back to the car for a chilled bottle of water and change of footwear to let our poor feet rest.One we will do again, hopefully with the cloud base above the peaks as this would be one of the better walks for anyone to do if only for the views.
