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These hills have been documented many times on here and I wasn't going to put anything up but the weather and the fact I added on the Corbett Beinn Luibhean changed my mind. I didn't fancy driving too far and as I had always overlooked these two, I felt it was time I got them in the bag. I arrived at the car park at Arrochar around half nine and as I expected, it was quite busy.
I set off up the route described on here which makes you straight up and away from those pesky zig zags. As I crossed a track further up, a woman's dog ran over to me then followed me up the hill. She shouted on it to come back and a few minutes later it reappeared so I assumed she was climbing the hill as well. It wasn't until about halfway up that I realised despite me stopping at regular intervals, she was nowhere to be seen so I waited for 5 minutes until I heard her calling on the dog. It turns out she had no intention of climbing the hill and the dog had dragged her up it
I waited until she was out of sight and then carried on with my walk.
Loch Long:
Back across Arrochar:
The Spearhead:
I reached the top after just over two hours and as was typical for me in the Arrochar area, it was clouded over. There were a couple of folk already there and I could see someone else coming up from the bealach between Narnain and Ime.
Beinn Narnian summit:
The Cobbler a few minutes later:
It was a bit windy but the cloud was showing signs of lifting and for the first time in 5 visits to this neck of the woods, I could see down to Loch Long and beyond. A quick sandwich later and I was off to Beinn Ime which was now starting to reveal itself as the cloud lifted. I passed a few more folk on the way down who had obviously went up past the Narnian boulders and came up the back of Beinn Narnian (seems a strange way to do it) and the weather was improving by the minute.
Beinn Ime with Beinn Luibhean on the left:
Beinn Donich and Beinn an Lochain:
From the bealach it's just under 400m to the summit which seemed daunting but I found the going easy and although the sun was out, I was kept cool by the stiff breeze. About halfway up I stopped for a look back at Beinn Narnian and The Cobbler:
Within what felt like no time at all I reached the summit where there was only one other person. The wind was gusting slightly but it was clearing up and I could now enjoy the views of the area that had been denied to me previously.
Beinn Donich, Beinn Luibhean and Beinn an Lochain:
I had mulled over adding on Beinn Luibhean and I planned to make a decision at this point. I was moving quicker than I expected and with no rush to get home I decided to go for it. I walked back from the summit for a couple of minutes and then dropped down the steep slope to the bealach betwen the two hills. It was slightly boggy at the bottom but nothing to worry about and I began my final ascent of the day. About halfway up a small path appeared which was to prove intermittent and I was soon standing on the summit enjoying a great view of the way I had came and the way I would return.
Beinn Ime, Beinn Narnian & The Cobbler:
After passing a few folk on the first two hills, it was completely different here with not a soul to be seen in the vicinity. Every time I looked over at The Cobbler there seemed to be at least 10 people on the summit so I enjoyed the solitude of this peaceful Corbett. Unfortunately I couldn't sit here all day so I put on my Ipod, found a Stone Roses album and began the walk back to the well made path runs from the bottom of The Cobbler all the way down to the car.
It was a wee bit up and down as I made way through some small gully's but the music helped me and I still felt quite fresh so I made good time back to the foot of The Cobbler. It was strange to be passing people after a couple of hours to myself and there were a few red faces making their way up as I bounded down the path at great speed, stopping only to take a picture of Ben Lomond:
I overtook more people as well as passed others coming up and it was a relief to get through the zig zags and cross the road to the car park. The whole round took me 6hrs 50 which was I quite pleased with and the wind definitely helped keep me cool as I had struggled on previous walks in the heat. It was a relief to get a view from the top and it was a good days walking all round.