My 1st Graham: Beinn Dubh, Glen Striddle Horseshoe

[talkingdolphin]

Continuing my new found hobby of hillwalking, today I climbed my 1st Graham. I was going to do this walk yesterday but the weather forecast made my mind up to postpone it until today...in hindsight yesterday turned out to be better than today so I did not get many decent views from the top : )

I set out early and began my walk from Luss car park at 8:35am (i live fairly locally and really grudge paying tourist rates for car parking so my wife dropped me off). Away I went across the footbridge over the A82, over the fence by the lovely house and straight into the ascent up the hill. At this time the top of Beinn Dubh was in the clouds, i was hoping by the time i got up there the clouds would have moved on.

Starting point, hopefully that cloud will shift!!!

To be honest i found it quite tough going up the hill and had a few hydration breaks on the way. I was also using walking poles for the first time and getting used to them. Turned out i really liked using the walking poles and can't see myself going hill climbing without them in the future. I was not long into the walk and already not bad views over Loch Lomond.

Not too bad a view over Loch Lomond

I was thankful of the ground levelling off for a wee bit even though it was a bit bogy before the path then continued up the hill. There was no sign of the cloud higher up shifting although i still had decent views behind overlooking Loch Lomond at this time.

The last decent view of the Loch before i was in the clouds...

Soon after i reached the point where the path continues along next to a fence, which at one point you have to cross over. Plenty of sheep most of the way so far (and also a dead one which was fair reekin')...the reason i had left my dog at home as no chance of letting her off the lead. Visibility was quite poor at this point however i figured i must be near the top and first cairn by now going by the many reports on here that i had read beforehand. Sure enough it was soon reached : )

Not much of a view but glad to reach the top none the less...

I was tempted to hang around here for a bit and see if the could shifted but decided against that and carried onwards to the Glen Striddle horseshoe. Visibility was still poor and i couldn't even see down into Glen Striddle nevermind across to Mid Hill. Even though the path was fairly distinct so far, as a new hillwalker I was checking my position on the map fairly regularly just to get used to doing it and learn how to read the contours, check off points passed/reached etc. The path along the horseshoe was not as distinct as the path up to the top and given the weather the last few days it was quite boggy and marshy. Visibility was quite poor and at some stages there was no visible path to follow. Although it would still be hard to get lost on this walk, it did install some reality about the risks involved when heading into the hills...i can't deny that at one point I found it a bit creepy that i was stuck in the cold clouds on my own and couldn't make out an obvious route to follow. Before long i did make it to the second cairn and I was somewhat re-assured. It was not long after that the cloud did eventually start lifting and i could actually make out the horseshoe.

The cloud finally begins to lift revealing the horseshoe path...

Further round the horseshoe and the cloud was still lifting, I could see back over to Beinn Dubh but the top was still covered.

Almost clear...

The top of Beinn Dubh finally in view...

After successfully navigating the horseshoe I reached Mid Hill and so began my descent.

From Mid Hill looking over to Beinn Dubh

The descent was a fairly steep grassy path and i was impressed with the walking poles (they were only £5 a pair from Go Outdoors!!) can't complain. At one point I had to go over a fence where the stile was broken and lying in bits on the ground...I was fairly tired by this stage and was a bit shaky climbing over the fence but again it was navigated safely : )

Navigated safely...

The road home is in sight...bottom right.

It wasn't long before I reached the road at the bottom which takes you back into Luss. A 3km walk along a road at the end of this walk was quite good and the sun was almost out. A wee coffee back at Luss while waiting to get picked up and overall a very enjoyable mornings walk and feeling quite chuffed with myself as i was back in Luss for 12:30 so all in just under 4 hours : )

[Glendave]

It is a nice wee route and a good introduction to winter walking too and plenty of hills around Glen Luss to do and i am local so i use them as training hills and some good night walks too.

[coachmacca]

Looks like a good fun day - my wife and I are only in our first couple of months of walking and like you I was unsure of yesterdays weather but bagged Ben Donich anyway, given the weather today I'm glad!

Good also to hear its a good training walk for winter Glad you enjoyed it!

[talkingdolphin]

It is a nice wee route and a good introduction to winter walking too and plenty of hills around Glen Luss to do and i am local so i use them as training hills and some good night walks too.

Night walks & winter walks? Not even considered them yet but sounds good : )

[talkingdolphin]

Looks like a good fun day - my wife and I are only in our first couple of months of walking and like you I was unsure of yesterdays weather but bagged Ben Donich anyway, given the weather today I'm glad!

Good also to hear its a good training walk for winter Glad you enjoyed it!

Yeah really enjoyed it. Just read your report on Ben Donich, sounds and looks great...bit more scary than Beinn Dubh by the looks of it. Sorry to hear about your knee...