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Today was a day for another at-home-brewed experiment: combine Creag Mhor, Beinn Heasgarnich and Ben Challum, wild camp and continue on to Sgiath Chuil and Meall Glas the next day.
Driving up the minor road from Killin I passed the sign that marks the start of the route up Meall Ghaordaidh. For a fleeting moment I was confused and thought I had completely overlooked a munro in Glen Lochay, only to realise a second later that it was Meall Ghaordaidh which I had already climbed from Glen Lyon a few days earlier. Doh!
There is a big car park a kilometer or so before Kenknock with a sign informing walkers that there is no more parking further up the glen. Just as I was manhandling my heavy rucksack onto my back another car pulled over and parked. After exchanging good mornings with the driver I was off.
Progress along the road/ track was good. After a few kilometers the driver of the car caught me up. He was also doing Creag Mhor and Beinn Heasgarnich today. So we walked up the glen together, chatting all the way. This was very pleasant and made the kilometers pass fast. Just past Batavaime he headed up the track to the right for Creag Mhor, whereas I turned left to find a spot to pitch my tent and dump the stuff I didn’t need on the hill. I found a nice flat piece of ground in between the river Lochay and the track. With the tent ready and organised for later when I would return from the hills tired and hungry, I set off to resume the route up to the dam.
From the dam there seemed to be no single best way up the ridge to Sron nan Eun. I walked west, found a (steep) way up through the crags and then continued NW where I soon picked up a good path along the fine ridge.
![1 Glen Lochay from Forest of Mamlorn.JPG]()
- View back to Glen Lochay from just above the dam
![2 Beinn nan Imirean from Forest of Mamlorn.JPG]()
- Beinn nan Imirean from Forest of Mamlorn
![3 On the ridge Creag Mhor hiding in the mist.JPG]()
- On the ridge, Creag Mhor hiding in the mist
At the start of the walk, the sun had made a few attempts to break through and it had been warm and muggy. By now, the views back to Glen Lochay were murky, the wind had picked up and I was nearing the cloud base.
![4 Ascent up Creag Mhor.JPG]()
- Ascent up Creag Mhor
As the ridge is well defined there were no problems with route finding in the mist. Visibility on the summit was very poor, however my GPS confirmed I was on the summit and there were no other cairns around in a radius of 10 meters.
![5 Summit Creag Mhor.JPG]()
- Summit Creag Mhor
After a sandwich I carefully headed down west, then north west and finally northeast avoiding the crags on Creag Mhor’s north slope, with the much appreciated help of the GPS.
Below the cloud base the gully ridden flank of Beinn Heasgarnaich’s north ridge became visible, looking very fine.
![6 Beinn Heasgarnich.JPG]()
- Beinn Heasgarnich
Avoided the boggy bealach by traversing to the northwest of it. As I couldn’t make out a path for the climb up to Sron Tairbh, I opted for the full frontal attack. Lo and behold soon a path appeared. It twist and turns so the ascent is fun and not too steep. On the way up I caught some views of Loch Lyon, Beinn Mhanach and Beinn a’ Creachain. The boggy bealach was looking very fine from a distance.
![9 View towards Beinn a' Chreachain.JPG]()
- Loch Lyon, Beinn Mhanach and Beinn a' Creachain
![8 View back towards boggy bealach from ascent path up Beinn Heasgarnich.JPG]()
- Looking back at boggy bealach
The continuation from Sron Tairbh to Stob an Fhir-Bhogha was easy, despite there being little visibility. It was only when I got to the latter that the wind made its presence felt. In short, I got blown on to Beinn Heasgarnich! It was wonderful, striding fast without effort. I enjoyed the free ride while it lasted, knowing I would have to face the wind head on on the way back.
![10 Summit Beinn Heasgarnich.JPG]()
- Summit Beinn Heasgarnich
There was no sheltering from the wind at the summit cairn. I quickly snapped a picture, without bothering to get the frog out, crammed a sandwich in my mouth and was off again. With the compass set for the return route, the map would not have to come out. It would probably have flown away anyway. Let the battle against the wind commence….
Well, it was interesting on the way back. The wind was howling, playing tricks with my ears. Does anyone else hear strange noises in strong winds? Maybe it is the brain, trying to make sense of the constant non descript sounds.
The frontal-side wind turned my walking poles into a serious trip hazard. Added to this, it was hard to keep on course, let alone make progress. So I started walking east, after checking on the map that it was safe to do so, to get off the ridge and out of the wind. The difference this made! No more howling, pushing and tossing. I set a new course. After a while visibility improved. There was an area of peat bog to be dealt with, but it wasn’t too bad. Out of the wind and being able to see ahead, the place had become a lot more friendly and I quite enjoyed finding a way through.
All in all, the descent back to the track took much longer than I thought it would. On the map it is around 3 kilometers. In reality it must have been more, with all the meandering I did.
Back on the track I decided to leave Ben Challum for another time. There would be enough daylight left, but the weather wasn’t getting any better. Also the intense navigating in the cloud and wind had taken it out of me; I was tired.
It was pretty miserable as I sat outside my tent, being a human shield for the stove, with the wind hurtling up the glen and lashing the rain at me. It got a bit cold in the end, but hot food was on the way.
![11 Cooking with Callum.JPG]()
- Preparing supper with Challum (well really spot height 864)
Sat in the tent porch, I enjoyed the food and the view of Ben Challum. It was quite special being out there, on my own amidst the elements. The river was rushing, my tent was flapping, clouds were moving fast. Panta rhei, and Ben Challum … was just there. A seemingly constant in an ever changing world. Very calming and humbling. This hill would not go anywhere anytime soon.
After supper, there was just one more thing to do: take a voluntary cold shower in the river. Brrr!
Fresh as a daisy, comfortably snuggled up in my sleeping bag, I was almost falling asleep, when the wind gave some firm tugs at the tent. O dear, would the tent pegs hold? Cue a short internal struggle, but the short term cost of getting out of the tent was outweighed by the benefit of a long night’s uninterrupted sleep. So, with the pegs checked I could finally doze off.
