Beinn Narnain and Beinn Ime

[bio-man]

Beinn Narnain and Beinn Ime route description

Two of my favourite mountains in one of my favourite area and not too far from the house!! I climbed these mountains several times from all angles, together or on their own. In 2006, when I started my original sponsership attempt to complete all Munros within 5 years, I started my Munro count again as I was on a time restraint. These two were numbers 1 and 2 on New Years Day under heavy snow!! I climbed Beinn Ime first from Butterbridge along the stream that runs between the Munro and Beinn Luibhean, then followed with Beinn Narnain. I've also climbed Beinn Ime from Glen Kinglas and over Beinn Chorranach. A excellent alternative for Beinn Narnain is along the ridge from A'Chrois which is fun in the wet and poor visibility, stunning in good weather though!!

The last time I reached the summit of Beinn Narnain was from the Succoth end of Arrochar. I had come up on the sleeper and was intending catch the afternoon train back, so wouldn't have had time to take in Beinn Ime as well. It's still a great route of ascent. A bit of hands on and 926m of straight ascent from sea-level!! Oh and the views are stunning!! There are lots of rocks on this route as well as the stone blocks from the hydro project, this is a tricky route in the wet. Ignore all tracks to the left and right and head straight up. What looks like the summit isn't!! It's Cruach nam Miseag and once at the top, you get a great view of what's ahead. It looks imposing, but it isn't really. Once you've negotiated the scrambling, the Spearhead is obviouly in front of you!! On the right, a bit of pulling up and you are almost at the summit. There is a shelter cairn on the plateau which can come in handy!! Not needed on this day though!!

An excellent mountain in an area that I would recommend to anyone. 3 Munros and some difficult Corbetts.

On the approach from Cruach nam Miseag was where I heard the Golden Eagle chick, mentioned in a previous post. It was very loud and continous but stopped abruptly, so I'd obviously got too close.

[goth_angel]

Looks like you got the views. Is the ascent directly up the front of Narnain quite scrambly then? We haven't done Narnain as we were knackered after doing Ime which was our first Munro. Got stunning views from the summit though, this was in May.

[canisp]

Cracking shot of The Spearhead, wouldn’t look out of place on Skye. Went up Beinn Narnain from the Bealach a’Mhaim, just a plod, but coming down the southeast side was interesting, had to backtrack a couple of times.

[bio-man]

The ascent from Succoth does involve a bit of "hands-on" but not much. The initial section is rocky but straightforward and easier if you use the rocks to push yourself up. The latter stage is steeper but the route is obvious. Both areas would be tricky in wet conditiond, but not by much. The top you can see from the village isn't the summit!!! My photos were taken in early May as well!! Summertime!!

You're right about the Spearhead. It's very impressive from close up.

[helenw]

Is the ascent directly up the front of Narnain quite scrambly then?

I recently walked up Beinn Narnain from Succouth on my own and didn't find any of the scrambling dificult or scary (and I am easily scared and have to wear reinforced pants on the Cullin!). Admittedly the day I did it there was blazing sunshine and the path wasn't too wet - I would't recommend this route after a lot of wet weather. The route meanders around the Spearhead on the right hand side and there are absolutely no difficulties there. A bit earlier on there are two sections where I had to use my hands but these were not exposed places and I was fine on my own (and I have been known to stand on friend's arms and heads when they are available to add a bit of height) - however I think this route is a lot better as an ascent, I think it would be tedious and harder to find the route as a descent.

Cheers

[bio-man]

Agree with that Helen, not the best route of descent!! A traverse of the ridge to a'Chrois then back to Succoth is a better option. Ideal if you have time and energy to spare, but not enough to take in Beinn Ime!!