OK, not quite a marathon, but this was our longest day walk to date, in Scotland anyway. We set off at about 9am from the Linn of Quoich car park, which was already almost full! Sunny Scottish Saturdays really do bring everyone out. First we headed up the east bank of the glen, crossing over at the Devil's punch bowl amidst sun-dappled trees.
We made good time along the easy glen track - having walked this way before on the (excellent) Clais Fhearnaig circuit, this was a familiar scene. The glen is a lot less shady than it appears on the map, and the sun was already out in force... and so was the moon...
At times the track rises above the flood plain slightly, giving a broader view across the river and beyond.
Finally an unblemished view of that hulk Beinn a' Bhuird, still looking a long way away.
Contrasted with the same scene in May 2012:
Soon the path to Clais Fhearnaig branched off, and we were into new territory. Not far on came the big river crossing of the day, across the Allt an Dubh-ghlinne. Boots off time? Not even nearly - it was a doddle after all the recent dry weather.
After a quick stop we headed into the trees as the contours bunched together we forked left on the NTS's excellent replacement path. This saves heading up the mountainside on the old, hugely wide old track. The latter is nearly covered with vegetation now on the bottom section but is still eroded higher up, and I could imagine how bad it must have looked when still in use. The new path, however, manages to make direct progress up the hill without ever being steep. Gradually we homed in on the bealach at An Diollaid.
MWIS had indicated a risk of afternoon thunderstorms, and indeed the clouds were really starting to bubble up to the west. The immediate surroundings were generally much brighter, except for one huge cloud right over Beinn a' Bhuird itself which was visibly mushrooming out at a slightly alarming rate before our eyes.
It did however provide welcome shade, and this accompanied us all the way up to the plateau and its dramatic eastern cliffs - unlike the path, which gradually fizzles out the higher you go. Once on the flat, we headed out to the point where Dividing Buttress separates two massive coires: Coire an Dubh-lochain to the south...
...and Coire nan Clach to the north.
On the path up towards the munro summit, we chanced upon a ptarmigan with a large number of chicks - not all shown in the poor photos below, but certainly double figures.
Munro number 14 achieved at 1197 metres and it was lunchtime. A little chilly by now so jumpers were needed. From here it was an easy walk across bone-dry short grass and rock, bypassing the little tor on Cnap a' Chleirich with good views across the wild-looking Slochd Mor. The larger tors on Ben Avon were already looking impressive too.
From here, there was a surprisingly steep (and loose) descent down to the Sneck - a high pass in between today's munros. One the way down we stopped for some lunch and out popped a snow bunting - a beautiful bird and apparently fewer than 100 breeding pairs in Scotland during the summer, so we were pleased to see one.
It was hard to believe that in the sheltered, sunny pocket of the Sneck we were still at nearly 1000m ASL. We saw our first other people of the day here, as walkers converged from the north, west and south as we approached from the east. A real hub of activity! Finding a quiet spot, we gazed across to the rugged panorama of Garbh Choire.
The ascent of Ben Avon was steep, but more grippy than the descent to the Sneck which preceded it. With the advantage of the high bealach, we were soon at the minor false summit and headed across desert-like ground with the real summit tor standing proud ahead. Soon we were on the top - at 1171m slightly lower than Beinn a' Bhuird but it felt a bit more like a "destination".
Back to the Sneck on increasingly tired legs, but with some more good views toward the Sneck itself and Slochd Mor to the north. The ominous cloud overhead had drifted away by now.
Finally we were on the "home straight" - well, a 10-mile long home straight. All downhill from here, but mostly with such a shallow gradient that its not surprising that it's such a long walk. The path is brilliantly made once again though, and plenty of interest throughout the walk down.
- The top, steepest section of Glas Allt Mor
- The huge, wide middle section - which is seemingly neverending!
- Coire na Ciche - the side of Beinn a' Bhuird
To be continued...
