beinn a bheithir

[d gwynn]

The day started out with an expected long walk-in on tarmac in the rain to ballachulish, but a friendly fellow from the SYHA stopped and offered me a lift to my start point and it would of been rude to decline I started out by the church and crossed a style into the woods and followed a well trodden path up the coire giubhsachain which is easy to follow until you break out of the trees then you are heather bashing and heading for the col on the ridge at the head of the coire.

half way up the coire giubhsachain looking back to the woods and loch leven

When I gained this ridge the rain had stopped but the wind was howling(40mph ish) and the cloud base was just at this point and i thought, that i was in for a day in the clouds. I started the plod up to the first summit of the day and as I got to the top of sgorr dhearg there were starting to be breaks in the cloud which were offering me tantilizing glimpses of the surrounding views.It was too windy to hang about so i started the decent and the cloud really did start to break up as I made way down to the col inbetween the two monros.I followed the footpath up a narrowing ridge which half way up is level for 200 mts

the flat section on the ascent to the summit of sgorr dhonuill, with sgorr dhearg prominant in the back ground andthe dark looming hulk of bidean nam bian in the far right background

then it angles up again to get you to sgorr dhonuill summit with a small plaque on the cairn to a local fisherman and some fine views to be had, the wind had dropped and the clouds had lifted and broken up, so it was dinner time at 3000 feet and a few piccys from the summit

looking south west down loch linnhe to the firth of lorne and Oban

I then returned to the col and followed a broken fence line down to the forest where you pick up a well marked path to get you back to the car park by the golf course or do as I had to, and work your way round the forrest roads to where you started from, but i had the long march back to the SYHA. No kindly munro baggers on the way back to give me a lift but the little supermarket in glen coe sold me a couple of beers to have with my DIY tea