A Very Wet Beinn Chuirn
Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 10:39 amA Very Wet Beinn Chuirn Wild Camp
Wow, welcome to wild camping...
We had big plans for this walk, wanting to ascend Beinn Chuirn, followed by Ben Lui and finally camp on Meall nan Tighearn (as recommended by another on this forum.) Needless to say, this didn't happen. Torrential rain definitely stopped play!
We set off from Dalrigh Car Park at about 12 noon, after being stuck in traffic coming through Glasgow for an hour. The weather was cloudy, but pleasant enough for walking. We made good time walking along the path to the old mine, before heading off piste and climbing the side of Beinn Chuirn.
It had just began to drizzle when we got to the top, but nothing that would bother us. However, seeing that Ben Lui was completely covered in low lying cloud, and neither of us having climbed it before, we thought that it best to leave it till another day, and instead skirt around it toward our camp site. So, having more time on our hands, we took a seat at the summit of Beinn Chuirn and started to have lunch.
Then the heavens opened...
After a scramble to stow our half eaten sandwiches and don our rucksack covers, we made our way along the ridge and on to Beinn Dubh.
And the heavens opened some more...
At this point, the wisest choice was to get to lower ground. So after a quick route change, and taking a new bearing. (by this point we were in the cloud, and it was pelting down, properly challenging navigating for me!) We descended toward the forest at the base of Beinn Dubh.
At this point, a lesson was learnt. Thinking that we would gain some shelter from the rain, we entered the forest following the bearing I had set...
Nightmare, the forest was absolutely saturated, we ended up trudging our way through what was practically a marsh, with trees, However the canopy did offer us some shelter from the pouring rain, but then we easily took on the same, if not more water in through our boots...
Lesson learned, never go through, always go around...
At some point in that forest we decided to bin the idea of camping on Meall nan Tighearn for another day, and instead look for somewhere with a bit more shelter. After another quick consultation with the map we decided on somewhere along the footpath on the way out of the forest.
We trudged on, eventually making the train track I had originally aimed for, followed it south to the footpath and then proceeded to make our way along that path looking for a place to camp.
Everywhere was soaked, we were soaked, morale was low, and the weather had no sign of change...
Eventually we decided on a relatively dry place to camp close to the stream, but on sufficiently high enough ground that it wasn't drenched. The rain actually eased, giving us the opportune moment to set up camp and get some dinner in us.
No sooner had we polished off the last mouthful of our dinner, the heavens opened with renewed vigor, and we decided to call it a night, retreating to our tents, the only thing running through my mind was:
"Am I going to wake up at 3 am, in a tent sailing its way down stream..."
Well, we were pleasantly surprised, despite the rain not stopping all night, the Gelert Solo's held true, and we were kept bone dry all night.
At 0630am, the rain stopped for half an hour, in which we had managed to pack up, have breakfast, put our soaked boots back on, and break camp. Deciding that we were entirely to wet to attempt another hill, we made our way along the marshy forest track, along the valleys and onto the path back to the car.
Baptism to wild camping by fire. Would I do it again? Of course I would. A very enjoyable, and challenging two days.
Ben Lui I will be back...
Wow, welcome to wild camping...
We had big plans for this walk, wanting to ascend Beinn Chuirn, followed by Ben Lui and finally camp on Meall nan Tighearn (as recommended by another on this forum.) Needless to say, this didn't happen. Torrential rain definitely stopped play!
We set off from Dalrigh Car Park at about 12 noon, after being stuck in traffic coming through Glasgow for an hour. The weather was cloudy, but pleasant enough for walking. We made good time walking along the path to the old mine, before heading off piste and climbing the side of Beinn Chuirn.
It had just began to drizzle when we got to the top, but nothing that would bother us. However, seeing that Ben Lui was completely covered in low lying cloud, and neither of us having climbed it before, we thought that it best to leave it till another day, and instead skirt around it toward our camp site. So, having more time on our hands, we took a seat at the summit of Beinn Chuirn and started to have lunch.
Then the heavens opened...
After a scramble to stow our half eaten sandwiches and don our rucksack covers, we made our way along the ridge and on to Beinn Dubh.
And the heavens opened some more...
At this point, the wisest choice was to get to lower ground. So after a quick route change, and taking a new bearing. (by this point we were in the cloud, and it was pelting down, properly challenging navigating for me!) We descended toward the forest at the base of Beinn Dubh.
At this point, a lesson was learnt. Thinking that we would gain some shelter from the rain, we entered the forest following the bearing I had set...
Nightmare, the forest was absolutely saturated, we ended up trudging our way through what was practically a marsh, with trees, However the canopy did offer us some shelter from the pouring rain, but then we easily took on the same, if not more water in through our boots...
Lesson learned, never go through, always go around...
At some point in that forest we decided to bin the idea of camping on Meall nan Tighearn for another day, and instead look for somewhere with a bit more shelter. After another quick consultation with the map we decided on somewhere along the footpath on the way out of the forest.
We trudged on, eventually making the train track I had originally aimed for, followed it south to the footpath and then proceeded to make our way along that path looking for a place to camp.
Everywhere was soaked, we were soaked, morale was low, and the weather had no sign of change...
Eventually we decided on a relatively dry place to camp close to the stream, but on sufficiently high enough ground that it wasn't drenched. The rain actually eased, giving us the opportune moment to set up camp and get some dinner in us.
No sooner had we polished off the last mouthful of our dinner, the heavens opened with renewed vigor, and we decided to call it a night, retreating to our tents, the only thing running through my mind was:
"Am I going to wake up at 3 am, in a tent sailing its way down stream..."
Well, we were pleasantly surprised, despite the rain not stopping all night, the Gelert Solo's held true, and we were kept bone dry all night.
At 0630am, the rain stopped for half an hour, in which we had managed to pack up, have breakfast, put our soaked boots back on, and break camp. Deciding that we were entirely to wet to attempt another hill, we made our way along the marshy forest track, along the valleys and onto the path back to the car.
Baptism to wild camping by fire. Would I do it again? Of course I would. A very enjoyable, and challenging two days.
Ben Lui I will be back...
