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Yet again the weather does its trick of being nice and sunny through the week and less than ideal at the weekend. Everywhere looked like it was going to get some rain on Saturday, so I opted to head up Glenfinnan way and camp at Loch Linnhe Holiday Park, which at least has good showers...Roads particularly quiet for a Friday afternoon and we were there before 6pm. Plenty of time to have a pleasant meal and enjoy the evening sunshine.
For Saturday we had planned to climb Streap, and if circumstances allowed, tag on Braigh nan Uamachan. I was quite intrigued by Streap and hoped we might get some reasonable visibility for it, having ridden our luck a bit the previous weekend and had 3 better days than the forecast predicted. Alas, it was not to be, and we saw not a lot.
Parked up at the Fassfern parking area, meeting a couple of ladies who were off to do Uamachan. Walked along the forest track into Gleann Dubh Lighe and headed off along a left fork towards Beinn an Tuim, itself a deleted Corbett failing by a measly 10 feet of re-ascent to be included. We passed through a gate onto the hillside and entered a jungle of ferns, up about 5 feet high. Not the easiest terrain to traverse and the going up til 400m is also steep. Lots of skirting around gullies and crags, but steadily making headway. Passed a Fritillary of some sort hiding from the bad weather in the long grass. On the knobbly top of Beinn an Tuim there's a wee lochan which suddenly appeared out of the mist, then we were at the uncairned summit. More crags on the way down towards Bealach a Chait which were tricky to negotiate in the poor visibility.
Forestry activity at the start of the walk
P1020726 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Start of the hillside route
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23weasels, on Flickr
Fern jungle
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23weasels, on Flickr
Slowly up the side of Beinn an Tuim
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23weasels, on Flickr
...and slowly on
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23weasels, on Flickr
Fritilliary of some sort
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23weasels, on Flickr
Delightful views from the top of Beinn an Tuim
P1020734 by
23weasels, on Flickr
We then headed up rocky, tussocky slopes of Meall an Uillt Chaoil, passing over some flatter, boggy ground before reaching Stob Coire nan Cearc. Plodding through the mist gave little of the character of the mountain away, unfortunately. We did find the way narrowing to an easy ridge as we neared Streap itself and reached the summit, complete with iron railing antennae, sooner than expected. By this time Allison was feeling queasy and didn't look very well. We were soaked, the rain having failed to let up all day and generally miserable. We crossed over to Streap Comlaidh. I had thought about descending by the NE shoulder and heading round to Uamachan from the north, but with clag obscuring crags below us it simply wasn't prudent. As we descended the SE shoulder instead it became apparent that Sick Kid was living up to her name (for a change) and wasn't going to make it up another hill. Seeing how dreadfully pale she looked, I magnanimously told her that on this occasion I would put her health and wellbeing before capturing another peak and would settle for just climbing Streap today. She didn't betray much emotion at my gesture, just looked like she might throw up
We descended over wet grass down to below 200m at the valley floor, which made turning back a little easier to bear. Squadrons of tiny silver moths rose from the long wet grass and fluttered around our legs. We followed the river along, joining an ATV track for the latter section which took us back to the path through the forest. This took us past the restored Dubh Lighe bothy, from which rose the pleasing smell of a peat fire. Wandering through the forest, air heavy with pine resin, rain lessening. Back at the car in around 8.5 hours. A night of heavy rain back at the campsite.
Ridge along to Streap
P1020735 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Summit Streap (though could be anywhere)
P1020736 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Moss-coated oak trees
P1020740 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Stats
P1020741 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Sunday started with rain but dried up enough to be able to sit outside the tent and eat breakfast. A brisk wind kept midges at bay. Car was stremed up from having laid wet clothes on the seats "to dry" although there wasn't much drying done overnight. We drove off to the start of the walk which was a layby apparently 5 miles W of Glenfinnan according to the SMC book - maybe I misread 5 miles for 5 km or maybe it was a misprint, but we overshot and had to drive on to find a place to turn. Arriving back at the requisite spot we were joined by a slightly manic cyclist who seemed unduly eager to get going onto the hills. He asked which way we were heading and I had to admit I'd given it no thought up to that point. Brain wasn't really operating too well this morning it seemed. We passed over the railway line, near the opening of a tunnel, and set off onto squelchy bogland, keeping to the W side of the Allt Coire a choin duinn and following the obvious rocky shoulder upwards. There was a faint path that led us around Coire Odhar and onwards to the summit of Beinn Odhar Mhor. Behind us we could see the outline of Streap that had eluded us the day before. The hillside had the characteristic grassy/rocky/knobbly terrain of the Moidart hills - a rough lot. Standing at the summit of BOM with its strangely sectioned trig point, looking over at its partner, BOBheag, Allison asked if this was the Corbett, and without thinking I said that it was, being "Mhor". It wasn't til I got back home and checked the hill details that I realised that it was t'other way around. Oops!
Tunnel
P1020742 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Coire Odhar
P1020744 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Round by the W of the stream
P1020745 by
23weasels, on Flickr
View of Streap, that we didn't see yesterday
P1020746 by
23weasels, on Flickr
View NW from BOM
P1020749 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Beinn Odhar Mhor
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23weasels, on Flickr
Sectioned trig point
P1020753 by
23weasels, on Flickr
View to Beinn Odhar Bheag
P1020755 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Walking across to BOB, we got good views down to the east towards Glenfinnan, with the viaduct curving gracefully. As we approached BOB the mountain became ever more impressive, with steep rocky cliffs falling to Loch Shiel below. As we gained the summit, the Corbetts to the west came into view. It was surprising just how much water there is looking NW - Lochs Ailort, Morar and Nevis snaked their way in amongst the hills.
Glenfinnan
P1020758 by
23weasels, on Flickr
BOB
P1020760 by
23weasels, on Flickr
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23weasels, on Flickr
View back to BOM
P1020762 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Looking N up Loch Shiel
P1020763 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Summit BOB, looking to the Rois-Bheinn hills
P1020764 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Beinn Mhic Cedidh to the R of the picture
P1020765 by
23weasels, on Flickr
We headed down to the bealach with Beinn Mhic Cedidh, being pleased to see a gently sloping grassy back up to Corbett number two. Stopping for some lunch I swithered what route to take - there was the option of summiting Mhic Cedidh and returning to the bealach and following the Allt a'Bhuidhe Coire down, or of continuing down the shoulder of BMC. We ended up opting for the latter. After a lunch in some rare sunshine, we set off up to the summit of BMC. Easy enough pull up to here, with good - if a bit hazy - views of the hills around. Frogs in profusion - leaping from beneath your feet and squatting glaring at you or scuttering away into the undergrowth, no doubt peering out with froggy eyes at these intruders into their damp grassy world. Summit of BMC provided excellent views over to the Rois-Bheinn hills. We kept to the NE shoulder line heading down - this had lots of crags and steep sections of grass - could be hazardous in poor visibility to descend this way and might make a better ascent route under such circumstances. More squelching through bog, disturbing a solitary ptarmigan. Still plenty of tadpoles in the pools - thought they'd have transformed into froglets by now, also some incredibly fast flies zipping about on the suface of the pools without apparently moving their wings - not seen them before, not the usual pond skater chappies. We got down to the river and I was searching about for a place to cross, whilst Allison is keen to keep on the path for a bit more - and comes across a bridge, which pleased her no end. Then it's onto an ATV track that leads down towards the railway line - we saw the Hogwarts Express chuffing by as we walked towards the line. Under the rails by means of a creep that's big enough to stand up in and didn't have any decomposing animals in it (unlike beinn a'chalader) the back to the road. An entertaining wee walk this one, steep and rocky enough to know you're in Moidart, without being too challenging.
Beinn MhciCedidh from the bealach
P1020766 by
23weasels, on Flickr
View NW to Lochs Monar & Nevis
P1020768 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Summit BMC looking to Druim Fiaclach
P1020769 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Two waterfalls
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23weasels, on Flickr
Hogwarts Express
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23weasels, on Flickr
Yes, there is a bridge
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23weasels, on Flickr
Posh railway creep
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23weasels, on Flickr
Stats
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23weasels, on Flickr