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I liked the name An Caisteal and lots of other walkers say it is worth a go, so here I am. Initially I had some tentative hopes of doing Beinn Chabhair as well, but I was late getting here after finishing work.
It's sunny again though
Got the kit on including gaiters, crossed the style and under the railway and took a photo of the foot bridge across the burn. There is major hydro works going on. A young man came down to chat, though suspect he is also down to do a bit of subtle interrogating as I'd taken a photo
Anyway they've made a nice road up the initial part of the walk. Whatever your views I doubt any of us will be walking on the hard going if there's a nice road nearby.
I didn't actually find the WH off ramp to go up the hill, but did find a sort of path. I more or less followed where WH said to, but the ground is quite squashy and the path very indistinct, non existent in places, so it's was more a question of heading in the right general direction.
About half way up to the Sron Gharbh I keep hearing birds singing and tweeting, but wherever I looked I couldn't see them
Turns out they are a couple of Meadow Pippits right above me
how sneaky is that
Once their cover had been blown they landed on a nearby rock.
There is a barbed wire fence to negotiate, but it's sturdy with square mesh below and easy foot steps, although I did walk along it to find an easy point to cross.
One hundred and eighty degree views northward take the mind off the slog up the sodden grassy slope. Nearer the top there is a more distinct path
which goes around Sron Gharbh rather than over it, but no matter, once you get up onto the ridge this walk really starts to take shape and the wet start is soon forgotten.
Looking up the ridge to An Caisteal
Even from here views to Ben More and further north as well as those to the west are majestic.
This looking back down and over Sron Gharbh north
Just after this point the path up to the summit of An Caisteal really becomes a joy with some really entertaining sections
It's difficult to decide whether to include the spectacular views all around or just focus on the varied and fun path. Guess a compromise, here's a photo to the west
Then a particularly memorable part of the path which crosses a cleft in the rocks which has a big hole in it
It's got a very short scramble on the other side, so after taking a few photos I stashed the poles and put on gloves
Once on the other side I tried to venture down to take a look into the hole, but the grass was slippy and had come away from the rock in places, so I carried on to Twistin hill
I took the bypass to the left, rather than the scramble over the top, but on reflection and having gone down for a peek from the top it is probably much and such for difficulty. Quickly reached the summit with great views, this one again north over Twistin hill
but it is take your pick from this vantage point
Beinn Chabhair looking west down Loch Long
Stopped shortly after this and had something to eat from a perch where I was getting a grand stand view of the Beinn a Chroin ridge and the cliffs below, and other hills to the south west. Ben Lomand looks a lot different from this viewpoint, zoomed
Now the fun would really start
There is so much to hold your interest on this walk, and the camera is clicking all the time, choosing what to include in this report is tricky
The whole area is a bit like Glen Coe with a bit more grass and greenery, very scenic
The path down to Bealach Buidhe
There are a few scrambly bits on the way down with one of the rockier outcrops reminding me of an M C Esher drawing with it's intriguing twists and turns as it seemed to backtrack through and around the rock; this sort of thing
http://www.mcescher.com/gallery/most-popular/relativity/Mathematical (M C Esher was into maths, the basis for many of his drawings) visualisations over it is down the last steep section to the bealach
I was at this point thinking there hadn't been much in the way of wildlife
and low and behold a Raven call from just behind me and then landed on a grassy ledge on the other side of the bealach to have it's photo taken
Still not a bang on in focus close up, but definitely clear enough to be one hundred percent sure it's a Raven
I continued further along the path and got closer, but then it's chum flew round behind me and the Raven on the ledge was off as well. I almost got a great silhouette shot of the take off, but just too slow, sais la vie
The focus now was on getting up to Beinn a Chroin which I was expecting to have a few challenging parts. One being somewhere in amongst these rocks. It took a few moments to work out some secure footings and hand holds, before getting a knee up onto the upper ledge and then the rest of me
From here on it was more or less walking up to the ridge
and the ridge itself with its wee Lochans and the first summit cairn with a view of Stob Binnein, Ben More behind Cruach Ardrain. Not sure if this is a summit, there seemed to be three cairns, two before the next bealach and one after
A wee Lochan before the next cairn
which I assume is one of the actual summits with the cairn on a slab of rock that resembles a clam shell
There's a bit of a steep but short decent into a bealach before the next ascent to the final summit, I was on my derriere sliding down a couple of slabby bits; deliberately I hasten to add
There's a path down from the bealach, so I thought this was an up and back down to the same spot and took off my rucksack to lighten the load, but on checking the satnav it seemed there was also another path off the top.
The final summit of Beinn a Chroin
Still great views, this one over to Learg an Lochan
As you can see the light is fading, so it's pretty much down the path as fast as possible
The path down to the solitary birch tree at the bottom was also enjoyable, at times I though it was a fun run
I wasn't actually running, but I was coming down quickly and for the most part the path is good with interesting slab sections as well and of course still the views.
Past the tree and things change to a bog trot, though there is still the view up to the cliffs and the burn to cross which keeps me smiling
On the other side of the burn it really is a bog trot
squelch squelch splash squelch splash....
I was glad to get to the dam construction site and a good road home.
All in all though these two Munros are a lot of fun, enjoy
