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So we had planned this one after climbing Ben Vorlich (and failing to climb Stuc a'Chroin) in the snow and deciding that we (I) never wanted to do a summit in the snow again!
I liked the sound of this route as it gave us a chance to bag two Munros in one walk and I made the executive decision that there wouldn't be any snow at the top (I was wrong for one summit but never mind...!)
We parked at the car park at the end of the road just before the farm and continued along through the farm and crossed the stream. The husband then fell out with me after I was adamant that we had gone the wrong way and tried to point him the direction of climbing a totally random hill that probably wasn't even on our map... bearing in mind that he reads maps for a living (Army) and I had never once properly read a map. So once I was put in my place and ordered to leave all further navigating to him, we pressed on.
Around the time I decided that I could suddenly read maps...
The way up to Beinn Tulaichean was surprisingly hard going and a lot steeper than it looks! There isn't a clear cut path for a lot of the lower, grassy section so you just need to decide what works best for you and get yourself up there however you can! We opted for a few steep scrambles just to keep things interesting before joining more of a path further up.
Water and Jelly baby stop just after a steep scramble to the first ridge. Views over Loch Voil and that other one beginning with D...
We reached the summit of Beinn Tulaichean (with Cruach Ardrain looking lovely in the background there) after about two and a half hours which is a decent time for my unfit legs! And as per tradition, Poppy got a bit of G's lunch at the cairn.
The descent down towards Cruach Ardrain was nice enough and the reascent wasn't all that bad either. The snow started thickening out a bit more towards the summit and we reached a large patch of hard snow on the drop down before the true summit. I have put off buying poles for a long time now and regret it every time. This was one of those times. I ended up copying a few other walkers and just chucking myself down on my bum. There was no way I was walking down that without aids and also without landing on my a**e and doing myself an injury! Luckily my cheap trousers survived the assault and I was left with my dignity intact. (There's a lot to be said for this particular brand of trouser and I should maybe write a review for them stating that they are durable enough to slide down ice on one's behind)
G's "hurry up and take the damn photo" face.
Still smiling at the summit of Cruach Ardrain and Poppy doesn't look entirely fed up either (Although she was gathering snow on her underside so we left pretty sharpish after the obligatory summit photos)
The descent took a lot longer than we'd thought and it involved a lot of boggy grass and picking a route rather than one being obviously there. We followed the stream down for the most part and I only slipped and fell three times (must be a record!) There were were lots of sheep for Poppy to whine at (whilst on the lead, obviously!) and I think we hit the track at about 2.20pm after leaving the car at 9.30am. So not too bad a day at all.
