Great day to reach 100th on the Orchy 3

[jamesb63]

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After my short day in the Cairngorms http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=61862
I decided I would make things a bit more interesting ,and take in 3 Munros from Bridge of Orchy
The forecast was for clear tops with a cold wind from the north and chance of some snow
so it all added to the occasion ,

Straight ahead to the Bealach

Towards the Blackmount tops

There was not a bit of wind when starting out so the jacket was in the bag from the start
as I was setting out at 5.40am to walk it was not surprising there were no other cars parked up
I do remember last year when I done Ben Dorain and Beinn a,Dothaidh the path up to the bealach
was a river in some parts and a bogfest in others
What a difference today the pathe was bone dry and the boggy parts had a good frost on them
so it was a pleasure not a chore to walk in ,
Nearly an hour later we were at the cairn marking the top of the bealach
and looking back now the views were just fantastic

Blackmount and Etive tops

My walking partners

Beinn Sheasgarnaich from the Bealach ?

From here I went high right along the side of Ben Dorain as I had been along here before
without a camera and wanted a certain pic

A nice set of waterfalls on side of Ben Dorain

This pic I wanted Stob Coire Odhair in the middle of the bealach

Now I dropped back down to cross the Allt coire a,Ghabhalaich which was no problem
due to the dry spell
From here I climbed up and traversed along Beinn a Dothaidh dropping over to meet the Allt na Loin

Beinn Odhar centre pic

Ben Lui ,Ben Oss & Dubhcraig

I walked down to meet the Landrover track that seemed well washed out with the winter rains
and from here took the direct and very steep ascent up Beinn a.Chuirn
the dogs had no problems but some of the scree was very loose so took a bit of time
taking care its a long way down

Auch Viaduct from Beinn a'Chuirn

Beinn Mhanaich

From here its an easy walk and final ascent to the Beinn Mhanaich cairn
it was a surprisingly long walk to get here with my detour and choice of ascent
but it gave some very nice views

Beinn Mhanaich summit with next target Beinn a.Chreachain in the background

Decending from here into Glean Cailliche a lot of height is lost ,
i then crossed the Allt Cailliche on the west side of the small stream
that runs down Coire a,Mhath Ghamhna ,before ascending into the coire
it was time for a well earned drink and breakfast for 3 ,the dogs i fed before setting out
but being Labradors they sure know how to put on a sad face when food is around
so needless to say i shared mine
The pull up through the Coire is quite steep also and i was feeling it specially
in my right foot now as i had went over on it in the Cairngorms and definetly have done something
with a few breaks i reached the bealach and what a shock the wind was now straight on from the north
and it was bitter cold ,so into the bag and the jacket on
I will say 90% of the walk so far was on pathless terrain so it was nice now to be on some sort of path
and with renewed vigour i was of up the remainder of the ascent and reach my 100th summit
and i cant say how pleased i was to reach this target after such an eventful year it felt like heaven

100th Munro what a feeling :-)

The lads

Out over Rannoch moor towards Glencoe

So it was off from here to start my next 100
looking around there was a fair number of snow showers but as yet none here
the walk along the ridge was very nice though a tad cold and reaching the point
for the ascent up to Beinn Achaladair i met the first walker of the day we chatted a few mins
then i wished him a nice day and then the snow came on the clag came with it and visabilty
was zero oh well cant be great all the time
so onwards and upwards to the summit with no visabilty

Beinn Achaladair summit in the clag

Walking along from the summit the dogs surprised 2 other walkers taking shelter
in behind some rocks ( Labradors have a keen nose for food )
Just past here the snow went off and the clag lifted giving some great views

Loch Tulla

Ben Nevis and the Mamores

From here its down to the bealach and head back over to Coire a Ghabhalach
i will say anyone doing this walk when dropping back into the Coire
keep to the LEFT hand side of the stream as there are some very bad crags
on the side of Beinn a Dothaidh
I kept high below the crags and headed up over the bealach and dropped back down
the rocky path to the Bridge of Orchy
Summary one very happy walker and one very sore foot still painfull and now next day
Oh well wheres there pleasure theres pain

[Cairngorm creeper]

well done on reaching 100.

[tombombadilio]

Congrats on the ton + 1 james! And beautiful labs, they really off-set their surroundings in those shots - plus they must be great companions too, obviously

[Petr Dakota]

Congratulations James, well done

[MountainTrail]

An interesting route to bag the 3 of these , I will save this post for further use , cheers

[litljortindan]

A tough looking walk (for me anyway) but plenty in the way of views.

[jamesb63]

:clap: well done on reaching 100.

Thanks ive enjoyed every minute

Congrats on the ton + 1 james! And beautiful labs, they really off-set their surroundings in those shots - plus they must be great companions too, obviously

Thankyou and for the compliment on the dogs ,I do love my Labs great company and food hoovers

Congratulations James, well done

Thankyou Petr and also for the inspiration and kind words along the way

[Jaxter]

Well done on your hundred!!

I'm planning to do this lot soon so thanks for the tips about crags etc!

[basscadet]

Well done on your hundred!!

I'm planning to do this lot soon so thanks for the tips about crags etc!

Its far nicer to do them from Glen Lyon side, and its Beltane on Sunday so the stones at Tigh Nam Bodach will be out once again

Well done on reaching 100 James, the next hundred will go awful quick, believe me

[jamesb63]

Well done on your hundred!!

I'm planning to do this lot soon so thanks for the tips about crags etc!

It is a nice route for these hills but as BC says it can get very wet and river problems
can happen VERY quickly ,I know these hills very well as my friend was a shepherd
here long ago and I walked them many times

Well done on your hundred!!

I'm planning to do this lot soon so thanks for the tips about crags etc!

Its far nicer to do them from Glen Lyon side, and its Beltane on Sunday so the stones at Tigh Nam Bodach will be out once again

Well done on reaching 100 James, the next hundred will go awful quick, believe me

I hope they don't go as quick the first 100 has been a blur

[dogplodder]

Well done on your century - and walking companions looking as handsome as ever!

[ancancha]

Congratulations James
That's an interesting route
Long as well with some very steep hauls up, good going

[jamesb63]

Well done on your century - and walking companions looking as handsome as ever!

Thankyou ,I love being with my 2 friends in the hills ,and they love it aswell

Congratulations James
That's an interesting route
Long as well with some very steep hauls up, good going

Many thanks yes I was surprised how steep some parts were
but it all made for a great day out

[jamesb63]

An interesting route to bag the 3 of these , I will save this post for further use , cheers

It is a good alternative to the usuall routes and you can add Beinn a Chuirn as did
and also Ben Dorain and Beinn a Dothaidth