Stop Diamh....at last!

[inca]

OS Map: 50

Attendees: Me, Big Dog, Small Dog

Cruachan Power Station – Falls of Cruachan – Cruachan Reservoir – Stob Garbh – Stob Diamh. Return as outward route.

Like Creag Meagaidh further north, Stob Diamh had been something of a bogey hill for me. I have been at Cruachan Reservoir 3 times in total. On the first occasion (2012), I was beaten off Ben Cruachan by ice and snow. On the second occasion (2013) I climbed Ben Cruachan in miserable weather and 30m visibility. Big Dog was present but but very young; I decided not to press on to Stob Diamh.

So third time lucky I guess. Decent weather with blue skies and great views in all directions. One blunder near the start caused mostly by sloppy map reading. Once at the east side of Cruachan Dam I went through 2 sets of gates and turned sharp right to ascend of what I assumed to be the western slopes of Stob Garbh (which isn’t named on the 1:50000 map). I only realised my mistake on reaching the sharp-sided ravine beside the Alt Choire Ghlais. The hill I was in fact on was Beinn a Bhuiridh. One course of action might have been to head further NE and cross there but it seemed a long way for a short cut so I descended west, eventually picking up the path I should have been on 200m above the head of the reservoir. Had I stayed by the lochside near the start I would have found it within 5 minutes. Bit of a pain but hey ho…the dogs seemed happy enough with the extra exercise.

Felt leaden-legged today and the climb up to Stob Garbh was punctuated by several breaks. On the plus side, a well-defined path then runs along the ridge line all the way to Stob Diam’s summit cairn. We sat at the top for 20 mins, lying in the sun. Had a good panorama of the full Cruachan HorseShoe and couldn’t see a soul. Strange given its popularity and the sunshine. For a few minutes I debated going on to Ben Cruachan. The route ahead was glorious but I remembered the down route from Cruachan was a knee cruncher. So the decision was made and back we went the same way.

Ran into several tourists on the steep path beside the Falls of Cruachan. Nice, chatty, folk heading for pictures at the dam.

Job done – Stob Diamh in the bag at last. And some good pictures to boot.





































OS Map: 50

Attendees: Me, Big Dog, Small Dog

Cruachan Power Station – Falls of Cruachan – Cruachan Reservoir – Stob Garbh – Stob Diamh. Return as outward route.

Like Creag Meagaidh further north, Stob Diamh had been something of a bogey hill for me. I have been at Cruachan Reservoir 3 times in total. On the first occasion (2012), I was beaten off Ben Cruachan by ice and snow. On the second occasion (2013) I climbed Ben Cruachan in miserable weather and 30m visibility. Big Dog was present but present but very young; I decided not to press on to Stob Diamh.

So third time lucky I guess. Decent weather with blue skies and great views in all directions. One blunder near the start caused mostly by sloppy map reading. Once at the east side of Cruachan Dam I went through 2 sets of gates and turned sharp right to ascend of what I assumed to be the western slopes of Stob Garbh (which isn’t named on the 1:50000 map). I only realised my mistake on reaching the sharp-sided ravine beside the Alt Choire Ghlais. The hill I was in fact on was Beinn a Bhuiridh. One course of action might have been to head further NE and cross there but it seemed a long way for a short cut so I descended west, eventually picking up the path I should have been on 200m above the head of the reservoir. Had I stayed by the lochside near the start I would have found it within 5 minutes. Bit of a pain but hey ho…the dogs seemed happy enough with the extra exercise.

Felt leaden-legged today and the climb up to Stob Garbh was punctuated by several breaks. On the plus side, a well-defined path then runs along the ridge line all the way to Stob Diam’s summit cairn. We sat at the top for 20 mins, lying in the sun. Had a good panorama of the full Cruachan HorseShoe and couldn’t see a soul. Strange given its popularity and the sunshine. For a few minutes I debated going on to Ben Cruachan. The route ahead was glorious but I remembered the down route from Cruachan was a knee cruncher. So the decision was made and back we went the same way.

Ran into several tourists on the steep path beside the Falls of Cruachan. Nice, chatty, folk heading for pictures at the dam.

Job done – Stob Diamh in the bag at last. And some good pictures to boot.






















OS Map: 50

Attendees: Me, Big Dog, Small Dog

Cruachan Power Station – Falls of Cruachan – Cruachan Reservoir – Stob Garbh – Stob Diamh. Return as outward route.

Like Creag Meagaidh further north, Stob Diamh had been something of a bogey hill for me. I have been at Cruachan Reservoir 3 times in total. On the first occasion (2012), I was beaten off Ben Cruachan by ice and snow. On the second occasion (2013) I climbed Ben Cruachan in miserable weather and 30m visibility. Big Dog was present but present but very young; I decided not to press on to Stob Diamh.

So third time lucky I guess. Decent weather with blue skies and great views in all directions. One blunder near the start caused mostly by sloppy map reading. Once at the east side of Cruachan Dam I went through 2 sets of gates and turned sharp right to ascend of what I assumed to be the western slopes of Stob Garbh (which isn’t named on the 1:50000 map). I only realised my mistake on reaching the sharp-sided ravine beside the Alt Choire Ghlais. The hill I was in fact on was Beinn a Bhuiridh. One course of action might have been to head further NE and cross there but it seemed a long way for a short cut so I descended west, eventually picking up the path I should have been on 200m above the head of the reservoir. Had I stayed by the lochside near the start I would have found it within 5 minutes. Bit of a pain but hey ho…the dogs seemed happy enough with the extra exercise.

Felt leaden-legged today and the climb up to Stob Garbh was punctuated by several breaks. On the plus side, a well-defined path then runs along the ridge line all the way to Stob Diam’s summit cairn. We sat at the top for 20 mins, lying in the sun. Had a good panorama of the full Cruachan HorseShoe and couldn’t see a soul. Strange given its popularity and the sunshine. For a few minutes I debated going on to Ben Cruachan. The route ahead was glorious but I remembered the down route from Cruachan was a knee cruncher. So the decision was made and back we went the same way.

Ran into several tourists on the steep path beside the Falls of Cruachan. Nice, chatty, folk heading for pictures at the dam.

Job done – Stob Diamh in the bag at last. And some good pictures to boot.