by Tom282 » Mon Jul 11, 2016 12:18 pm
Munros included on this walk: Beinn Bhuidhe
Date walked: 07/07/2016
Time taken: 6 hours
Distance: 30 km
Ascent: 1200m
4 people think this report is great. Register or Login free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
So... my first ever walk report and my first Munro of the year. I had tried to climb Beinn Bhuidhe in June by Glen Fyne but had had to turn back.
Thursday looked the best weather day of the week so we left home at 10.00am and drove to Glen Shira. We arrived at Glen Shira at 12.50pm. We sorted the bikes and we were off up the glen. The first 7 kilometres of cycling was very easy and flat and took us no time at all but the last 2 kilometres was very steep uphill-we had to get off and push our bikes. The path was a very good tarmacked road.
Eventually, we arrived at the bridge over the Brannie Burn. We locked our bikes up and slathered on factor 50+ before setting off. We walked along a track for a short while and then set off uphill. There was precious little path and the hillside was covered with branches and tree stumps-care is required so you don't cut yourself. Eventually after a long, hot, sweaty slog we reached Tom a' Phiobaire and the summit ridge.
We stopped to eat lunch and were startled as a deer ran in front of us. By the time we had finished lunch, the temperature had dropped several degrees, the wind had picked up and it had started to rain. Luckily, the rain didn't last long.
We continued walking along the summit ridge. We saw and heard a lot of golden plovers. There was a lot of descent and reascent, but fortunately, some of it could be bypassed. After we descended for the last time, there was a final push to the summit. Unfortunately by the time we reached the summit at 4.35pm it had completely clouded over so we didn't get to enjoy the fabled summit views.
We didn't want to hang around as the conditions were getting less and less pleasant so we turned and walked back the way we came. By now we visibility was so poor we could only see five metres in each direction. This meant that to navigate safely we would have to follow the ridge which meant a lot of descent and reascent.
It was only when we reached Tom a' Phiobaire that the weather finally lifted. We stopped and ate some chocolate before striking directly downhill. It was a punishing descent but it was very quick.
We rejoined the path and walked along to the bikes. There were midges everywhere and unlocking the bikes was an unpleasant task. We ate more chocolate and then got on the bikes.
The hill that we had to push our bikes up was fun to cycle down. We freewheeled at 50 kilometres per hour on mountain bikes. All in all the 9 kilometre cycle back to the car park took us 25 minutes. There were lots of buzzards and small birds in the glen.We arrived at the car at 6.50 in the pouring rain.
The trip was great fun but very quiet-we didn't encounter any other walkers all day. I apologise that there were no pictures in this report but I thought I should write a report on this walk as I couldn't find any other walkhighlands reports for Beinn Bhuidhe via Glen Shira.
Thankyou very much for taking the time to read my first walk report and I hope to post many more reports in the future.
Tom282
