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The previous day - Sun 19/9 - i`d climbed Stuchd an Lochain in poor visibility conditions , so i was very much looking forward to doing Ben Cruachan in better visibility. Hopefully...........
I stopped at the Green Welly for a quick coffee & to let Oskar stretch his legs & have a quick pee.As we went through Glen Lochy it was very dark with HEAVY rain , but this cleared as we drove on through, & by Dalmally it had stopped & the sun was out. Great
We parked at the lay by beside Cruachan train stop got ready and were off just after 915am , taking the route as described here on the site.It is quite a tough start up through the trees , but the views behind get better every minute. After the deer fence / style it was really very boggy underfoot & the Allt Cruachan burn was heavy.
The rain came back on again from here up to the Dam.I took a quick break here & had a chat with a couple with a Lab bitch who moved on in front of me.Thankfully the rain lessened a wee bit , although low clouds covered the ridge for most of the day - blowing through now and again as seen in my fotos to expose great views .
So onwards and up to Coire Dearg which i found hard going. I took another breather here and was passed by 2 young guys who disappeared very quickly into the mist towards the summit.
Oskar on looking up towards Coire DeargAlas onwards again , Oskar was doing great amoungst the boulders & the mist , it was a relief to summit ! The couple were there before me & took our foto at the remains of the trig point. Unfortunately we had no views - but this improved later on. It was now piece time - some cold pizza & coffee & water - great.
Coming off the summit was steep -but Oskar did very well. We did have to drop down on the route to avoid the huge wet slab boulders -as described -then climb again to summit Drochaid Ghlas.
After this i enjoyed the walk to Stob Diamh - it was for me the best part of the day
The mist cleared more here than at any other time on the ridge & the rain had stopped , the views were impressive ! Again we had a break on Stob Diamh before moving onto Stob Garbh .
After this i lost the path down towards Lairg Torran - i made my own way , then the path re appeared much more clearly defined,so i rejoined it down towards the water & the exit route -the bottom of which was VERY boggy/wet/muddy due to all the rain run off.
Looking over to Ben Cruachan the clouds / mist had not lifted all day from it`s summit , but the views all around were spectacular & the sun was warmly shinning.
A much better day than the previous one , it had been a long day - 9.5 hours & quite tiring , but i had enjoyed it emensely & Oskar i`m sure had too , he`d been great.
Roll on Thursday morning -Stuc A` Chroin.
