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School had just broken up for the summer holiday and as always, it was a 12 o'clock finish with a number of staff heading straight to the boozer to get the holiday kick started in earnest. There have been a few good staff nights out in the past year or so and I had intended to go to this one as well, but the last few weeks of term had been really stressful with staff shortages in the department and various other things going on, and quite frankly by the time the finishing line was reached, I was pretty much at the end of my rope and the last thing I wanted to do was spend a few hours in the company of teachers! Hills it was then!
I had sounded Kev out about the possibility of meeting him for a wild camp somewhere on the Thursday night, and suggested Arrochar, although I knew that he had pretty much cleaned up here. He was still keen and when I suggested that my likely targets would be the Corbetts of Ben Donich, The Brack and Cnoc Coinnich, he said he would text me on the day and arrange to meet at some point near the summit of The Brack. He was keen to show me where he almost died on Cnoc Coinnich a few years back!
The forecast wasn't great on the day, the usual recipe of sunny spells and heavy, slow moving showers that seem to have come to define this summer, so it wasn't too much of a surprise when Kev pulled the plug, citing domestic commitments. I was still up for it and headed off shortly after the bell.
I lost a good hour or two stalling for time in the car at the start point near the Rest and Be Thankful, waiting for the weather to clear up, which it did marginally by mid afternoon. Then I was off up the north ridge towards the great clefts I have heard so much about in various other reports.
By the time I reached the clefts and spent a good 20 minutes exploring them, I had decided to give the other two hills a miss today. They'll keep for a better day!
I just about got away with it, a slight drizzle setting in as I neared the summit which turned to a downpour about half way through the descent. Still, it was just what the doctor would have ordered - the perfect medicine to cure the ills of a long hard school year.
Ben Donich north ridge from the car park at the start of the Gleann Mor forestry trackLuibhean south ridge and The CobblerLoch Restil nestled between Beinn and Lochain and Beinn Luibhean, Binnein an Fhidhleir in the backgroundAscent of the north ridgeLochain and FhidhleirLuibheanAhead towards the summit, reminiscent of Beinn an LochainGlen Croe and The Brack with the Luss hills beyondThe Brack and Cnoc CoinnichAmongst the giant cleftsLooking down from above the cleftsFinal pull up to the summitLoch Goil and Lochgoilhead from the trig pointI appear to be supporting the trig pillar!