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A sneaky mid-week hill outing. Up to Beinglas campsite on Tuesday evening - sodden underfoot with a lot of rain having fallen by the look of things. Busy with WHW walkers of various nationalities, predominantly German. A bit noisy til midnight then quiet rain.
Cloud covered the hilltops when we woke, midges congregated around the tent and my midge net was at home. We drove the few miles to Ardlui and parked by the phone box. I'd wanted to climb Vorlich by this route for a while and it did offer the opportunity to collect not just the Munro Top that Allison was after but 3 or 4 Sims for me. I knew it would be a rough and rugged terrain, made worse by the bracken on the lower slopes. Our initial route was thwarted by the railway lines - I wasn't sure whether there was a way across by the camping area at Ardlui - we went to the station and met a Scotrail man who directed us to an underpass about 100m to the south of the station. This looked like it went to a house - there was a sign saying Ben Vorlich route was the next underpass to the south. Not a great road to walk alongside, the A82, but we didn't have far to go. The cutting was a little soggy
P1160754 by
Al, on Flickr
P1160755 by
Al, on Flickr
A faint track continues to the south then joins a more distinct gravel path that seemed to be heading the right way. At around 300m we left the track and headed straight up the hillside making for Stob nan Coinnich Bhacain, a craggy presence leading to the main ridge up to Vorlich. We picked our way along gullies and over rocks to reach the summit, moated by lochans. Some sheep greeted us with baleful cries. On towards the 931 Top of Vorlich- I was surprised- pleasantly- to find a clear path leading the way round outcrops: clearly a more popular route than I'd imagined.
P1160757 by
Al, on Flickr
P1160758 by
Al, on Flickr
Stob nan Coinnich Bhacain
P1160759 by
Al, on Flickr
P1160760 by
Al, on Flickr
Up to Vorlich
P1160763 by
Al, on Flickr
At around 700m we entered the clag and continued easily up to the summit of the Top. From here it's a short distance to the main Munro summit where we stopped for lunch. My original route took us to the southern extremity of the ridge to claim another Sim before traversing the inside of Coire na Baintighearna to reach the Little Hills. As we had to be back in Greenock early enough for Allison to get to her classes I decided to jettison this next Sim and just head straight towards the Little Hills from the summit. In clag, this poses a bit of a problem as there are many crags to negotiate and much time was eaten up finding a safe route. We made it to both summits of the Little Hills (Sims) then continued NE down the shoulder to Stuc na Nighinn. This involved undulating terrain, crags and a steep descent towards the river.
Munro Top - 49 left for her now
P1160764 by
Al, on Flickr
Vorlich summit
P1160765 by
Al, on Flickr
P1160767 by
Al, on Flickr
Approaching the first of the Little Hills
P1160769 by
Al, on Flickr
And second
P1160771 by
Al, on Flickr
Down the shoulder
P1160772 by
Al, on Flickr
Descent to the river
P1160775 by
Al, on Flickr
P1160776 by
Al, on Flickr
A simple crossing then we had to fight our way through ferns to reach the track we'd ascended on. We continued on this better track which took us out through another underpass by a farm, leaving a slightly longer walk along the A82 to return to the car
P1160781 by
Al, on Flickr