An Casteal and Bein a'Chroin

[matt0129081]

These were the fifth and sixth Munros my girlfriend and I have climbed. They were also the first two that felt like we were on our own. Previous Munros have been with other people who have walked loads or on Munros that were relatively busy. To preempt the rest of the report, and maybe save you reading the rest, I thought this was an awesome walk.

We started in the wrong layby first and after my girlfriend changed into her boots I noticed the pylons were in the wrong place (strictly speaking we were in the wrong place, but I am not one for taking the blame) so she had to get changed back into her trainers and drive to the correct layby (which we passed the first time). The first part of the walk was across a boggy field, which my girlfriend was not happy about because she had some new boots. They were turquoise at the start of the field and not so turquoise by the underpass. After the underpass the view to the hills appeared with shadows of the white fluffy clouds along the sides of the valley. There were also some cows drinking out of the river and it looked pretty idyllic. It was a very beutiful start to the day (I know it was a good day for walking because my girlfriend, whose name isn't Goldilocks, was not complaining about it being too hot or too cold).

drinking cows

We walked up the track into the morning sun until we reached the fence. Here we turned off the track and headed cross country up towards the top of Sron Gharbh. There seemed to be a path to begin with, but it was faint and we pretty much headed straight up the hill along the left side of a burn, over several hummocks towards a loan tree. It seemed good to have a landmark to aim for.

the lone tree

After the tree it got pretty steep and was quite slippery with the grass being wet and slippery. It was quite nice to get in the shadow of the hill because the sun was blinding. We stopped to do running repairs to my girlfriends heels (not high heels, actual heels. In retrospect this was quite a long walk for new boots) and then scrambled straight up to the top. There may have been an less steep route, but it was good to get this over with. Walking through long wet grass is quite tiring and it was nice to see a path at the top.

View towards An Casteal with strange rainbow thing

The ridge towards twisitn hill and on to An Casteal was an absolute delight to walk. The views were incredible and the sun cast our shadows from the top of the ridge onto the land below. There was on point where the path passed between two humps provding a perfect shelter and silencing the wind. The path here sparkled with rocks in the sun and it was like something from a Tolkein novel. The deep cleft that you arrive at along the path provided some entertainment hopping up and down it.

the deep cleft

Before summit plateau we came to a rocky knoll and we followed a path to the left of it, which was very narrow and passed right next to the knoll and then a big drop. However this path then ran into nothing so we had to turn back. Back at the knoll I decided it was best just to go straight up, which was lucky because above the first scramble there the path onwards.I am not sure what that the path to the left was for, but it provided some stunning if vertiginous views. The summit though was just a short walk along and it was a great place to be. We were above the clouds, which were racing along in a reasonable breeze.

Summit of An Casteal

We found the most amazing place to eat: Under a large rock just South West of the summit and near to the path down to Bealach Buidhe. Sheltered from the wind and basking in the sun we ate pies and chocolate and brewed peppermint tea. Few people, I feel, at that moment were eating with finer views and rarely has a Scotch pie tasted so good.

from our dining room table

After lunch we set off toward Bein a'Chroin. The path down to the bealach was steep and involved sitting down to scramble down rocks at times, but it was not difficult. In fact, I realised watching other people scrambling is far more nerve wracking than doing it myself. Turning round to see my girlfriend negotiating a few rocks alongside a steep drop into the coire had my hands reaching up to my eyes. The rocks were not too much problem, it looks more impressive from the bottom, but during lunch it appeared someone had turned all the fans on in the world and pointed them directly at us. What had been a strong wind previously was being funnelled right across this ridge. It wasn't quite at the stage of blowing us over (not me anyway), but I may have been able to fly a dog on a lead like a kite. When we reached the bottom of the buttress of Ben a'Chroin, which looked formidably steep, we were thankfully protected from the breeze. (It wasn't that bad, I quite liked the sound it made blowing my jacket. Though I was getting whipped in the face by various straps from my rucksack.)

The ascent of Ben a'Chroin was over surprisingly quick, but was quite fun with the path skirting some vertiginous drops. There was one point where I had to push my girlfriend up a rock, which I think she quite liked because she collapsed giggling on the ledge preventing me from following for some time. I have been trying to work out why I like scrambling so much (I was disapointed there was not a bit more on this walk), but I am not sure. I quite like the way the rocks feel and the I think it makes the the place seem much more wild. It may that this is an unusual way to locomote and we like the novelty. Maybe it is the same reason climbing frames are in every playground.

The summit of Ben a'Chroin was in cloud, which removed all sense of height. It was more like walking across a moor with the lochans and tall brown grass. But with the clouds being cumulus every now and then a vista would be unveiled and a brief view of the valley would appear.

Near the summit of Ben a'chroin

We did not hang around up here long because the wind was blowing fierce and it was quite cool. So we found the path down the North ridge, which we picked up just by a burn at the start of the path up the East summit. The path began winding around the east summit before beginning the descent of the ridge. Like the first ridge of the day this was a really nice part of the walk with stunning views down the valley. The highlight of this (and maybe the day) was seeing a stag about 50m away. He trotted onto the path, were it not for the movement his tan colour would have made him really difficult to see, and looked at us for a few seconds before trotting down into the coire. I wish I could have taken a picture, but I only have an iphone (for tweeting my walks) to take photos and they are not great for this sort of thing. We continued down the ridge along what I guess is quite an eroded path. The rocks were slippery and once I fell over, which fortunately did nothing more than boost the morale of my tiring, following girlfriend. We reached the foot of the ridge and celebrated with some M&Ms by the confluence of the burns.

about to begin the homeward stretch

Thus began the worst part of the day. We had not walked in bog really before and certainly not for this long. I don't even know if it was really that boggy relatively speaking, maybe this was not too bad. At the end of a long day this last couple of miles in bog was draining and a good test of cruciate ligaments. I avoided falling over, but provided my girlfriend with endless mirth as my legs plunged to various depths of in the bog (ha, I thought, its your car I am getting in at the end). What I really hated about this was the uncertainty. You just never knew how much of your leg would vanish. Sometimes gingerley you tread only to find a concerte like reception. Other times a grey cracked surface gives way to something akin to the Grimpen mire. We were very happy to see the farm track again and I duly washed my feet in the burn that crosses it (wherupon I managed to kick water in my boot having somehow kept my actual foot dry throughout the bog) and promised myself some gaiters. Back to the boggy field at the start and I put one of my now cleaned boots straight into another bog, which will teach me to have the temerity to look at the scenery.

It took seven hours to walk that and it felt a long walk, but truly stunning. I know when I read other walkers' reports what they mean when they say they cannot wait for the next hill. I never thought walking would be for me but it is incredible and I want to take everyone so they know what it is like and no one so that the hills stay quiet. And if you are still reading, well done and here are some other pictures.

Ben More I think

looking into the coire

a closer shot of Ben More. I really like the shape of this mountain

another from lunch

[tomyboy73]

excellent report, made me laugh, well done and i`ve learned a new word, "vertiginous"

[mountain coward]

I use vertiginous a lot myself being a mountain coward! Great humorous report Wish I'd seen something when we did it a couple of weeks ago. That long valley walk is awful isn't it - probably is one of the boggiest routes I've ever done - and I've done an awful lot of routes!

[monty]

I enjoyed reading that. excellent well done. It wont be the last bog you have to cross

[matt0129081]

Thank you for the kind comments. Writing a walk report for others to read induces its own sense of vertigo. I am trying to find a next walk without bog, but all descriptions seem to have the words "one section that can be boggy". Next time though I will have gaiters so it probably won't seem so bad. I also doubt next time will have such a long section of bog to negotiate. Not that I wish to complain because, truth be told, the rest of the walk was worth every squelchy step of that bog.

[mountain coward]

I can't see you avoiding bogs altogether until it starts freezing... and that brings it's own set of problems! But you probably won't ever have to do such a long bog again!

[houdi]

Quite amazed to see the weather you got for your walk. I also did these two on Sunday. Set off at 10 o'clock from the lay-by and came off the top of Beinn a Chroin at about one-thirty and everything was covered in clag and I saw nothing from either summit. Also, the wind was incredible going down from An Caisteal to the bealach - easily the worst wind I've ever encountered and it almost blew me over several times. I was extremely grateful to make it down in one piece. As I reached the valley after descending from Beinn a' Chroin the cloud did lift from An Caistell, Cruach Ardrain, and Beinn Tulaichean, but it seemed to be a short window as the clag had moved in again by the time I was halfway down the valley. You were certainly luckier than I was with the weather, but then I never seem to time things right.
Incidentally, after passing under the railway bridge you have to look for a tiny cairn at the side of the track (right on the first bend where the track goes through a shallow burn). It heads off across the fields and up the right hand side of the ridge. It is a very good path all the way and someone has kindly marked it with white sticks where it crosses the odd boggy patch. It's the best route up on to Sron Gharbh.

[mountain coward]

Houdi - that's exactly the report I've just written for these 2 - and I really wanted to see them

[houdi]

It's like two different days. I even did a double check to make sure yesterday was the 10th. I didn't see Ben More all day. Even when I drove past it at half-three the cloud base was right down to the lower slopes. Couldn't see any of it. I'm not even going to bother doing a Walk Report for these two as my pics show next to nothing. Even when I was coming back along the valley, and the cloud was lifting from some of the tops, the distant views were cack as the visibility was very poor. Where the hell did I go wrong on Sunday?
Actually, going up Beinn a' Chroin, I met a man coming down with a lovely old chocolate brown labrador. He was struggling to manouvre it down the rocks. He had first done Beinn Chabhair and thought that he had just done An Caisteal rather than Beinn a' Chroin. He asked me where An Caisteal was and I couldn't actually show him as, at this point, the clag was right down to the bottom of the bealach. Couldn't even see Ben Chabhair and it was right next to us. This was about one o'clock.

[mountain coward]

Looking at the crags on Beinn a' Chroin on the side of Beinn Chabhair, I'm really surprised he managed to get the dog UP it in the first place!!

[houdi]

He said he had to lift the dog up. It wasn't very keen on going down though and backed off a few times before he managed to coax it down. To be fair, it was only that one tricky place at the very bottom of the Scramble (or start if you're heading up).

[mountain coward]

I know the bit you mean, Richard, being shorter than me had some trouble on it whereas I didn't have any. But I wasn't up there on Sunday - it was a couple of weeks back now... I didn't get any photos till I got back down and things started to clear slightly - but they're not good photos - they're pretty claggy and featureless. Whether I'll add them to my report or not I'm not sure yet - I'll see what they look like when I've scanned them in.

[Fudgie]

Couldn't even see Ben Chabhair and it was right next to us. This was about one o'clock.

I climbed Beinn Chabhair a few weeks ago and it was exactly the way you describe it. We couldn't see a thing from the top and the wind really picked up when we reached the summit but I plan to get back up it again on a clear day.

[matt0129081]

I just realised I posted the wrong date. We did this on the 9th on Saturday, sorry houdi. It is like two different days because it was. The mountains may not be in the clouds, but it turns out my head is.

It was still really windy between the two mountains on Saturday and if it were any narrower I think it would have been a bit dodgy.

[matt0129081]

changed the date now