free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
A music tour to Ardnamurchan gave me the opportunity for a wee bit of fun on the way up – the forecast wasn’t overly inspiring so I picked something with some easy navigating
Saturday 17th June – Fraochaidh22.3km
1333m ascent
6 hours 20 mins
I parked up at Ballachulish and set off through the village. Beinn a’Bheithir was looming out of the clag as I made my way up the track past the school
Schoolhouse ridge
Sgorr a’ Choise ahead was drifting in and out of the clag too
It was damp underfoot but on a decent track this wasn’t cause for wet feet just yet
Looking back to Ballachulish
Continuing up Gleann an Fhoidh I could see the beginnings of the ridge towards Fraochaidh
The path got gradually more and more damp underfoot and my choice of summer boots appeared to be unwise
I left the path and headed down towards the River Laroch which I managed to cross without disaster
Slightly damp Jaxter
A very boggy path led me directly up the hillside towards the ridge. For some reason I was still attempting to keep dry feet but this soon became a losing battle
Sheepy sentry
Reaching the ridge I was able to start Beinn a’ Bheithir begin to appear – although it was a little damp it wasn’t such a bad day at all
Looking back down the ridge
Ribs not entirely healed at this point, I felt a wee twinge as I headed up the ridge. I assumed it would go away if I ignored it and continued
Looking down towards Duror
Mobile signal briefly resumed this seemed like a good point to acknowledge Father’s Day…until I walked behind another lump and cut me off in mid-flow….
It was brightening up again
The ridge was an enjoyable walk and the views, particularly backwards, were improving
Beinn a’ Bheithir
The final climb to the top of Fraochaidh – it looked fairly imposing from this angle!
Looking towards Glen Creran
Towards Duror
The final assault…
Looking backwards as I climbed steeply….
Looking towards the backside of Glen Etive
The weird cauldron effect
Ahead
The summit reached, I was denied the impressive views
It began to drizzle so it seemed to be wise to get down, especially as I had places to be
It was also a long way back…
Reaching the bealach obviously the rain eased and the visibility started to improve
In fact Fraochaidh even cleared
The option of going over Sgorr a’ Choise was quite appealing, especially as it was visible
Beinn a’ Bheithir
Fraochaidh
The ridge downwards
Another pointless gate
However I realised that I had places to be so elected to head straight back down and leave the delights of Sgorr a’ Choise for another day!
During the week (alongside actually doing some work
) I managed to cycle over 200km to all my locations…the weather was mixed but the scenery wonderful
En route to Mallaig….
Kinlochleven bound
And heading for Fort William
Thursday 21st June – Beinn Resipol11.20km
602m ascent
3 hours 5 mins
Finishing at about 3 in Strontian I decided I had time for a wee hill before the ferry. The weather was perfect so I drove up the road a couple of miles to Ariundle and changed into my hill gear
Just as I was preparing to set off I was spotted by Collaciotach
It was an easy walk along the track, then once it started climbing the views back were stunning
Garbh Bheinn
Given the dry conditions I had decided to wear my new trail runners….which halfway up the track turned out to be a terrible idea as they were rubbing my feet
Even more unfortunately, never having had shoes that rubbed before I had no extra socks and no plasters….
Seeing Resipol ahead I decided that it was going to be painful enough to get back from here without going any further
But there did seem to be a nice wee viewpoint off to the right which I could visit on the way down – climbing up towards Beinn a’ Chaorainn it seemed to be less painful going uphill than down. Nothing like prolonging the agony
Back to Resipol
Looking down Loch Sunart to sea
Now on top of something it had become crazy windy to the extent where I was struggling to stand, leading to some undignified walking
Wobbly Jaxter
I had a ferry to catch, so time to head down, thankfully out of the wind!
Out of the wind I had a steady enough hand for a panorama
On the ferry it was a stunning evening and I was thinking it might be worth finding a spot for sunset….something to think on as I drove….
Driving through Glencoe I had an idea….
I managed to find some sticking plasters in the car and put on my still damp boots from Sunday. Wet but fortunately not uncomfortable
Beinn a’ Chrulaiste7.82km
640m ascent
2 hours 15 mins
Setting off at a run I headed up the path towards Beinn a’ Chrulaiste. I reckoned I could make it
I stopped for a few photos on the way up…
….but mostly I was concerned with getting high enough for the sunset….
I reckoned I had time so made a run for the summit – this seemed to do something to upset my camera as the summit photo came out super blurry….
Heading back to a good vantage point I enjoyed the summer solstice sunset whilst trying to put all my clothes on as it was really cold
The sun set, it was time to get going…
Nearly back at the car, the moon came out and it was a beautiful evening.
It was about 1am when I got home so I unloaded the car and abandoned everything on the living room floor to deal with in the morning
