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I can't believe summer's gone! And with it, any chance of climbing new Munros. With only 22 left, all our choices are either big walks, possibly overnighting trips (Knoydart, Lurg Mor) or hills situated 3 or more hours drive away from home, so now it's time to concentrate on repeating our nextdoor favourites in autumn conditions. I love autumnal Torridon in particular, as long as weather smiles, it's the best place to be in September/October
But this TR won't be about Torridon, but about an alternative horseshoe we had in mind since spring. I'd call it "the Alternative Cruachan circuit" but as it doesn't include Ben Cruachan, it would be better named "Alternative Dalmally horseshoe". We didn't invent this route, it had been described in several WH reports before, but we liked the idea of combining Stob Daimh with Beinn a'Bhuiridh from the very first time we had a look at the map of this area.
There was a second reason for doing the alternative route. We are seriously considering Ben Cruachan as our final Munro, so we wanted to get the sidekick Stob Daimh out of the way. And as the alternative also involved ticking off a new Corbett... Why not?
Our route begins from the B8077 (the usual starting point for Beinn a'Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich). When we arrived the local road was already very busy - dozens of cars parked in every possible off-road spot. We had to drive to the bridge over Allt Mhoille, where we managed to squeeze into a small layby. Our route followed the track on the western side of the glen (the old access track to now disused led mines). We then crossed the river and climbed the SE shoulder of Sron an Isean, traversing to Stob Daimh and then following the ridge to Beinn a'Bhuiridh. The descent route was by the long, eastern ridge of the Corbett (the original WH route for Beinn a'Bhuiridh only).
This combination is a nice easier alternative to the classic Cruachan round, but it still involves nearly 1300m of ascent and some steep sections (no scrambling but the final ascent to the Corbett is very tricky in wet conditions).
On the track to the old mines (our target ridge walk behind us):
Panoramic view of Glen Mhoillie, Beinn Eunaich to the right, Beinn a'Chochuill in the middle, Sron an Isean to the left, plus a typical Scottish encounter of the moo kind in the foreground
Are you going up a new Moooonro?
The glen is full of grazing highland cattle, so if you plan to take a dog on this walk, be sure to keep it on the leash. The cows were not aggressive, more curious, but they still had young calves with them, so care should be taken.
From all descriptions I could find, I assumed there was a bridge over Allt Coire Chreachainn. It is not marked on the right spot on the 1-25k map and it's not visible from the main track, but after a short march across a boggy pasture, we found it:
The lower slopes of the long SE ridge of Sron an Isean are quite steep, but all crags can be avoided and the ground is mostly covered with grass and low heather. Not much bracken, to my surprise.
I had no breakfast in the morning to avoid the travel sickness and as soon as we hit the steeper ground, I hit the brick wall! My muscles felt so weak I could hardly lift my legs...
Having gained about 200m, I said no more of that! Please, give me something to eat!
I sat down on the first rock I spotted and rummaged through my ruckscak, devouring anything even remotely edible
Climbing with empty stomach is possibly the worst experience I had on the hills (not counting walking down an icy slope with a big hole in my knee). At least today I had enough sugar with me to make me hyper!
TBH who wouldn't go hyper with such fantastic views around?
After the initial steep push, the higher part of the ridge is more gentle and there is even a faint path to follow:
Looking down the SE ridge from near the summit of Sron an Isean:
At 966m, Sron an Isean is a Munro top and a fantastic viewpoint. Kevin appreciated the beauty of the surrounding landscape, but he was eager to reach the summit of Stob Daimh:
Panoramic view of Ben Cruachan and Glen Noe:
Beinn a'Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich:
View south-east:
An obvious path links Sron an Isean to Stob Daimh, an extra 100m of ascent but the slope is easy enough:
Lucy on the summit of her 119th Munro!
Kevin busy photographing:
Facing Ben Cruachan - not planned today, but it will be done at some point. Maybe as a final M!
At the moment we had to satisfy with adding one new Munro (260 for me, 261 for Kevin) to our tally:
View north to Loch Etive:
The Cruachan reservoir and Loch Awe:
After a well deserved break on the summit of Stob Daimh, we continued to the intermediate top, Stob Garbh:
...which offers even more interesting views to Ben Cruachan:
Ok, I know this is a good spot to take pictures, but we still have a Corbett to do...
Panoramic snap of Ben Cruachan and Coire Cruachan:
Zoom to Ben Nevis:
We stopped on the lower shoulder of Stob Garbh (947m) to admire the vertical cliffs on this side:
...and pose with the superb views to the east and south:
Zoom to Ben Lui:
...but our main target was Beinn a'Bhuiridh. I knew that adding this top to Stob Daimh required clambering up a very steep slope, so I scrutinized the wall, looking for the best route:
Scary as it looks, this slope is much less problematic than one might suspect. It is basically a very steep slog, mostly on grass, a little on scree, occasionally on hard rock. If maneuvering carefully, all scrambling can be avoided. Because it had rained heavily the day before, we preferred to go up this slope than try to descend it (this was the reason for doing the circular anticlockwise) and soon we discovered that the ground was waterlogged in places. We took time, making sure we didn't slip on the wet grass:
Up the final ascent with Ben Cruachan in the background:
The higher you climb, the steeper it becomes:
Looking down the northern slope of Beinn a'Bhuiridh, to Lairig Torran and Stob Garbh:
The Cruachan horseshoe in panoramic mode:
Walkers on the summit of Stob Daimh:
After the steep slog up the final slope, it was a relief to reach the summit of Beinn a'Bhuiridh, our 163rd Corbett (106th for Lucy):
Many walkers, especially those on a Munro quest, disregard this Corbett as a boring sidekick of the Cruachan group and not really worth the hassle. What a misjudgement! Beinn a'Bhuiridh is a cracking viewpoint and on such a nice sunny day, it would be a sin not to stop here for longer!
A few snaps from the summit:
The tops we just walked:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 142 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
Loch Awe:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 143 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
Panoramic shot of Ben Cruachan:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 146 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
The Cobbler and Beinn Ime:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 138 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
Ben Lui:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 137 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
Beinn a'Bhuiridh has two tops, the western one being the true summit, but we visited both, just in case:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 165 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
Loch Awe once more - what a view:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 157 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
And this is the ridge we will use in descent - looks cracking!
2019-09-07 stob daimh 169 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
I actually tuned out a bit more wet than we expected
but the going was all right all the way down to Monadh Driseig, which has a trig point, but we didn't bother detouring to it as it was getting late.
Beinn a'Bhuiridh from Monadh Driseig:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 176 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
My favourite view of the day - like seen from the air. Glen Orchy and River Orchy, framed by Ben Lui and Beinn a'Chleibh:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 177 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
Kilchurn Castle:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 180 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
A wider pano of the eastern end of Loch Awe. Shame we didn't have time to visit the ruins (Kilchurn Castle closes at 5:30):
2019-09-07 stob daimh 182 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
Looking back to Beinn a'Bhuiridh (left) and Stob Daimh (right), The ridge in the middle could be used as an alternative route of descent if skipping the Corbett:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 188 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
The last 200m of descent gave us a headache, it's really wet and squelchy, but it was a small price to pay for a fantastic ridgewalk we enjoyed earlier!
2019-09-07 stob daimh 190 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
We hopped over the boggy ground to join the old mine track near the remnants of one of the mine buildings (I guess). From here, there is a nice view into Coire Cheachrainn:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 192 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
Beinn a'Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich from the track on the way back:
2019-09-07 stob daimh 195 by
Ewa Dalziel, on Flickr
As our final new Munro this year, it was as good as it could be. Fantastic weather, great views, superb ridgewalking. Some bog fighting on the way down, but it didn't spoil the day. I can recommend this route for those who would like to climb Beinn a'Bhuiridh and prefer to make it a challenge rather than a simple walk up and down the eastern ridge.
...........................
I have finally caught up with my reports (it took ages!) but I hope I'll have another story to write next week as the coming weekend is looking interesting, we will be out and about for sure
