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Ben Challum's Morning Light Show

Ben Challum's Morning Light Show


Postby andygunn23 » Sun May 03, 2020 5:49 pm

Route description: Ben Challum, near Tyndrum

Date walked: 20/10/2019

Time taken: 5 hours

Distance: 11.5 km

Ascent: 910m

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Ben Challum's Morning Light Show

In 2018 I had somehow found myself at the summit of 57 Munros I had previously never visited and managed to make at least one summit each month, with the exception of July!

I hadn’t intended to get out every month in 2018 but having missed one of the easiest months, in terms of weather and daylight, due to holidays / work and generally being busy, I decided to try get all 12 months in 2019. It is the winter months that make things more challenging so without actively trying in 2018 I was confident I could manage 2019.

It was the 20th October 2019, I had summitted 33 so far and managing the first 9 months without too much of a challenge. I was busy the following weekend so if I was to have any chance of getting my 15th consecutive month (and 10th of 2019) – I needed to get out this particular weekend.

My previous two trips were some epic scrambling in glorious conditions on Skye, so morale was relatively low when the weather forecast was less than ideal.

Opted to attempt Ben Challum as it was the closest “new” Munro to my parents and an easy up-and-down. Only a 90-minute drive and with the cloud cover looking more favourable earlier on, I left the house about 05:30 to try and get at least a bit of height for the sunrise.

Under headtorch I passed the eerie cemetery and crossed the railway in the pitch black, before starting the very boggy ascent. Slowly watching the light being turned up and realising the headtorch was no longer required.

Lightening up
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I hadn’t really expected a good sunrise or any enjoyable walk. I hate to admit it, but this was more of a box ticking exercise to keep the 2019 “dream” alive.

As it turned out the sun rising alongside Ben More and the Crianlarich Munros was quite spectacular and easily worth the very early alarm.

Lovely first golden rays & a straight rainbow
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I was making good time over the very boggy lower SW slopes of Ben Challum. Progress was only really hindered as every time I though the sun had finished rising, I’d look East and get another, better view.

Looking up towards the summit of Ben Challum I would have been in clouds if I had made it to the summit, so I was probably in the best location, however a clear summit could have provided some spectacular views.

One last stop
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With the early warming orange rays changing to bright white I focused more on the route up Ben Challum which looked somewhat more “bland” than the sunrise

I got the sense that all the joy or excitement from this walk was already over and I was only about 600m up and still had the return journey.

Comparatively doom and gloom?
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Thankfully by now the boggier ground was behind me, well until the return journey! The remaining route to the summit was under a good well-defined path which made walking far, far easier.

Turned out the light was still good!
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The sunrise may have given a false sense of warmth, but even with hardly any wind it felt bitterly cold, especially considering on my last outing I was paddling neck deep in a burn coming off from Bla Bheinn.

It began very gently snowing, this would be my first snow of the 2019/2020 season, little did I know how little I’d manage to get out in the snow!

The beginning
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Once reaching 998m I was nearly fully in clouds and made my way along the easy ridge towards the Stob Glas 1025m summit.

Moody
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I reached the summit well before 10am. It was cold but no colder than the way up, so I decided to sit here for a bit and have my lunch / second breakfast. At first I was completely immersed in the wet clouds, but every so often they’d clear and the views everywhere were amazing. Typically, the clearings would last just the length of time it would take me to try get the camera back out my rucksack.

Just missed this clearing
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I decided not to linger for too long and by the time I was back at the first false summit the weather had really brightened up. Annoying as it was meant to do the opposite. It was now a warm and clear day and I’d probably have got far better views from the summit, or at least for longer.

Heading down
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In hindsight I preferred the earlier start, the sunrise was excellent, and I had most of the hill to myself. It also meant I’d get some good driving weather to get stuck behind tourists and tractors on the return journey to Aberdeen.

The route down was initially uneventful, I passed a few couples who mostly seemed puzzled why I was already making tracks down. The boggy ground seemed worse in daylight, possibly down to over analysing the best moves, whereas on the way up I was just going straight(ish) and squelching my way through.

Nearing the end there was a particularly nice long fence pole which looked to be perfectly placed in the middle of the bog to provide some form of walkway – likely to have been well hidden on the route up.

I obviously went for it. Within a split second I was bog-boarding downhill. Legs and arms were frantically trying to regain balance, poles were being launched in various directions and I was fully prepared to be ending up coating in dubs. Remarkably I somehow managed to regain balance and gently disembarked from my unexpected my mode of transport.

After reassuring myself my joints were still all in place, I turned around to inspect the damage only to be bitterly disappointed to find I had only slid 1-2 meters. I felt closer to 10-20!

Knowing I had a somewhat epic backlog of Walk Report to finish I knew it would be some months before I got around to putting finger to keyboard for this one, so I took a quick photo to jog my memory.

Avoid
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Cemetery
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River Fillan
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I went for a quick detour up to the cemetery which was somewhat more peaceful and less sinister looking that it had been when I made my initial ascent up in the pitch black.

I was back at the car just before mid-day so I reckon I was just under the five hours mark which at least meant I would spend more time walking than driving, which is unfortunately now becoming less common!

I hadn’t expected much based on the views you get from the A82 but in reality, Ben Challum made an excellent very easy day walk, albeit a bit of a bog fest initially. You could get a great summit camp in good weather, and easily one I look forward to doing again! Also, in deep winter with low lying snow it’d be an excellent ascent.

Thanks for reading,
Andy
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andygunn23
 
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Re: Ben Challum's Morning Light Show

Postby HalfManHalfTitanium » Mon May 04, 2020 8:38 am

Fantastic photos!

We did this same walk a couple of weeks before you. Our best views were on the descent when we came down out of the clouds. It is a great walk despite the boggy bits. I will have to do it again sometime though to see the view from the top.

Tim
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Re: Ben Challum's Morning Light Show

Postby Mal Grey » Mon May 04, 2020 9:42 am

Beautiful.
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Mal Grey
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Location: Surrey, probably in a canoe! www.wildernessisastateofmind.co.uk

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