Beinn Heasgarnich on it's own

[clivew]

This was the second of the Munro's that I had set out to walk last week but had to abandon when the wind blew me off the summit of Creag Mhor. Thankfully today's weather was a lot kinder with normal wind speed and only low cloud to spoil the view.
I needed to get out in the hills this morning after a drop to much alcohol on Friday night and a couple of pints at Currie Rugby Club on Saturday afternoon. I took advantage of the clocks changing had an early night and was up and on the road by 07.00 on Sunday morning, surprisingly enough feeling quite fresh and ready to get walking.
Being early on a Sunday the road north was almost deserted and I reached my start point in Glen Lochay at 09.00 unfortunately I was too early to get my usual coffee and bacon roll at Glen Ogle.
I cheated a little on this walk but for a good reason, it's a long boring trudge up the road from the normal start point at the car park near Kenknock Farm in Glen Lochay to where the track for Beinn Heasgarnich leaves the private road between Glen Lochay and Glen Lyon. I decided to take the car through the two gates and up the hill towards Glen Lyon. The road is very bad in places with some pretty large pot holes, but if you take it easy it's passable without taking out your sump.
I parked the car just north of Lochan Learg nan Lunn at the point where the power lines cross the road, there is plenty of space here for about 4 cars without causing any problems for any other road users. I had a quick coffee and a sandwich whilst I was getting my boots on and was walking by 09.15. Just as I was starting there was a brief break in the clouds which gave me my one and only view of the summit and the route I had to follow.
As you leave the car parking area there's a track heading off in the right direction, as expected the ground was pretty water logged. I followed the track for about a mile keeping to the south bank of the burn until a crossing point was reached from here I picked out a rocky outcrop which from a distance looks a bit like a trig point on the ridge in front and headed towards it. From the ridge I followed the Allt Tarsainn again keeping to the south bank and eventually climbed alongside the waterfall to the north of Creag na'h Achlarich. By sticking to the small hillocks above the burn I avoided the worst of the boggy areas.
Once I reached the top of the waterfall I crossed over the Allt Tarsainn and headed for the low point on the main ridge in front of me. The climbing was easy going and I soon reached the ridge and picked up the path to the summit of Beinn Heasgarnich which I reached after an hour and three quarters at 11.00. The cloud was thick on the summit but some very brief breaks gave a fleeting glimpse of the surrounding mountains.
It was too damp to linger on the top so I made my way back to the top of the waterfall where you get the best view back down the Allt Tarsainn and the lochans and sat for a while enjoying the view and the coffee. There were deer around and in the distance you could hear the noise of rutting stags.
I followed the same route back to the car which I reached at 12.30 a very enjoyable Sunday morning walk.
On the way back to Edinburgh I stopped of to see Jan and Richard at their snack van in the car park at Glen Ogle, this was the last day of their season and the van will be mothballed until next spring, best wishes to them both I really appreciated their coffee, bacon rolls and a chat on many a morning.

A fleeting glimpse of Beinn Heasgarnaich from the car park

Waterfall on the Allt Tarsainn

The Allt Tarsainn

An arms length self portrait near the summit

the view back down the Allt Tarsainn from the waterfall to the north of Creag na'h Achlarich

The impressive Falls of Dochart in Killin on my way back home

[mrssanta]

thanks for this report, we were thinking of doing Beinn Heasgarnich by this route, saves some climbing for junior legs, but it did look mighty boggy.

[clivew]

Yes it certainly was boggy in places but if you follow the slightly raised ground close to the burn its not too bad; after reading some of the other walk reports I was expecting worse to be honest.

[LeithySuburbs]

Falls of Dochart look a lot fuller than I've seen them previously. Perhaps not the worst hill to do on a grey day...

[clivew]

It was ideal for a quick walk, I just needed to get out for a few hours without having a long walk in. The road up from Glen Lochay is pretty bad in places but if you take it easy it not a problem. The amount of water at the falls was tremendous.