Beinn a Bheithir

[RUGBYPLAYER]

Headed up to Glencoe with my Dad on the Friday night and we camped at the caravan club campsite at the end of Glencoe, the weather was fantastic and we had dinner sitting outside the tent enjoying the views.

campsite in Glencoe

views of Glencoe from campsite

. Being in the West of Scotland the tranquility did'nt last long because as soon as the sun started to go down we were nearly eaten alive by the midges, we managed to get a picture of the moon rising over clear blue skies over Glencoe before taking refuge in the tent for the night.

stunning view of the moon over Glencoe

. We were up early the next morning and had breakfast and the tent packed up by 6:30am, we had to wait until the site gates opened at 7:00am before heading out and arrived at the visitors centre at Ballachulish a couple of minutes later. We parked at the visitors centre and made our way through the village where we turned right into the first field after the school for our first clear view of Sgorr Dhearg.

Sgorr Dhearg from Ballachulish

. There was no clear path we could find so headed straight up the East side of Sgorr Dhearg, the going was pretty steep and the terrain all heather and ferns. Around 450mtrs the going got a bit easier and we came across a path that led us along the ridge that leads to Sgorr Bhan (947mtrs). The weather was kind and we stopped here for a rest and to take some snaps of the scenery.

Looking back at Ballachulish from Sgorr Dhearg (450mtrs)

Loch leven from Sgorr Dhearg

Bridge over Loch Leven

. The ridge from 450mtrs to Sgorr Bhan is very straight forward with no exposed walking anmd we made good time in reaching the small cairn.

Ridge leading to Sghorr Bhan (947mtrs)

. Since we had lugged a heavy SLR camera all the way up we took a few more snaps on Sgorr Bhan.

Andrew at the cairn of Sgorr Bhan

. From the cairn the ridge curves up towards the summit of Sgorr Dhearg and is just under a kilometre long, the path is firm and rocky with no feeling of exposure. From the top we had uninterrupted views for miles all around.

Looking up Glencoe from summit of Sgorr Dhearg

Summit of Sgorr Dhearg

. The ridge to Sgorr Dhonuill from the summit is to the East and drops over 250mtrs to a bealach where we choose to leave the rucksacks and head the path for the last climb of the day.

ridge to Sgorr Dhonuill from Sgorr Dhearg

.The ridge is straight forward untill you reach the last rocky section where care has to be taken at exposed sections.

Rocky outcrop where there is a little exposed walking

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Looking back at Sgorr Dhearg from Sgorr Dhonuill

. From the summit we retraced our steps back to the rucksacks and made our way down the Gleann a Chaolais where we picked up the footpath that zig-zags through the trees and eventually finds it's way down to the A82 where a 2 mile walk along the roadside to Ballachulish took us back to the visitor centre.

Looking down Gleann a Chaolais to the road bridge