walkhighlands

Share your personal walking route experiences in Scotland, and comment on other peoples' reports.
Warning Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

Aye, Clouds.

Aye, Clouds.


Postby Fudgie » Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:47 am

Route description: Beinn a' Bheithir via Schoolhouse Ridge

Munros included on this walk: Sgòrr Dhearg (Beinn a' Bheithir), Sgòrr Dhònuill (Beinn a' Bheithir)

Date walked: 21/10/2012

Time taken: 6.15 hours

Distance: 12 km

Ascent: 1237m

1 person thinks this report is great.
Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).

I had originally planned to head for Glenshee this weekend to break my duck on that side of the country but after a Saturday night text from Mick, we were off to Beinn a'Bheither to tackle it's two summits. They had looked quite imposing from The Mammores last weekend and with a promising forecast, we had high hopes of a similar day out to what we had got on Binnein Mor and Na Gruagaichean.

Time was an issue so instead of following the route posted on here, we chose the route Andrew Doggett took with the "monsters" as it looked a bit shorter and didn't involve a steep climb through the heather. We were parked up and ready to go just before nine and although there was a slight chill in the air, the clouds were doing a vanishing act with blue skies appearing overhead.

The well made path climbs gradually until you get into the forest where it does get a bit steeper but as it passes many small streams, there's plenty to take your mind off the ascent. As we passed into an open section, we took the chance to admire the view behind us as the sun shone on Loch Linnhe.

Image

The well constructed path continues until you clear the forest and after that it starts to become a bit boggy but nothing too bad (certainly not comparable to Bern Lui) and it's still climbing gradually. By now we were at the bottom of the steep climb up the bealach with both cloud covered summits towering over us. It was just shy of 180m to the 757m bealach and in what felt like no time at all, we were up and admiring the view back the way we had came as well as the view towards Glen Etive.

Image

Image

Off we went up to the summit of Sgorr Dhonuill and the cloud covering the summit was showing signs of threatening to move and this had us making good progress up to the top.

Image

We reached the point where the path narrows above a big drop but the cloud had thickened and we were spared the view down. 2hrs 20 minutes after leaving the car we were at the summit with no views in any direction. The sun shone through the cloud at one point raising our hopes but it was short lived and the cloud enveloped us once again.

There was nothing for it but to crack on and as we lost height the cloud vanished which meant we could see the path ahead, into Glen Etive and also past the summit of Sgorr Dhonuill.

Image

Image

Image

We were back at the bealach in no time and after pausing to once again to enjoy the view towards our ascent route, we also noticed that the summit we had left was now bathing in the suns rays and our next target, Sgorr Dhearg, was covered in cloud.

Image

I was struggling a bit on this ascent and it was a relief to make the top, even if we couldn't see very much. The view across to Sgorr Dhonuill was opening up but Ballachulish still hid behind the cloud. After only meeting two people all day, suddenly the summit became a busy place as a couple of groups appeared and we lingered here in the hope of the cloud completely disappearing.

Image

It wasn't opening up the way we hoped so after a shot of Sgorr Dhonuill, we headed off down the ridge still following Andrew's route. It was an enjoyable walk and we were treated to a great view of The Mammores, Loch Leven, The Pap of Glencoe, the Aonach Eagach and Bidean Nam Bian. We also had a look back at where we had came from and my lens could just about fit in Sgorr Bhan, Sgorr Dhearg & Sgorr Dhonuill.

Image

Image

We had doddled a fair bit and stopped to take lots of pictures so now we decided to get moving back to the car as time was marching on. We were following the path when a newly constructed fence appeared to block our route and we stopped to have a think about what to do. We decided to descend down towards the forest whilst staying on the same side of the fence but after dropping down 50 meters or so, the fence turned left and went back the way we had came so there was nothing for it but to climb over.

Dead trees littered the ground and large holes hidden by grass made the going difficult. Mick took a tumble a few times and it was slow going but we spied the road through the tress so made a beeline for it. We followed a small stream down through some pine trees and after had Mick had tumbled once more :lol: the salvation of the track was a very welcome moment. The simplest way back was to join up with the path we used on the ascent and withing twenty minutes, were were back at the car.

It took us 6hrs 15 minutes but that was down to stopping frequently to take pictures and sitting at the top of Sgorr Dhearg for at least half an hour. Despite the cloudy summits it was an enjoyable day out and I must have put some effort in as I was knackered when I got home 8)
Attachments

beinn a'bheithir.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

User avatar
Fudgie
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 997
Munros:100   Corbetts:20
Fionas:3   Donalds:7
Joined: Aug 30, 2010
Location: Port Glasgow

Re: Aye, Clouds.

Postby Ian Johnston » Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:12 pm

Hi Fudgie, the "Bheithir Pair" I reckon is one of the best ridge walks going for position and the views - great report and some super images there!

Kind Regards

Ian
Ian Johnston
 
Posts: 115
Munros:282   Corbetts:72
Fionas:20   Donalds:3
Sub 2000:29   Hewitts:128
Wainwrights:118   Islands:64
Joined: May 9, 2011
Location: Aberdeenshire

Re: Aye, Clouds.

Postby Fudgie » Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:36 pm

Ian Johnston wrote:Hi Fudgie, the "Bheithir Pair" I reckon is one of the best ridge walks going for position and the views - great report and some super images there!

Kind Regards

Ian


Thanks Ian. I plan to go back and to the full horseshoe.
User avatar
Fudgie
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 997
Munros:100   Corbetts:20
Fionas:3   Donalds:7
Joined: Aug 30, 2010
Location: Port Glasgow

Re: Aye, Clouds.

Postby Steve B » Tue Oct 23, 2012 8:55 am

Fudgie.
Looks like you got better weather than myself in Glen Etive. I had a brief glimpse of these from there. Excellent pictures of a fine ridge.
Steve B
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 334
Munros:282   Corbetts:16
Hewitts:62
Wainwrights:40   Islands:9
Joined: Oct 25, 2010
Location: Glasgow

Re: Aye, Clouds.

Postby heatheronthehills » Sat Dec 01, 2012 6:14 pm

Stunning photos!!
User avatar
heatheronthehills
Walker
 
Posts: 166
Munros:208   Corbetts:88
Fionas:68   Donalds:4
Sub 2000:80   Hewitts:5
Wainwrights:2   
Joined: Mar 5, 2012

Re: Aye, Clouds.

Postby skuk007 » Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:20 pm

Stunning pics as usual Fudgie, looks like a really nice ridge walk in places between the two summits. :)

I'm not keen on making my own path through forests, how long did the descent through the forest to the path take you?
User avatar
skuk007
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1419
Munros:44   
Hewitts:8
Wainwrights:16   
Joined: Aug 24, 2009
Location: Bristol

Re: Aye, Clouds.

Postby Malckyb » Sun Dec 02, 2012 2:40 pm

What awseome pics....looks like a great walk!! :)
User avatar
Malckyb
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 125
Munros:87   Corbetts:6
Fionas:6   Donalds:8
Sub 2000:11   Hewitts:12
Wainwrights:19   
Joined: Jan 16, 2011
Location: Livingston

Re: Aye, Clouds.

Postby Fudgie » Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:54 am

skuk007 wrote:Stunning pics as usual Fudgie, looks like a really nice ridge walk in places between the two summits. :)

I'm not keen on making my own path through forests, how long did the descent through the forest to the path take you?


It was about 30-40 minutes from where we first met the fence to getting back on to the solid road. Not a journey I would wish to repeat.
User avatar
Fudgie
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 997
Munros:100   Corbetts:20
Fionas:3   Donalds:7
Joined: Aug 30, 2010
Location: Port Glasgow

1 person thinks this report is great.
Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).




Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to Walk reports - Scotland

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: amcneill, pickles, Travellingman and 68 guests