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Really sorry but BBCode is not working Not sure why. The photos are great and there is a description with them on flickr. The links below will help, Main thing is this is a great walk and one of my favourites so far.. I like to see what is ahead of me whilst reading others report. It's a shame......
Here is an example of a great picture...
You can see more at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67862513@N03/ or if you prefer your hills to be categorised, use this link to the sets
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67862513@N03/sets/ (Devils point and Carn a'Mhaim in the winter are two of my favourites.
Not too long a blog, enough to say that the cycle in, the walk and the cycle back, does test you physically but next day we both had minimal pain in the thighs.
Tips for the trip: Start early, best to get to Dalwhinnie sometime around 6am in the morning and give yourself plenty of time if you are planning on being in and out the same day.
When cycling in or even walking the path is very obvious and the route described in walkhighlands page is very good. We took the grassy path across (the one that is not recommended but it is low on any incline and by the time you get there, that is a good feeling, as the path looked fairly dry), which keeps south of Loch Pattack; Culra bothy can be seen with the impressive Ben Alder behind.
Coming back take alternative path which looks like a land-rover track and is mostly down hill (must be a nightmare to come in to Curla Bothy as most of the trip is a climb). You cross a very wobbly suspension bridge before turning right at a clear junction and rejoining the path back to Dalwhinnie.
Take a good break at Curla and have a good calorie intake. You’ll need it.
It is a straight forward path to Ben Alder and easy to follow. However the small cairn at NN515744 is very small and easy to miss. This is where you leave the path and cut across the heather, which is a bit boggy in parts.
Keep cutting across the heather, there are signs of a path but these come and go till you reach Allt a'Bhealaich Bheithe. This is a bit tricky to cross especially if it is wet (slippy stones to jump on to as well as being deep) and the path away from the river is fairly easy to see.
The path towards the leeches is hard to find till your nearly there but is very easy to follow when you find it.
The scramble is easy but daunting just because of the drop either side of the ridge. However if misty this whole part can be avoided by following the original path and not cutting across the heather. This takes you up the western side (or behind the Leeches) for a different walk.
The plateau is stony but the summit cairn is clearly seen.
The next summit Beinn Bheoil is easy to see and does not take long to reach. However do find the spot height which will lead you to Bealach Breabag. Walkhighlands route says to follow a burn. We never found it and it is a very steep climb down.
We followed a faint path up the slopes of Sron Coire na h-Iolaire.it and the cairn marking the summit of Beinn Bheoil..
The route back is fairly pathless and the descriptions on the route described in walkhighlands will help you a lot. Just look for the spot heights, the cairns and don’t get too lost with the views which are breath taking. These are just a few of the pictures.
You can see more at or if you prefer your hills to be categorised use this link to the sets.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67862513@N03/sets/ (Devils point and Carn a'Mhaim are two of my favourites).
