Work commitments meant I wasn't able to get away this week til Saturday morning, so the 2 Corbetts up at Loch Voil were on the radar. Allison hadn't been very well through the week and it was touch and go whether she'd be up for the trip. She reckoned on Friday night that she'd be able to manage although hadn't been able to eat right and had nausea for a few days. I called round for her at 7.30 as agreed. No sign. No response to a txt, or 2 phonecalls to her mobile. Or ringing the doorbell. Or phoning the house phone. Hmmm. I'm in the car, it's 8.00 and I'm texting her to say as she's obviously dead I will be going off to do something else on my own, when she phones to say she'd slept in. This isn't like her and I should probably have taken that as a sign that she wasn't fit for the hills; that and the fact that it took her 30 minutes to eat a bowl of porridge as we drove along. After following some excruciatingly slow vehicles through Callender we eventually got to inverlochlarig around 10.30 and got kitted up to go. I decided to do these 2 Corbetts as a horseshoe, with the Graham of Stob Breac in the middle, camping out somewhere overnight, so at around 30km it was not a major expedition. We set off along the road towards a steep looking Stob a'Choin with clouds over the summit.
Stob a'Choin under mist
P1080419 by Al, on FlickrDirection signs!
P1080420 by Al, on FlickrStob Breac & Beinn Stacath beyond
P1080421 by Al, on FlickrThe road reades a footbridge over the River Larig and we walked across grassy famland past a herd of lying down cows who appeared disinterested in our progress. A diagonal line up towards the steep looking section of the mountain, crossing a couple of burns on the way - the third one has some crags to be addressed as we climb into Bealach Coire an Laoigh. Allison is flagging a bit already, but I'm hoping that some hill-time will restore her. We climb a steep grassy line through crags and disappear into clag - sheep loom, baa and leave. The first small cairn is reached then the summit. We stop for lunch - Allison discovers that ehr sandwich bread is stale, which does little for her appetite. We follow the fence post line along Meall Reamhar and over some bumpy undulating ground towards the bealach with Stob Breac. Some peat hags and boggy ground require to be crossed. There are vague views down to Loch Katrine.
Cows in the field
P1080423 by Al, on FlickrCraggy hill this one
P1080425 by Al, on Flickr
P1080429 by Al, on Flickrinto the clag
P1080433 by Al, on Flickr
P1080434 by Al, on FlickrSummit Stob a'Choin
P1080438 by Al, on FlickrWeathered fence post
P1080439 by Al, on FlickrView over to Loch Katrine
P1080442 by Al, on Flickr
P1080444 by Al, on Flickr
P1080446 by Al, on FlickrAn Stuchd, the right hand end of Stob Breac is ahead.
P1080447 by Al, on FlickrView to Beinn a'Choin
P1080448 by Al, on FlickrBit boggy
P1080449 by Al, on FlickrWe change directionand head east towards An Stuchd, still following the fence line. As we are about to descend towards Cnoc na Nathrach Allison's spidey senses suggest that going a bit to the left would be a good idea, as the fence line goes over a very craggy section - not something I'd want to encounter in clag. We summit the hill of the Adder and set off up to An Stuchd - Allison is now really lagging behind and clearly suffering. I decide we'll pitch the tent at the top of An Stuchd and walk along the up-and-downy ridge of Stob Breac with light sacks, then have a pitched tent to return to. There are good views to Beinn a'Choin across Loch Katrine to the southwest from the tent. Views to the north are filled with Beinn Tulaichean and Stobinnien. We reach the tiny cairn on the Graham and head back towards blue sanctuary.
Stob Breac
P1080450 by Al, on FlickrThese are the crags the fenceline passes over - best avoided!
P1080458 by Al, on FlickrCrashed out
P1080464 by Al, on FlickrPitch
P1080465 by Al, on FlickrAlong the ridge to Stob Breac
P1080467 by Al, on FlickrBen Tulaichean
P1080470 by Al, on FlickrEast flank of Stob a'Choin
P1080471 by Al, on FlickrSummit Stob Breac
P1080477 by Al, on Flickr
P1080478 by Al, on Flickr
P1080479 by Al, on FlickrEven though I've cooked a delightful variation on Noodles, Allison is less than hungry - she manages a bit to eat and a cup of tea then crashes out. The night is fairly quiet - sometimes the wind gets up, and there's a bit of rain in the wee small hours. Morning brings a misty start. Despite having had some sleep Sick Kid is not any better and manages only a few mouthfuls of porridge. Her guts are in a bad way - fortunately I have some Loperamide in the pack which probably helps. We're midway through the walk in terms of mileage. We could go back along Stob Breac and down to the car however that way seems steep going off the north side of Breac. I know that the route for today is fairly easy in terms of terrain and ascent and decide she can make it - need to keep her hydration up though. We've been travelling a bit light on water supplies (a new strategy of mine) and there are no streams up here that provide potable looking water...hmmm. Well, we're still going on.
Nightime in the hills - where better?
P1080482 by Al, on Flickr
P1080483 by Al, on FlickrThere's an immediate drop of 300m from our campspot down into the glen - steep with crags dispersed about the hillside. I had hoped to refill water bottles at the bottom, but there's just bog - a bit higher up I get very peaty brown water, fortunately without "bits". Hmmm. We take a gentle line up towards Meall Gaotach, which I climb while Allison heads north along the fence line. We edge round Coire Odhar. She's walkign a bit like a zombie now and I am concerned. She sees Beinn Stacath off to the left and doubts her abilities to get there. It's a gentle gradient - though it does look further away than it actually turns out to be, and I tell her to keep going as realistically she hasn't got much in the way of options (i'm all heart, me!). We make it to the trig point and thence on towards Ceann na Baintighearna. I had originally planned to come off the north side of this ridge, down a firebreak in the trees towards Tuarach Cottages, but it's a bit steep and I don't want her fighting through dense forest if there's no fire break - that would kill her off
Instead I decide we'll continue on to Bealach Driseach where there's a track marked down through the trees. First we stop for some lunch - well I eat, she doesn't, but she does have a cup of tea which seems to revive her somewhat. Morning mist
P1080486 by Al, on FlickrOur descent
P1080487 by Al, on FlickrOur ascent
P1080488 by Al, on FlickrLoch Katrine
P1080493 by Al, on Flickronwards we go
P1080498 by Al, on FlickrBeinn Stacath
P1080499 by Al, on FlickrZombie walking to the trig
P1080502 by Al, on FlickrHurting now
P1080504 by Al, on FlickrInverlochlarig
P1080505 by Al, on FlickrOur descent route
P1080508 by Al, on FlickrLoch Voil
P1080513 by Al, on FlickrThe track through the trees is quite pretty, if underused, and we reach the road. On past the Hostel and along the side of Loch Doine, good quality track. It seems to disappear towards Invernenty and we find ourselves heading back uphill up Invernenty Glen - missed the right hand cut off through the tree. We retrace our steps and find it - all well til we get to a deer fence with a rickety gate and no sign of where the path goes - we see the river we're meant to cross ahead, but in a gorge. After going upstream for a bit through jaggy tree branches we go back to the gate, climb the fence next to it and head north along the riverbank, this does bring us out at a crossing. From there it's over marshy fields and back to the car park - taking the ford option rather than the second bridge
- well we needed clean boots! By this time Allison was looking and feeling a bit more human - however, a salutary lesson in how not feeling well can impact upon the weekend outing - just glad it didn't happen on a more demanding/more remote routeTrack through the trees
P1080515 by Al, on FlickrLampshades
P1080516 by Al, on Flickr
P1080518 by Al, on Flickr"Hidden" continuation of the track
P1080522 by Al, on Flickr
P1080523 by Al, on FlickrFinally out of the trees
P1080524 by Al, on FlickrThe inevitable river crossing
P1080525 by Al, on FlickrStob a'Choin
P1080529 by Al, on FlickrThe Sickly One a bit improved
P1080530 by Al, on Flickr
P1080531 by Al, on Flickr
