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It was a stunning winter day, the rising sun turning Loch Lomond into a silvery jewel, the ground underfoot was hard as girders with the overnight biting frost. I rejoiced that I had chosen this day to set out to climb 4 out of the 6 Luss Grahams. I parked in the Luss Village carpark, no charges being off season and headed over the handy footbridge above the school. No doubts as to where this walk begins as there is a signpost to Beinn Dubh. I started up the long, but easy ridge glancing back to drink in the early morning views to the southern end of Loch Lomond.
Sun coming up over a gate post.
Early on I saw larks, magpies and a buzzard but that was the extent of the birdlife apart from the usual ravens for the remainder of the walk.
What could have been just a long slog was enlivened by the views to the North and East opening up as well as views of the more southerly Luss hills.
Ben Lomond coming into view.
I reached the snow line and there was plenty of evidence of others having enjoyed this walk before me, the tracks in the snow made for easy progress.
Panoramic View of the Luss Hills
More and more hills were appearing as I climbed. The air clarity was amazing and I some difficulty identifying the hills beyond about 30 miles (about the distance of Ben More and Stob Binnien) as there were just too many. One that presented no such problem was The Cobbler with its mates living up to their name of the Arrochar Alps.
The Cobbler
Onwards over the first summit (named Beinn Dubh but not actually the highest point), another cairn and onto the highest point of this first Graham at 657m. Again the views were spectacular.
Doune Hill appearing
View to the North end of Loch Lomond
Doune Hill was in front of me with fantastic views of the Arrochar alps.
Doune Hill
The Cobbler and Beinn Ime
I tried not to think too hard about the descent and reascent in front of me, down to 200m then up another 530m to the summit of Doune Hill ( but who's counting). I studied both the map and the hill and picked out my route up the south east shoulder of Doune Hill. The ascent looked quite steep particularly around the mid section which appeared to be a little craggy, however I figured that it wouldn't be too difficult. First, though, I had to head roughly south west for about 250m before picking up the N.W shoulder running off the final bump of Beinn Dubh named Mid Hill. I had by now decided that it was unlikely that I would be able to include Cruach an t-sidhein in this outing unless I made good progess up Doune Hill which knowing me would be unlikely.
Cruach an t-SIdhein
The descent to the bottom of the glen seemed to take for ever but the wee burn that ran down from Bealach an Duin was a lovely spot to grab a bite to eat to fuel me up the steep ascent above. Initially I made good progress, the shoulder steepened at around 500-550m and I chose to go through the outcrop of boulders that appeared to offer some easy scrambling. The route I picked took me to a bit that was covered in hard packed snow that would require donning crampons for about 3-4 steps. I figured that there was another route that weaved in and out and under and over the rocks and my crampons remained in my sack. Unfortunately I would have probably been quicker putting on the crampons as I had to remove my rucksack and lug it underneath the boulders and heave it up over the others. It took me about 15 minutes to gain as many metres but once through the angle of slope decreased significantly. For the first time the snow did not play ball and it was a case of 2 steps on top then breaking through the crust. Fortuntely it wasn't far to the summit of Doune Hill where I liberally discarded poles and rucksack and camera case in an untidy spread around the summit whilst I took panoramic photos with my mobile and other pics with my DSLR.
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Trig Point
Panoramic view
Ailsa Crag and Arran
Ailsa Crag zoomed
The other Luss Hills
It was 2.15 by now and Cruach an t-Sidhein was definitely out of the question. At this point I saw 2 other walkers arriving from the other direction. I stayed to greet them and then, as they tripped over all my scattered stuff, I hastily gathered it up feeling very inconsiderate. Neither they nor I expected to meet anyone else on the hill. I was able to take a photo of the 2 of them at the Trig and we took a few minutes exchanging chat about our respective routes and trying to identify far distant hills, figuring out that we could see Ben More on Mull 50 plus miles distant. Time was ticking so I made a hasty exit and was pleased to discover that the snow was ideal for making fast progress. I felt that I was racing along but this is all relative. I looked longingly over to Cruach an t-Sidhein but it was out of the question. I was over the small bump of Beinn Lochain and went to get my mobile out to take a quick photo. Horrors it wasn't in my pocket... it wasn't in my rucksack ... and it wasn't in my camera bag. I had either left it at the summit of Doune Hill or it had dropped out of my pocket somewhere in between as my pocket was unzipped. I could not remember what I did with it after I took the panoramic photo. I suspected that I had left it at the Trig point but it was too far to go back to what would be the furthest point from my car at this time of the day (now after 3 pm). I also thought that the other walkers may have picked it up and may either spot my post on the WH "lost and found" forum or hand the phone into the shop at Luss. I decided to leave it which would cause me some inconvinience as I was away from home and had various people to meet up with over the next few days but that would teach me to be so careless. I pressed on. Beinn Eich was a delight particularly with it's icing sugar coating of snow.
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Beinn Eich
I picked up a set of footprints from the small cairn and this made for an easy descent to Edentaggert where a muddy path took me over a stile below the farm and onto the track. I hit the road over the bridge and as I set off down the single track road a car approached from the other direction. I stood to let it pass but it stopped and a hand holding my mobile came out of the window. It was Alan, one of the walkers I had met earlier. They had found my mobile and decided to see if they could meet me off the hill. John, his walking buddy, had remained at the end of the footbridge in case I crossed that as they drove round (no way could I have walked that fast). It was so thoughtful of them and I also got a lift down the Glen to my car. My loss had turned into a gain for me. So Alan and John if you are reading this, once again thank-you so much for your kindness and thoughtfulness at the end of what was a brilliant hill day.
