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Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir


Postby jamesb63 » Sun Mar 06, 2016 8:00 pm

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

Date walked: 06/03/2016

Time taken: 6.35 hours

Distance: 15.8 km

Ascent: 1400m

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The Forecast was looking good and also saying a 90% chance of clear Munros
set off a 5am as I always like an early start.
Arriving in Ballachullish at 6.50 all looked as promised in the forecast
so quickly getting into my grear is was ready and set off with Jake in tow at 7am
the route over past the school was nicely frozen so no problems with boggy ground
The first part I headed straight up to meet the path onto Beinn Bhan ridge
this is certainly a lung opener :lol:
the views soon started to open up and were simply inspiring :D

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Looking over Ballachullish


On reaching the start of the ridge it was simply awesome being out in the hills

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Looking over towards North Ballachullish and the Bridge

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Reaching the top of Beinn Bhan it soons levels out giving the old lungs time to recuperate :lol:
Soon we reached the ascent up to Sgorr Bhan and here it was time to don the crampons
the snow on this part was well consolidated and made walking easier so was able to make good time

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Snowy ascent to Sgorr Bhan


Getting towards the Munro top Sgorr Bhan the views were breathtaking all around

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Looking over Loch Leven to the Mamores, Beautiful !

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Once on the summit of Sgorr Bhan it was here I got a good look at the curved ridge
leading up to Sgorr Dhearg and it look great in a thick white coat
A few walkers had obviously been up the day before so the path breaking work was all done :D

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Ridge curving up to Sgorr Dhearg

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Heading along and up to Sgorr Dhearg I did notice a lot of cornicing
but there was a good set of tracks to follow ,wouldn't like it in a white out though
and here some light snow flurries started and this was to continue but nothing that
would spoil the day
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Reaching the summit of Sgorr Dhearg there was basically only 4 metal spikes left of the trig point
and no cairn except for this

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Jake on the summit of Sgorr Dhearg


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Looking over towards Sgorr Dhonuill


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Over towards Nevis and the Mamores it doesn't get any better


After a break to take some pics I dropped off from the summit heading down to the bealach
the first thing I noticed was that the snow here was a lot softer and powdery
So was up to the knees at some points ,but quickly we reached the bealach and here I took
my first sit down for a nice cup of apple and cinnamon tea :D and a bite to eat for us both
from here looking up I noticed another walker heading onto the summit of Sgorr Dhonuill
I never saw another walker in front of me and I had set out early :o

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Looking up from the bealach to Sgorr Dhonuill


Tea break over it was onwards and upwards to the last target of the day Sgorr Dhonuill
here the snow situation was similar to the decent from Sgorr Dhearg to the bealach
so it was a bit of a trudge :lol: ,on nearing the summit I met to walker I had seen earlier
and he informed me he had come up and along the Dragons Tooth and was now heading down
as he had work to go to :shock: fair play to him doing this before work :clap: :clap:
after a short chat we both went our separate ways and in no time I popped onto the summit
and had nice views over to Mull and Ardnamurchan over that way the sky looked quite heavy

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Out over Lismore and Mull


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jake taking pride of place on the Summit


After the customary Summit pics it was time to descend back down to the bealach
halfway down I noticed another few people coming along the Dragons tooth
Soon I was at the bealach and time to head down toward the forrest

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Looking down from the bealach


The descent down from here was straight forward soon back on level ground
I sat down to remove my crampons and have another cuppa
I heard voice from where I was sitting ,looking up I noticed 2 climbers making their
ascent up the gully on the Dragoons tooth it looked a great winter scramble

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Climbers in the gully


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Soon I was into the trees and no boggy ground to contend with BLISS :lol:
I made a slight detour towards the end to have a look at where the old railway station used to be
where the train on the Callander to Oban line used to stop to let passengers off
to catch the ferry over Loch Leven and get a horse and cart to take them toward Fort William
aren't we lucky we dont have to deal with this now :lol: :lol:

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The old Ballachullish Railway station closed in the 60s


Walk nearly over all that remained was to walk the tarmac pavement back to Ballachullish :(
All in all it was just another GREAT day to be out in the Mountains
That's 82 down and ONLY another 200 to go :lol: :lol: :lol:






















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jamesb63
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby litljortindan » Sun Mar 06, 2016 8:30 pm

A great reward for your early start.
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby Mal Grey » Sun Mar 06, 2016 9:48 pm

What a great report, and what fantastic conditions. Impressive that you managed to get up early and it definitely paid off. I always seem to be running late...


Heading along and up to Sgorr Dhearg I did notice a lot of cornicing
but there was a good set of tracks to follow ,wouldn't like it in a white out though


You're not wrong. One of the scarier bits of navigation I've had to do in a whiteout, trying to keep left of the cornices whilst maintaining the gentle curve rightwards towards the summit, unable to just rely on one bearing due to the curve. And being very glad to find the trig point. It was then a real "leap of faith" to follow a bearing north from there.
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby katyhills » Mon Mar 07, 2016 7:49 pm

Lovely report and beautiful pix. They make a nice walk these hills - even more so with those great snowy coverings just now :D
Great reward for your early winter start too
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby Jaxter » Mon Mar 07, 2016 10:35 pm

I love early starts!! I have a thing for sunrises too :D but getting going early makes you feel good doesn't it :lol:

Epic photos :clap: - this is on my list for soon so good to see what I'm letting myself in for :D
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby jamesb63 » Mon Mar 07, 2016 11:29 pm

Jaxter wrote:I love early starts!! I have a thing for sunrises too :D but getting going early makes you feel good doesn't it :lol:

Epic photos :clap: - this is on my list for soon so good to see what I'm letting myself in for :D


You will love these 2 specially if you get the same weather I had the views are fantastic :D

katyhills wrote:Lovely report and beautiful pix. They make a nice walk these hills - even more so with those great snowy coverings just now :D
Great reward for your early winter start too


Many Thanks the conditions certainly made the walk and pics a pleasure
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby jamesb63 » Wed Mar 09, 2016 8:44 am

litljortindan wrote:A great reward for your early start.


Sometimes the early starts can work for you :D
a number of times ive been in thick clag ,and when coming off the hill
it seems to clear :lol: just one of those things I suppose
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jamesb63
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby Petr Dakota » Fri Mar 11, 2016 9:40 am

Nice report James and great views and photos ! :clap: 8) :clap:
Glad you had clear days for your recent trips :D
We saw the Beinn a'Bheithir yesterday from the other side... :wink:

Beinn a'Bheithir from Glencoe mountains ( 10.3.2016 ) :
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby dogplodder » Sat Mar 12, 2016 12:07 pm

Can't beat the combination of beautiful scenery and a handsome dog! :D
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby jamesb63 » Sat Mar 12, 2016 10:46 pm

dogplodder wrote:Can't beat the combination of beautiful scenery and a handsome dog! :D


I could not agree with you more on both counts :D
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Re: Great day out on Beinn a'Bheithir

Postby seamusagleann » Tue Apr 05, 2016 1:05 pm

yes sorry you had to climb up ben bhan to access the path but i was supposed to clear an existing path at the back of ST John's church , but due to a political decision by everyone's favourite, forestry commission scotland , glen coe came under the "protection " of Lochaber who decided that it was low priority ,
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