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=My day started early for this one, with a 20 minute walk from the house to Gartcosh Railway Station.
I arrived at the station just before 0800 and took a couple of pictures of the sun rising.
- 01. Gartcosh Station sunrise.
A short train journey to Glasgow Queen Street, a coffee from Starbucks and I was sitting at Stance 55 in Buchanan Street Bus Station at 0850, waiting on the 0900 Oban service. This bus was going to "hopefully" drop me off, at the head of Loch Fyne.
A relaxing bus journey had me at Cairndow Road End by 1045, leaving me with a half mile walk to the head of Loch Fyne and the start of my walk, proper.
- 02. Views down Loch Fyne.
I reached the start of the glen at 1100 and opted to take to path that leads past the sawmill and through the quarry, which wasn't difficult to follow. I would, however, advise taking the private road past the brewery to anyone else. I used this road on the way back and it was definitely easier underfoot after several hours in the mud, and probably a bit quicker as well. The sawmill / quarry path was no more scenic in my opinion, either.
The walk to up the glen to the bothy at Inverchorachan was long, but I really enjoyed the peace and quiet. Maybe the fact that the weather was mild; not a single cloud in the sky and no wind at all, made it feel like July instead of October.
There were plenty of deer on the lower slopes of the surrounding hills, but I didn't see a single person for the first 90 minutes. Solitude after 4 crappy days at work.
- 03. Walking through the trees.
I arrived at the bothy at about 1230 where I had a short 15 minute break for a quick bit to eat and to rest my feet before the climb. Chatted to a few ramblers (foot types, not verbal) who were heading further up the glen and who wished me luck on my "bog trot" ahead. I did not realise how accurate they had been.
The route up the gully was quite hard work. You find yourself forever twisting and turning and you have to keep you eyes where you're stepping constantly. There a few sections were you need your hands but I enjoyed the technical bits. It certainly wasn't boring, but the mud gets thicker and thicker the higher you climb. Waterfall after waterfall after waterfall and you eventually find yourself on a broad plateau where you are rewarded with the first views of the summit.
- 04. The gully route, the summit far beyond.
There is no clearly defined route across this plateau but from my guide book and some other reports listed on this site, I knew I has heading towards the far right where the sklyline was at it's lowest.
THIS WAS A MUDFEST!
(Billy Connelly's "If it wisnae fur yer wellies" should be the ipod song of choice, for this section)
Across the mud and the second main climb begins. A pretty obvious route climbs to the ridge that leads to the summit and is marked by a small cairn. Along the ridge, still ankle deep in mud and I was on the summit by 1445.
- 05. The summit ridge route.
Nic, from "Englandshire", was the only other bagger on the summit when I arrived, so we chatted while we had our lunch.
I headed back down about 1515, and ended up walking with Nic who was in no more of a rush to record a "fast time" than I was. A couple of slips in the mud each on the first descent, another trip across the boggy plateau, down the gully and we were back at the bothy about 1715. Perfect timing, as the daylight was now giving it's last.
The walk back out the glen was again enjoyable, and we were lucky enough to see plenty of deer in the fields along the private road as well a two very noisy stags arguing over something or other. It was very "Monarch of the Glen".
Back at the main road at 1815, Nic set off to his Youth Hostel, and I made my was back to the bustop.
The views down the Loch, now in near complete darkness, were amazing and rounded off a very enjoyable, if very muddy, days walking.
- 06. Sundown views down the loch.
Caught the bus back to Glasgow just before 8, back home by 10.
A very long day from start to finish, but I really enjoyed it.