walkhighlands

Share your personal walking route experiences in Scotland, and comment on other peoples' reports.
Warning Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Tackling the Tyndrum 4


Postby algorhythm » Sun Jan 04, 2015 9:26 pm

Munros included on this walk: Beinn a' Chlèibh, Beinn Dubhchraig, Ben Lui, Ben Oss

Date walked: 20/09/2014

Time taken: 8.7 hours

Distance: 27.2 km

Ascent: 1937m

19 people think this report is great.
Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).

I had only started hillwalking a month ago. My friend invited me to climb Ben Vane with a few others and I loved it. Perhaps Ben Vane wasn't the easiest of hills to start with.. probably why I enjoyed it so much! I climbed Ben Vorlich the following week and completed the Arrochar's when I accomplished Narnain and Ime together the week after that. Now that the warm up was complete it was time for a challenge!

While studying my Walkhighlands Munro map I discovered that there were four Munros relatively close together that weren't too far a drive from Glasgow. After reading reports and seeking advice from Walkhighlands users on where to park I decided that the car park in Dalrigh would be the best option to start as it was closer to Glasgow and avoided a potentially wet river crossing from the alternative Glen Lochy car park. This involved a long walk to Ben Lui and down to Beinn A'Chleibh before traversing round Ben Lui and up Ben Oss before a final climb up Beinn Dubhchraig and a shorter walk back to the car park.

Time to begin!
Image

It was a bright, dry, day with passing cloud and low wind. I found it hard to believe that Scotland had allowed such good weather to drag into September!

From under the railway bridge Ben Lui, the first Munro of the day could be spotted in the distance
Image

With countless views the walk to the start of Ben Lui itself was a walk worth driving up for.
Image

Looking back
Image

The river looked very shallow
Image

The peak of Ben Lui in the clouds
Image

Not even made it to the hill yet!
Image

The neighbouring Corbett Beinn Chuirn looked like a very nice climb although it would need to wait for another day!
Image

Closing in on Ben Oss and Ben Lui
Image

As I got closer to the base of Ben Lui it began to take on a very formidable character, almost resembling a volcano
Image

The gully between Ben Oss on the right and Ben Lui
Image

Image

At the end of the path there was a small river to cross (although considering how dry it was I imagine it would have usually been a bit more tricky to get over)
Image

Took a minute to imagine what it must have been like to live here back in the day
Image

It was a fairly short climb into the bowl of the hill
Image

Image

Walked a hell of a way and still not bagged a Munro yet!
Image

Now as you may recall I had only been hillwalking for a month and this was to be only my fifth Munro so please take it easy on me as my next move was not exactly textbook hillwalking!

The ground quickly became rocky with streams of water dashing over here and there and before long I had lost the path. With the top in view however I didn't see that as such a big deal and continued on my journey... up the central gully!
Image

From the bottom it didn't look all that bad and mathematically was the shortest distance so seemed the logical way to go but as I got higher I noticed I had strayed a long way from the sensible hillwalkers path!
Image

It was getting to the point where the thought of unlocking my phone to open the camera application and take a picture was not worth the hassle as the fear began to take hold! Going down seemed even worse than going up!
Image

It doesn't seem to bad, but I remember this was not an easy picture to take!
Image

I was now getting quite high up in the gully. Climbing up was a very slow and careful process now. I had to really think where I was treading and gripping. I was very lucky one time. I was traversing across to a "safer" point of the gully when I put my foot in front of a rock and was about to use my momentum to pull myself accross the rock before I decided to take my foot away and give the rock a tug. Lets just say if my foot had been in front of the rock it would have been a race to the bottom of the gully. The fear had now well and truly kicked in!
Image

I think this picture gives a better impression of the slope! I was so nervous I didn't even realise my finger was in the way!
Image

Nearly there
Image

This was by far the worst bit. At the top of the gully was a cave with very brittle and loose rock that had obviously been eaten away by the ice and winds. I thought for a moment I was going to have to call mountain rescue. After some close evaluation of the climb, I took of my rucksack and placed it above my head (at the bottom of the picture). I started preparing myself to kick off of the wall to the right and onto the bigger rock with all the moss growing on it to the left. While doing this however I required to hold onto the light coloured rock above it and use my momentum to pull myself up. This wasn't going to be easy... let alone with a steep rocky hillside behind me. I decided that this wasn't safe enough and managed to find a longer route traversing to the left (I then had to come back and grab my bag from above!)
Image

When I had made it out of the gully it was an overwhelming sense of relief. I had spent the best part of an hour and a half trying to climb out and it had really eaten into my time. The journey had made the view back down all the more worthwhile (although I won't be planning on repeating this mistake any time soon!)
Image

The worst bit was I wasn't even at the top yet!
Image

But when I finally got my first Munro in it was well worth it as the clouds had lifted off the top
Image

Ben Oss and Beinn Dubhchraig behind
Image

After a short break (I was more mentally tired than physically after being trapped in the gully!) I made a move onto Beinn A'Chleibh
Image

On the walk across there were some spectacular views North West
Image

Looking back at the might of Ben Lui
Image

I'm not sure how this will turn out here but I took a panorama picture at the top of Beinn A'Chleibh
Image

To get to Ben Oss I would have to take the short journey back over to the point between Ben Lui and Beinn A'Chleibh and then traverse around the right of the hill
Image

I tried to keep as high as I could the whole time to make sure I didn't have to climb to far back up to reach Ben Oss when I got to my next check point
Image

Looking back to Beinn A'chleibh
Image

I overestimated how high up I needed to be and by the time the curve round to Ben Oss came into view I had a fair journey back down!
Image

Ben Oss from the ridge of Ben Lui
Image

The glen between Ben Lui on the left and Ben Oss on the right
Image

This is where the walk became most physically demanding, the walk up to Ben Oss!
Image

Ben Lui seemed to change appearance from every angle!
Image

With Ben Oss completed and Beinn Dubhchraig in sight I decided to march on before my body was able to communicate it's full pain to my brain!
Image

Not long to go!
Image

See ya later!
Image

The other side of Oss
Image

Last hurdle, here we go!
Image

Although a fantastic hill to look at I was aware of how tired my feet were and was hoping to wrap this up quickly!
Image

Image

Ben Oss and Lui behind
Image

Panorama at the top of Beinn Dubhchraig
Image

The Arrochar Alps to the right of Loch Lomond
Image

The long walk back!
Image

Wee photo before I go
Image

Although I had my mind set on getting back to the car there were a few waterfalls that prompted me to stop and get the camera back out
Image

Image

Image

One of my colleagues told me this is the last of the Caledonia forest and that Scotland was once covered in these beautiful trees before world wars resulted in them being cut down for trenches and such
Image

This was a fantastic climb and I was over the moon to double my Munro count, but man was I happy to see the end!
Image
Attachments

our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Last edited by algorhythm on Sun Sep 10, 2017 9:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
algorhythm
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 62
Munros:30   Corbetts:37
Fionas:2   Donalds:4
Sub 2000:3   
Islands:13
Joined: Aug 20, 2014
Location: Glasgow

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby kev_russ » Mon Jan 05, 2015 9:59 pm

Braw pics :thumbup: bet you've well and truly got the bug now!
User avatar
kev_russ
Mountaineer
 
Posts: 395
Munros:198   Corbetts:77
Fionas:27   Donalds:33
Sub 2000:14   Hewitts:7
Wainwrights:9   
Joined: Mar 17, 2009
Location: Edinburgh

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby prog99 » Mon Jan 05, 2015 11:35 pm

Clearly I am not the only one to have been daft enough to have done a summer ascent of central gully.
User avatar
prog99
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 2023
Fionas:130   
Joined: Aug 14, 2013
Location: Highlands

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby simon-b » Tue Jan 06, 2015 9:51 pm

An impressive round, to say you're so new to hillwalking. You finished it with a good time, considering some of the navigational challenges the route posed. I think you'll agree, you learnt quite a lot that day. You'll never double your Munro count in one day again, but I'm sure you're looking forward to some great mountains in the future!
User avatar
simon-b
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 2347
Munros:282   Corbetts:30
Fionas:7   Donalds:12
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:155
Wainwrights:214   Islands:4
Joined: Jan 2, 2012
Location: Wakefield, West Yorkshire

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby algorhythm » Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:43 am

kev_russ wrote:Braw pics :thumbup: bet you've well and truly got the bug now!


Cheers man :D Aye on a mission to get them all now haha

prog99 wrote:Clearly I am not the only one to have been daft enough to have done a summer ascent of central gully.


Can't say I'd recommend it!

simon-b wrote:An impressive round, to say you're so new to hillwalking. You finished it with a good time, considering some of the navigational challenges the route posed. I think you'll agree, you learnt quite a lot that day. You'll never double your Munro count in one day again, but I'm sure you're looking forward to some great mountains in the future!


Cheers aye I reckon 8 hours could have been achievable if I had known to take the ridge rather than the gully. Not gonna be doubling anytime soon but planning a trip up North to try and get the 9 Fannich's done in a day. That will be a challenge!
User avatar
algorhythm
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 62
Munros:30   Corbetts:37
Fionas:2   Donalds:4
Sub 2000:3   
Islands:13
Joined: Aug 20, 2014
Location: Glasgow

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby Gavsco » Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:42 pm

Well done! We did these four in July, following the same route, so I know your pain! I was all for heading back to the car after Ben Oss as I was exhausted and cramping really bad, but was talked into staying till the end...glad I did! We've no plans to return anytime soon! Excellent pics!
User avatar
Gavsco
Mountaineer
 
Posts: 32
Munros:75   Corbetts:6
Fionas:6   Donalds:29
Sub 2000:5   Hewitts:22
Wainwrights:43   
Joined: Aug 25, 2013
Location: Scottish Borders

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby algorhythm » Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:01 pm

Gavsco wrote:Well done! We did these four in July, following the same route, so I know your pain! I was all for heading back to the car after Ben Oss as I was exhausted and cramping really bad, but was talked into staying till the end...glad I did! We've no plans to return anytime soon! Excellent pics!


Good job carrying on! It always seems easy to finish early but I'd kick myself after if I had to go back up just to finish off the one hill on a route I'd already done before. Aye I think it's safe to say I'll explore a bit more of Scotland before I go rushing back to do that route!
User avatar
algorhythm
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 62
Munros:30   Corbetts:37
Fionas:2   Donalds:4
Sub 2000:3   
Islands:13
Joined: Aug 20, 2014
Location: Glasgow

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby Silverhill » Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:08 pm

Ben Lui is one of my favourite hills, and doing the round of 4 from Dalrigh is the best way! :clap:
This made me laugh
algorhythm wrote:The ground quickly became rocky with streams of water dashing over here and there and before long I had lost the path. With the top in view however I didn't see that as such a big deal and continued on my journey... up the central gully!

It’s very tempting! When I did Ben Lui I also continued walking up into the central gully, as it didn’t look that bad from the bottom. But I soon realised this wasn’t the usual route and then had to make a dog leg back to the ridge. :roll:
User avatar
Silverhill
 
Posts: 1360
Munros:282   Corbetts:27
Fionas:7   Donalds:42
Sub 2000:28   
Joined: Jan 13, 2013

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby Alteknacker » Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:30 am

Great set of pics - Ben Lui looks most seductive, and the pics give a really good idea of the terrain.

Haven't done these yet - this year perhaps...
User avatar
Alteknacker
Scrambler
 
Posts: 3473
Munros:176   Corbetts:33
Fionas:1   
Hewitts:264
Wainwrights:118   
Joined: May 25, 2013
Location: Effete South (of WIgan, anyway)

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby Gery4 » Fri Jan 23, 2015 5:28 am

these views are pretty good.I love it
Gery4
Mountaineer
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Jan 23, 2015

Re: Tackling the Tyndrum 4

Postby zatapathique » Mon Aug 15, 2016 7:07 pm

My comment comes a bit late, but great walk, great report, and great photos!
By chance I read your report the evening before I did the same walk earlier this year, and it helped me in believing that doing all four Munros (my Nr. 7, 8, 9, 10) in one walk is possible.
When I wrote my report back home in France yesterday, I found out to my surprise (and delight) that I was looking at Ben Lui from the West Highland Way on the very same day you did this walk in the first place!
(You can read all the details in my report here)
User avatar
zatapathique
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 111
Munros:96   Corbetts:4
Hewitts:19
Wainwrights:26   
Joined: Sep 3, 2014
Location: France

19 people think this report is great.
Register or Login
free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).




Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to Walk reports - Scotland

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: JBclimbs, Moonstone Hippy, Ollie and me, WalkingWithKids and 76 guests