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We hadn't planned any hillwalking outings this weekend, but having seen good weather forecast we had a last-minute change of hearts and instead of heading to Inverness Eastgate Shopping Centre we visited Leana Mhor Westside of Glen Roy
It was the last unclimbed Graham in this glen for us and we deliberately kept it for a shorter winter day. It can be climbed by itself but that makes for a very short outing so an addition of the neighbouring Corbett, Beinn Iaruinn, seemed logical. My inner Mr Spock has spoken
The title of this TR refers to my first visit to Beinn Iaruinn, almost a decade ago. It was a hot summer day, merciless sun, and Kevin thought it would be a good idea to scramble up the rocks on the southern side of Coire nan Eun. I had absolutely no experience in scrambling then. Later I called it christening by fire
Thinking about it now, this story deserves a separate report, as one of my "archive stories". Now if the first visit was baptizing by fire, the second had to be confirmation by ice (as in catholic church
).
Coire nan Eun seen from Carn Dearg across the glen. The "christening by fire" scrambling route to the left:
It's been a long time since that hot summer day in 2008 and I faced more difficult slopes, but the sentiment to Beinn Iaruinn remained and I wanted to return and climb this hill again, not necessarily by the same route though
The combination with Leana Mhor is an excellent way to avoid the steepest ascent/descent and still enjoy the charms of Glen Roy.
We followed the WH route most of the time, starting from the bridge over the Allt a'Bhreac Achaidh and climbing steeply up Leana Mhor first, then traversing to the Corbett. On the descent we picked a faint, boggy path from the 515m bealach back to the bridge. Most of the route is pathless and the lower slopes would be overgrown with high bracken in summer months, but going was surprisingly easy most of the time
Of course, writing about Glen Roy I can't forget to mention the parallel roads, a unique feature created with the help of a glacier. They run along both sides of the glen at heights of 260m, 325m and 350m. They represent different levels of ice-damned lake (or should I say loch as we are in Scotland?) filling the bottom of Glen Roy some 12 000 years ago. To me they always looked like man-made tracks. So odd that nature created something so perfectly linear and parallel
The parallel roads well visible on the slope of Eastern Leana Mhor, from our parking spot:
It was a bright Sunday morning and forecast was dry with a chance of cloud later on. Looking south to the entrance of the glen, I saw the outline of the Easains:
The WH route suggests following the fence from the starting point, but we decided to walk about 400m back along the road to the opposite end of the fenced off pasture, where the ground looked a bit less boggy and overgrown. It makes little difference as this side of Leana Mhor is just as steep everywhere
We carried crampons just in case but it turned out to be an unnecessary precaution; we didn't encounter any hard ice and what snow remained was soft. As we gained height, the most intriguing view was north into upper Glen Roy:
We crossed all three parallel roads (they are less prominent here than on the opposite side of the glen) and kept pushing up wet vegetation. A few sheep grazed about, expressing their discontent with a loud 'baaa' from time to time. I spotted a car driving up the glen, a tiny dot moving on the road far below. Apart from that - total silence and desolation.
After roughly 350m of stiff climbing, the angle eased off and we entered the snow zone (or what remained of it):
Soon we reached the top of the shoulder (596m), from here the remaining 100m to the summit was easy walking.
We stopped on the 596m spot for photos. The high cloud has moved in so the light wasn't as great as in the morning but the views were amazing and Kevin couldn't resist a few panoramic shots.
Beinn Iaruinn and the eastern slopes of Leana Mhor:
Into Glen Roy:
South to the hills of Fort William, from the Easains (left) to partially cloudy Ben Nevis (right). The hill in the foreground is an interesting wee Sub'2000 Marylin, Beinn a'Mhonicag, an easy climb for winter as well:
From higher up, panorama to the east, across the glen:
The final walk to the summit was a formality. The cairn is small, only big enough for Lucy to pose for her 49th Graham!
My favourite view was to the west, to Loch Lochy Munros:
Grey Corries:
The Aonachs and Nevis:
The wind was strengthening, so after a quick snack on sugary things, we wrapped up in windproofs and headed for Beinn Iaruinn. First, the descent to the 515m bealach, steep-ish but easy. The bealach was boggy, but as soon as we tackled the slopes opposite, we found out that walking was really pleasant on short grass and heather. View back to Leana Mhor was interesting:
The reascent is just short of 300m, the first 150m rather steep but soon we emerged on the high summit plateau and headed for the rim of the corrie.
Enjoying every moment:
Zoom to the Easains:
Shame about the grey cloud, the views might be even better on a sunny day with blue skies - but let's not complain, it could be much worse!
Kevin noticed a strange optical illusion, looking back towards Leana Mhor. The top behind it called Coire Ceirsle Hill (right of photo) seems much higher, but it is, in reality, 30m lower then the true summit of Leana Mhor (left):
The illusion was so convincing that Kevin stopped, dug up his 1-50k map and studied it for some time, just to make sure we actually climbed the right end of the Graham!
In the meantime, I scampered to the edge of Coire nan Eun and spotted the summit cairn:
Coire nan Eun from the ridge:
Loch Lochy hills still looked amazing:
Summit in sight! I was glad this hill has a substantial cairn, at least we had a chance to hide from the wind
Ben Tee zoomed:
More scampering over melting snow and we reached the top of Beinn Iaruinn. A repeat Corbett for us, but a new one for wee Lucy - her no. 59!
Carn Dearg (one of three) across Glen Roy:
Happy Panther!
View north, where weather wasn't as nice:
Kevin by the cairn:
We found a sheltered spot and sat down to our picnic, hot tea and sandwiches
It was nice to be able to spend some more time on the summit for a change (our last few walks ended with touching the cairn and quickly running down
), sipping a hot drink and admiring the views. I always wanted to see Glen Roy in white and well, I did - sort of. The sun came out for 15 minutes maybe and the world was bright again... We were glad we decided to re-visit this Corbett despite cold wind. Confirmation by ice it was
My favourite view by far was to the west - just amazing:
Eventually, we packed up and retraced our steps down the southern side of Beinn Iaruinn to the 515m bealach, where we spied a wet path heading down:
The path was filled with either snow or mud, but it followed the easiest line of descent:
Tramping across some boggy ground, patches of higher heather and half-decomposed bracken, we descended back to the glen, crossing a stream by a wee waterfall:
One final look ad Beinn Iaruinn and the parallel roads:
A nice short-ish expedition, can be done any time of the year, but probably best before the bracken grows to its full height. Glen Roy is a great place to visit. The hills are all steep but the views are much worth the effort.
.............
This was probably the last hill outing before Christmas for us (unless we manage something the coming Saturday, but not likely). Soon it will be time for summing up the year and counting statistics. I have to say, a very good hillwalking year for us. Over 50.000m of ascent, 1100km distance and (so far) 82 summits. We hope to add something during the festive time, but it's all up to weather. Last year we spent Christmas drinking hot cocoa at home... May it not happen again
