Beinn Dubhchraig & Ben Oss

[MiniRambo]

Climbed these two hills with my friend Malcolm. We made our way to Dalrigh by 9.15am, boots on and away by 9.25am, only a couple of other cars in the car park. Weather was dry but overcast and we were hoping that the cloud base would lift as we gained height.

At the car park

This was the first outing for my Satmap Active 10. Hadn't had time to set up a route so took the opportunity to see what it could do and keep us moving in the right direction. Had map and compass icon.

From the car park, we set off in a south easterly direction on what appeared to be the old road from Crianlarch to Tyndrum. Soon crossed the River Fillan and then followed the land rover track alongside the railway. After about 1km we crossed the railway and soon after left the track to follow the footpath across a boggy patch of open ground to reach the rickety footbridge over the Allt Gleann Auchtreoch.

On the outward track

The bridge!!

The foot path follows the AGA for a short while south through pleasant caledonian pine woods before turning in a more south westerly direction on a gentle gradient, alternating between soft and relative hard ground. With it being August, the bracken was well grown and in places it felt like a machete would have been useful.

In the wood

We kept moving as much as possible to stop the midges from taking hold although the Avon Skin So Soft was working a treat.

Passed through two deer fences (literally as they had holes in them) and began to reach open ground.

The deer fence

At about this point the path seemed to split and we had to make a small detour to gain the path running alonside the Allt Coire Dubhchraig. It was at this point that I re-checked the Satmap, or at least I found that the battery had run out and couldn't get another thing out of it. (Note to self - remember to recharge the battery before setting off next time!!)

Waterfall

Open ground

As we climbed toward the small lochans at the col on the BD ridge we entered the cloud which hadn't risen as we had hoped. We got intermittent views of the approach and at the summit but none of any great distance. Reached the top of Beinn Dubhchraig at 12.15 approx.

Summit photo Malcolm

Summit photo MR

Had a bite to eat and were joined at the summit cairn by two scottish lads who had come up the same route apart from a slight detour near the start when they hadn't managed to find the footbridge and had carried up the wrong side of the Allt Glean Auchtreoch a little further than they had hoped.

Loch Oss

View back to Beinn Dubhchraig

We followed them from the summit at about 1.00pm and were all overtaken by a couple with collie dogs who seemed to be in a hurry. Our intention was to follow the ridge down to the Bealach Buidhe and then climb the broad craggy ridge of Ben Oss, over the 941m top to its summit. Unfortunately, we were enjoying a natter and keeping the two lads in sight we followed them along the bypass track to the south of the ridge. We cought them up and collectively agreed that we had gone too far in the wrong direction. To correct matters we decided to climb straight up the east side of Ben Oss, which at first seemed quite daunting but as we got higher a faint track began to appear - maybe we hadn't been the only ones to do this detour!!

When we reached the ridge, in the cloud, we weren't entirely sure of or position. To our right was a short climb to a cairn but we didn't know if this was the true summit or the 941m top. There was no sign of the lads so I dropped down to my left to see if there was an imminent rise again. It was obvious that the drop was too far so turned around and headed for the cairn. Took some photos and had a quick refuel.

Ben Oss Summit

Although we thought this was the summit of Ben Oss we weren't too sure until we set off north and then turning north westerly we dropped down and then reclimbed to the 941m top. After this we continued along and down the ridge. As we descended we could see the bypass path we had wrongly taken and then stumbled upon an arrow of stones which showed the direction we should have taken.

The Arrow!!!

Back at the Bealach Buidhe, we set off to climb back up the ridge to the small lochans. Rather than go back by the Allt Coire Dubhchraig track, we had wanted to decend via the north ridge and then drop down to Cononish, so we tried to take an alternative route into Coire Buidhe which would follow the contour around onto the ridge. However, with the ground steepening and no sign of a clear route through the craggs we decided that it was best to back track and stand a bit more pain in climbing to the top again.

We now left the obvious track and used map and compass to navigate our way down the north ridge in misty conditions. This was the first time we had properly done this on open ground and I was chuffed when we came out of the cloud at the point I envisaged ready for our descent down the steep slopes to Cononish and the bridge that crosses the river.

View to Cononish from the north ridge

Skin So Soft anyone!!!

Ben Lui in cloud

The bridge at Cononish

The road home

From there it was an easy easy walk back along the farm track to Dalrigh. Another enjoyable outing.

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[Jockstar]

What price a map and compass when the GPS batteries ran out Some good photos and loved the arrow showing the direction! Sun cream in scotland in summer ?