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Hill(s): FraochaidhOS Map(s): 41Date: Sunday 13th December 2009Weather: Light winds, high cloud and sunny spellsWalkers: Myself, H,J & WDDistance: 10.8kmAscent: 853mTime: 6hrs but with a lot of summit oggling! Dog Friendly?: Yes, apart from a 1 metre fence near the top of the trees Parking : Room for 6 cars on the forestry track at NN 005 552We’d originally had Sgurr Nan Eugallt as our target hill for the day but concerns about the state of the Loch Garry/Quoich road with no Sunday gritting service caused us to change our minds en-route. Luckily I had thought that this might be the case and had brought the OS 41 maps with us, as well as uploading GPS waypoints for the Fraochaidh route.
I’d always had a hankering to do a route other than the long haul from Ballachulish and inspiration from RW and LB allowed me to come up with what I thought was the route from the west through the dense conifer forest. Very straight forward to get to the start point as you just head down the Oban road from the Ballchuilish Bridge towards Duror and then look out for a brown sign towards the Achadh nan Dharach caravan site and then keep left until you reach the forestry car park.
Duror Forestry Car ParkYou can take either branch of the track seen in the previous picture as both will take you to NN 006 549. We thought the right hand track was easier.
From this point on it’s just a pleasant walk for about 1.7km before you turn right down towards a bridge which is not marked on older versions of the OS maps but is on Memory Map v.5.
Bridge Over River Duror at NN 017 538The Forestry had made every effort to discourage walkers because of felling operations but as it was Sunday we just carried on, even though we had to cross over two saplings which had been deliberately felled to block the path.
The path quickly turns back on itself to go steeply uphill and you then need to keep your eyes out for a small burn which you cross before seeing a waypoint marker just below where the path levels out in a more open area at NN 01442 53717. Initially we couldn’t see how you would access the narrow break through the forest and then H noticed the all important 10cm cairn by the track.
Cuillin by marker cairn for forest entryFrom now on it was fairly easy, as after entering the forest we found that branches had been cut back by the Forestry to create a narrow corridor between the trees and amazingly every tree and stone had red paint on it to guide you through the maze! 8O
H immediately after entering forestIt’s quite steep going as you gain 100m in about 250m of level walking.
Gaining more open area in forestWyvis in open area with Beinn a’ Bheithir gully behindNearing fence and exit from forest The last hurdle is a low fence which WD managed to wriggle under and it probably wouldn’t be impossible for larger dogs to scale as there are two very large boulders each side of the fence.
H & Cuillin at forest exitWe were dead chuffed that we’d found this route as it would easily knock off 1-2 hours for the trip compared to the Ballachuilish route, which was important for a short winter’s day.
How did we get through that lot? !The exit is at NN 01407 53437 and it would be wise to take a GPS mark here, although a fence post with a red paint mark is nearby and there is white tape on all the small trees to guide you here along the fence line.
Sgorr a’ Choise (Graham) zoom shotThe next shot shows why most people do Fraochaidh from Ballachulish and I’ve never seen hills with so many conifers on them.
Gross afforestationThe ascent has no great difficulties other than being a wee bit steep in places. Nice views started to open up as we got higher.
WD posing with Beinn a’ Bheithir behindLooking back from ridge to KingairlochThis side of the hill is obviously rarely frequented and it was only once we got higher up that we could see some evidence of flattened grass but certainly no path.
Pano view towards Fraochaidh’s summitWith the low winter sun, we’d pretty much been in the shade up to this point but then the sun and the views started coming and coming!.
Early view of Lismore & MullI don’t know how dogs do this but WD headed towards the one and only snow patch on the hill for some light self entertainment.
WD having a roll in the snow just below the summitAs the SMC guidebook says, the summit cairn isn’t pretty with all the old fence posts and ironmongery but the 360o views were fantastic.
J and H at summitJ and Cuillin at summitPhotographers and Beinn FhionnlaidhBidean nam Bian, Stob Coire Sgreamach & Sgurr na h-UdlaidhAonachs & Grey Corries with Mamores and Pap of Glencoe in frontIsland pano with Paps of Jura faintly visible in back leftArdnamurchan peninsula panoClick Here For Full Size Ardnamurchan PanoWe could even make out all the individual peaks on Rum, as well as Ben Cruachan and what looked like Kintail.
We must have been up at the summit for the best part of an hour and we were all delighted with how our day had worked out.
Sunny descentWith great visibility, navigating our way back down to the break in the trees wasn’t going to be difficult but for reference you should first of all aim for the two lochans marked on the map at NN 013 529, although we could only find the south easterly one as the other seemed to have drained dry.
Nearing SE lochan on descentLochan and Beinn a’ BheithirFinal view back to summitLoch Linnhe over Ardsheal HillNo problem finding the break in the forest but in the late afternoon light it was more difficult to find the red paint marks for the descent route and you needed your wits about you. Once back down at the wee marker cairn, I cleared some heather away from it so that the forest entrance route would be more visible to other walkers.
Now it was just a pleasant and short walk back to the car.
J and H on the track back to Achadh nan DarachLate sun on Beinn a’ BheithirI have to say that this was a wonderful hill which lived up to all my expectations but here’s what the hill critics said:
H – “I discovered when doing my stats etc that yesterday was my 150th Corbett - couldn't have wished for a better one!!”
J – “Top drawer stuff”
WD – “No Grouse or Ptarmigan to chase on this hill but Cuillin’s roast turkey sandwich was rather nice!”This is a classic Corbett which I will definitely return to and I commend this route to you for some stunning views.