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The plan for today was to follow the standard route clockwise to take in these two fine hills . I was slightly concerned about the forecast , MWIS giving strong gusty winds , wintery showers and severe windchill , as it turned out they were spot on . Parked up at Achallader Farm and was walking for 0730 . The route is easy to follow , fording the Allt Ur then crossing the Water of Tulla via a fine crooked undercut bridge . Passing the old farm at Barravourich the good track continues NW on the northern side of the river with great views of the beautiful ancient woodland .
- Barravourich ruins
- Beinn Achaladair rising behind ancient pinewoods
- Coire an Lochain in the distance
Crossing the footbridge brings you into the woodland , a faint and wet path leads up to the sheep creep under the railway . As mentioned in the WH description the forest regrowth in fenced areas is amazing , on one side of the fence the ground cover is rough grass , on the other it is crowded with pine, birch , aspen and rowan seedlings , lovely to see .
- footbridge to pinewood
- To graze or not to graze....
Leaving the trees behind I followed a clear path up beside the Allt Coire an Lochain ,a pleasant way up, although by now the wind had starting to pick up ,feeling distinctly nippy . On reaching Lochan a'Chreachan I stopped for second breakfast before heading up to the ridge , pausing to put on gloves and extra layers as the MWIS windchill had definitely arrived . Once on the ridge there were fine but fleeting views , before long the summit was reached .
- Allt Coire an Lochain
- Tea by the loch
- Route up to low point on ridge
- Loch Lyon
- Ridge up to Beinn a'Chreachan
- View back down to lochain
Wind and rain sent me scurrying off the summit to lower ground and the gentle grassy ridge to Meall Buidhe and onwards to Beinn Achaladair . Between showers I had views north over Rannoch Moor,lasting just long enough to decide I didn't have a clue which hills I was looking at , a job for another day . From the bealach at 813m the ascent of Beinn Achaladair starts steeply but soon eases to reach the cairn balanced on the edge of a long drop , one I gave a wide berth to in the gusty wind .
- Ridge west from summit
- Rannoch Moor
- Beinn Achaladair
- Summit cairn
Heading south from the summit the path passes over a lower top before reaching the bealach above Coire Daingean, from there it heads north down Coire Achaladair before crossing the railway above the farm .
- Heading south over pt1002
- Auch Glen corbetts , nice .
- Coire an Daingean
- Northern crags of Beinn an Dothaidh
- Allt , rowan hanging on
- Wet Wet Wet
- West Highland Line bridge
- Imposing car park
A fine circuit and a good try out of some new winter gear