walkhighlands

Dad's dream of 25 years accomplished despite spewy lui me

Munros: Ladhar Bheinn

Date walked: 13/08/2019

Time taken: 15 hours

Distance: 43km


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Dad has been telling us for years that he wanted to walk the Ladhar Bheinn before he died. So this year we set a date where the visibility on the weather forecast was supposed to be good and very good throughout most of the day.

We set out driving at 2am in the morning to start the walk at Kinloch Hourn at 7am. To get to Kinloch Hourn you need to drive down a 22 mile single track road which is very up and down and unfortunately I was sick before we even reached the car park! However I wasn't going to let that get in the way of completing Dad's dream!

There are 2 car parks - one for overnight stays and one for day parking. Dad continued driving after the car parks in the hope that there may be a closer place to park however it shortly came to a footpath and we had to return to the car park.

There is a path that runs all the way from the car park at Kinloch Hourn to Barrasdale however it is a long walk (around 10-11km).

When we began the walk there was a very tame deer just sitting next to the path.

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The beautiful deer sat by the path to Barrasdale


The path is easy to follow however there are some very boggy parts and quite a few climbs and descents before finally reaching a better road where there is a small green sign that says "Welcome to Barrasdale." You take a left at the road and continue along this road passing the Bothy and campsite.

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Dad with Ladhar Bheinn in the background


We stopped at the bothy for some refreshments and then continued straight along the path along the left hand side of the Ladhar Bheinn ridge.

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On the path looking back to Barrasdale


We followed this path to its highest point and then tried to establish the easiest ascent from the back of Ladhar Bheinn to the ridge, this was very difficult due to the mist and the steep terrain. It was extremely tiring due to the steep scramble that we had to endure up to the ridge - we would not recommend scrambling this route we took as it could be hazardous and dangerous if you are not extremely careful.

In hindsight we should have left the path much earlier and gone cross-country towards Stob a 'Chearcaill over the top and found an easier route to Ladhar Bheinn.

However we eventually got to the top of the ridge and found a clear path which ran the length of the ridge. Being extremely misty we were unsure of what direction we should travel as we were not 100% sure of where we were on the ridge.

Inevitably we chose the wrong way and ended up walking away from Ladhar Bheinn. After a period of time we realised our error and retraced our steps to head in the other direction towards Ladhar Bheinn. :shock:

The climb up to Ladhar Bheinn was quite intense involving some rock scrambling however there was a clear path.

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Summit of Ladhar Bheinn


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We found a path down from Ladhar Bheinn and decided to follow this down until we reached a stream. It was heavy going across the ground with uneven footing, long grass and with it being so wet, very slippy, Alan fell on his bum multiple times :lol: .

We crossed over the stream towards the bottom of the hill before climbing up the other side onto an overgrown path, we found out this is a stalkers path. We continued on this path round the side of the hill (Creag Bheithe) and then started zig zagging down the hill through very overgrown bracken. The path descended and led us back across a bridge to the bothy.

It was getting late by this time and so no time for a stop at the bothy. We retraced our steps for the walk out from Barassdale to the car park at Kinloch Hourn where we started. It got dark about 10 minutes before we reached the car, I had bought a headtorch however it wouldn't turn on :shock:

All in all we were so happy that Dad accomplished his dream - conquering Ladhar Bheinn however
N E V E R A G A I N :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Comments: 3



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Karen1989


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Activity: Munro compleatist
Mountain: Ben Nevis

Munros: 46
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Statistics

2019

Trips: 2
Distance: 74 km
Munros: 8

2018

Trips: 1
Munros: 5

2017

Trips: 1
Munros: 2


Joined: Aug 14, 2017
Last visited: Mar 12, 2023
Total posts: 7 | Search posts