I woke up on a day off and the weather was unexpectantly good! This was a nice surprise for being off work, but with storms forecast over the next couple of days I thought I better make the most of it, while I had the chance. Beinn Ruadh had been irritating me for some time, since it is visible from a lot of the Luss Grahams and places around the Firth of Clyde… mocking me for never being at the top. I decided today was the day, and tried to plan a short route, as it would take me a few hours to get there via the dreaded Rest and be Thankful convoy system.



I had a look on Walk Highlands for any routes before I left, they were all from around Loch Eck, with some nice-looking ones via Pucks Glen, but they all seemed too long for what daylight I had left. I planned a short, but sweet, looking route from near Ardentinny and set off. It was early afternoon by the time I had arrived at the start.



Past the gate, that looked unopened for some time, there was a short tarmac section that had long been forgotten about, before it turned into a narrow track that wound through the woods.



This led to a wider forestry track, I turned right onto it, as it climbed through the woodland. It had a couple of junctions coming off it in places, but they were marked on my map and I went left at the first and ignored the second of these. It was easy going and soon a clearing in the woods started to appear.





As I came into the clearing it gave me the first views of Beinn Ruadh, straight ahead, towering above more woodland. My plan was to head North West following the line of the Drynain Burn until I was past the woodland, where I could cross the burn and head up the hillside. In the clearing there was two paths coming from it, a wide one that I had decided to take as it headed in the right direction, but also a narrow steep looking one that headed north into the dense woodlands.





The ground that fell to the burn on my left was very steep at first and the track I was on soon became a faint line of mud in the grass. I passed an empty sheep pen and followed the faint path until the ground was flatter and the conifers following the burn gave way to a tiny patch of natural woodland, I then headed west to cross the burn. The ground down to the burn was a bit wet and rough, but it didn’t look nearly as bad as what was to come on the other side, where you could see the steep, boggy hillside rise up.










There was a good crossing that was marked with a pole and once across the burn the wet ground soon gave way to wetter ground. I found myself heading for the steepest parts of the hill to get a good footing, because it was ankle breaking terrain in the lower ground. I then crossed another burn further up, it became steep going, but as I gained hight great views of the surrounding hills soon came into view, then some from farther afield. I also got some looming glimpses of Loch Long with Coulport and Garelochhead training camp in the background. Near the ridge I made use of some gullies to aid with the steep and rockier ground, and when on the ridge the top soon came into view through the newly found westerly wind.









At the top the views where superb, looking back along the ridge you could see Loch Eck and Ben Bheula. In front of you the Clyde was in full view with the Rosneath peninsula sticking out with Greenock on the one side and Helensburgh on the other. The Luss Grahams where also looking great from up here, with Ben Lomond just peering over them in the distance. The top was made up of a small cairn, a weather-beaten trig point and metal pole that had no purpose, maybe once part of a fence or used to distract the gods of lightning. I had a quick snack enjoying the wonderful viewpoint of Argyll and beyond, then headed back the way I came before it got dark.











The way back was quite slippy in the wet ground, and I had to take my time till the burn, once across I made back for the faint track to the sheep pen. I took a track into the woods this time, that turned out to be the one I had seen earlier at the clearing, it turned out to be a bad move, because I hadn’t packed a sled and it was very steep and super muddy. When down on the forestry track I nearly missed the small path that led off from the wider forestry track, as it was well camouflaged. I was soon back at the car from here, and off to enjoy a stormy weekend indoors.