walkhighlands

Creachan Mor, encore encore!

Date walked: 12/05/2015

Time taken: 5 hours

Distance: 10.65km

Ascent: 817m

This is my first hillwalk report, hopefully it will be of use to someone!

Although it is a mere 657m and doesn't feature on any of the more coveted lists, Creachan Mor is a very prominent peak when viewed from our hometown of Helensburgh, and had been on our personal tick list for a while. There isn't an abundance of information out there on it, so we gamely tackled it last year in May after a bit of planning.

The original plan saw Tina and I approaching from the Carrick Castle side, close to Lochgoilhead and navigate through the woods to the south of the castle to gain the hillside. It was on this trip that I suffered my first hill-related injury, tearing my left calf muscle while attempting to cross a fallen spruce that was blocking the path. Defeat!

After I had recuperated, we decided that we would have to have another go, and thus we returned in September having decided that it might be safer to approach from the Ardentinny side of the ridge. We got as far as Am Binnein, to the SE of the summit, and around half way up, before we were driven back down by the most ferocious and relentless hordes of midges we had encountered on our adventures. Defeat! Again!

By now you can guess that Creachan Mor represented something of a nemesis for us, and our thoughts invariably turned toward it as it taunted us every time we drove through the town. Last Saturday we decided to give it another go, and spent a pleasant evening preparing on Friday night. I'm pleased to say that we vanquished it on this third attempt, and it was an amazing feeling! It's no secret that it's not always the highest or most distinguished mountains that are the best, and this one proved to be a very personal and emotional "tick" for us.

I offer this as the route we took, and having sampled the approach from three different directions now, it is the one I suggest! It is a there-and-back again, but we plan further visits (ha!) to spend more time exploring the ridge to the north west. Nothing here to severely challenge an experienced walker, quite boggy in places once you get higher up but at least the midges weren't out this time....


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From the castle car park head south along the road past the public toilets until you reach a gate on the right leading to a forestry track which heads west across the field toward the forest.

We followed this track until it veers left, skirting the edge of the forest. The track is not visible on OS maps at this time - it was under construction when we visited and ended entirely as we climbed. We veered off to the south west, for a short but steep climb to the little hump of Cruach an Draghair.

The track skirting the edge of the forest.
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From there we could see the ridge leading to our destination, which had previously been out of sight. We struck out south west, on boggy but manageable terrain before following the watercourses for an easier ascent through the bealach and up on to the ridge.

View of the ridge from the other side of Cruach an Draghair. I have no idea what she's pointing at.
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From here it's a simple case of head to the highest spot for a well deserved viewpoint. There is an OS trig point set amongst a grassy sheltered cairn at the top.

The last wee pull to the top of Creachan Mor
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We decided to extend our walk south to Cruach a' Chaise, and were rewarded with uninterrupted views down onto the lochs and a classic west coast view down the Firth of Clyde to Arran and Ailsa Craig.

Cairn on Cruach a'Chaise
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Southwest view towards Helensburgh
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View north up Loch Goil towards the Arrochar Alps.
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For us, the best part was knowing *this* was the top we see almost every day, and the small but mighty change in perspective this offers to our world... we can hold hands and point and say..."We've been up there!" :)

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Comments: 5



Rutting on Rum - Kinloch to Kilmory

Attachment(s) Date walked: 05/10/2013
Distance: 17km
Ascent: 125m
Comments: 3
Views: 3697

jproudfoot



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Statistics

2015

Trips: 1
Distance: 10.65 km
Ascent: 817m

2013

Trips: 1
Distance: 17 km
Ascent: 125m


Joined: Aug 24, 2013
Last visited: Aug 23, 2019
Total posts: 4 | Search posts