Doctor Jon returned to Scotland last week and
I was only too pleased to help him nudge his Munro count towards his first
100. Time and logistics restricted our
options to the southern Highlands and the weather forecast sealed the deal: a
day on Ben Lawers and a day in the Arrochar Alps!
The Eastern Lawers Peaks: Meall Greigh, Meall Garbh & An Stuc
Jon had only the 3 easternmost peaks to climb
in the Ben Lawers group above Loch Tay.
We headed for the private lay-by opposite the bone-carving shop in
Lawers village, duly paid our £5 contribution to bone-carving research and
headed up the pretty path that climbs alongside the Lawers Burn.
We entered cloud soon after leaving the burn
to climb the grassy slopes of Meall Greigh and made our own way up the
pathless, but quite straightforward, terrain that led to (today’s) unseen
skyline. The sun threatened to appear
occasionally but we were still in cloud when we intersected the ridge (and
path) that led us in short order to the our first summit: Meall Greigh (1001m; hill of horse studs).
Lunch beckoned in a sheltered hollow (we had
a cool wind all day) and no sooner had we sat down, when the cloud clearly got
bored and promptly disappeared.
Suddenly, we could see for miles – north to the Glen Lyon hills, west to
Ben Lawers and south to the Loch Earn and Crianlarich hills. The day now became very easy and we followed
the clear path and fence across the wide ridge and up to the rather more
interesting summit ridge of Meall Garbh (1118m;
rough hill).
Once here, the view became dominated by Ben
Lawers itself and right in front of us, the sharp wedge of today’s final Munro:
An Stuc. It’s less than a kilometre away
but you have to descend steeply to the narrow bealach between the peaks and
then climb even more steeply up the fairly eroded path that leads up a greasy
gulley to the small summit of the mountain – An Stuc (1118m; the peak). This is
the most photogenic and interesting of today’s 3 Munros and it is well placed
directly above the feline-shaped Lochan nan Cat which sits snugly beneath the
encircling cliffs of An Stuc’s eastern aspect.
The way home was straightforward. We descended SW to the Bealach Dubh (black pass) and then peeled off left and
descended steeply to the W shore of the Lochan and followed it until we picked
up that morning’s path for a very entertaining descent back down to Lawers
village. A most agreeable day!
The Arrochar Alps: Beinn
Narnain & Beinn Ime
Today was to prove slightly harder work in
tougher conditions. Whilst it remained
largely clear and dry all day, a strong cold wind and some cloud on Beinn Ime
made for some distinctly bleak conditions at times!
Beinn Narnain From Beinn Ime
We started from the car park (£1 all day) at
the head of Loch Long at Succoth and climbed the new and well-engineered
path/track that climbs through the young woods before spitting you out at 300m
in full view of the finest peak in these parts: The Cobbler. It was our plan (as it should be everybody’s)
to include the wee man (a Corbett) whenever taking in the 2 higher Munros.
Loch Long From Beinn Narnain
From the treeline, the route leads shortly to
a small weir and from here the excellent path follows the Allt a’Bhalachain
(the delightfully named Buttermilk Burn) up towards the Cobbler with Beinn
Narnain rising to the right. When we
reached the unmistakable Narnain Boulders, we left the path and climbed to our
right up into the pathless, boulder-strewn slopes towards the Spearhead – the
conspicuous rocky wedge that crowns the summit ridge.
On reaching the skyline we intercepted the
path that runs up the SE ridge of the mountain and gratefully followed it
(avoiding the Spearhead to its right) until the flat summit plateau suddenly
appeared. In a further 200m we were at
the cairned summit of our first peak of the day: Beinn Narnain (926m; hill of the notches). This is a good viewpoint with the shapely
cone of Ben Lomond away to the SE and the other Arrochar Alps all around. Beinn Ime, in particular, looks quite
impressive from here.
We descended NW down a path that threads a
couple of boulder fields before becoming clearer over grass and leading to a
stile over a fence in the centre of the ever-muddy Bealach a’Mhaim. I’ve never been here on a warm, sunny day and
today was no exception! We departed
unhesitatingly up the muddy path that leads up the fairly drab, grassy southern
slopes of Beinn Ime (1011m; hill of
butter). In fairness, just before
reaching the large summit cairn, the path intercepts the encircling ridge of
the mountain’s impressive eastern slopes and things do get a little more
interesting, scenically at least.
The Cobbler From Beinn Ime
It was mid-afternoon by now and blowing a
gale so we regrettably, but sensibly, opted to omit the Cobbler from our
itinerary and returned straight down to the Bealach a’Mhaim and followed the
Buttermilk Burn back along that morning’s path and down through the trees to
the car. The Arrochar Alps are smashing
wee hills and conveniently placed
However, they do tend to have steep slopes on all sides and it is better
not to try and do too many in any one day if they are to be appreciated and
enjoyed to the full.
Ben Lomond From Above Arrochar
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