Beinn a Bhuiridh - a hidden beauty

I had waited three weeks to get back on to the hill and was jealous of all the fantastic reports, which had been uploaded on to WH. Patience is a virtue though and I struck it lucky. I had never really considered Beinn a Bhuiridh but I wanted a good walk, which would allow for spectacular vistas and some North facing ridges. The SMC Corbett book seemed to suggest that a circular route was possible heading along the Allt Coire Ghlais up to the Lairig Torran and from there a return over the Monadh Driseig. Yet I had not found a report of any kind suggesting this. Upon arrival at the lay-by, I was greeted with spectacular views over the Ben Lui and beyond. Today would be a good day. I followed the old military round and into the coire and as I did so, the N facing cliffs of Beinn a Bhuiridh would come into view - tasty but this was merely the horses doovers.Rather than adhere to the Allt, I decided to move on the Eastern ridge coming down from Stob Garbh and this was to be a good move as it afforded better views all round. As I got higher, I relaxed into the walk and appreciated the solitude - I hadn't been on my own on a hill for quite some time and the loner in me revelled in the conditions. Then I got a grisly fleg - I happened upon a ex ovine which for all the world looked like it had been inverted and its skull and spine were distant from its wooly corpse - this was at about 500m - was there some kind of Predator-esque monster in the hills - I had no intention of taking this back to my wife and thankfully, she agreed.Rather than head up to Stob Garbh itself, I traversed over the Lairg Torran and the views across to Ben Cruachan and its satellite peaks blew my away, as did the wind. Again, these would get better as I ascended this fantastic hill.I had to find a path up the pretty steep face of Beinn a Bhuiridh and this was not easy - however, it's slope obviated concentration at all times and when i did finally plateau, I could relax and enjoy the next half hour. I ambled over to the summit, had a flask of tea and lunch and sat and enjoyed the sun and silence - this was bliss.After sitting for quite some time, I began the walk back along the Monadh Driseig, which was most enjoyable. Stopping to look back and around every so often, I would put this walk in my top 10. I snapped a few more shots, descended and thanked the mountain gods for another cracking day in the hill.

The Fara

What is he on about? Meall nan Eagan - hill of the possible. The Fara and the Dircs - they all meet on this route. When I told C that we'd be Dirc-hunting, he said 'for Diggler?' Hence the inane title for another walk report. We were lucky, we got as far as the summit of the Fara before the heavens opened. This little walk has been written about a few times before and it intrigued me. Meall nan Eagan is a lovely little hill with cracking views over to the Dirc Mhor - we were keen on walking through the Dirc Bheag however as an alternative to the skirting of the loch. A word of warning - do not attempt in snow conditions - you are likely to break your leg or fall into the loch itself. The pass through is awkward in places although it is a place of great solitude and I had a nice shot of the loch itself from the Dirc. Once around it, we walked passed the big Diggler and onwards and upwards to the Fara. C hadn't been out in the hills much before and near sharted when a ptarmigan flew out of nowhere with its guttural warning. On the topic of birds, I asked how his budgie was that had broken its leg - he had managed to splint it with a couple of Swan Vesta and said I should have seen its wee face until he realised he had forgotten to take the sandpaper out of its cage. At the summit, we lunched, had fleeting views down to Loch Ericht, before a rapid retreat off the hill and on to a new land rover track NE of the hill. A cracking wee day stolen before the weather gods unleashed their aqueous deluge.

Carn Liath and Culardoch

On day 2, I left Keiloch and bade good morning to an older lady at her cottage. I wondered how many folk she had seen come and go past her window over the years and again, I reflected on life and death. I began to query my state of mind but I felt very at ease as I climbed through the forest to reach the land rover track, which would take me over the barren moor before Culardoch and Carn Liath. I was disturbed from my thoughts by two 4-WD jeeps heading past, with 'HighlandSafaris' emblazoned across the sides. As they wound their way towards the beach, I felt it that it was a shame that such silica gleam (Betjeman) should be found in such a wild place. The paraphernalia at the beach itself was also an eye-opener, though no doubt all in the interest of assessing 'climate change'. Of course. Unfortunately, no views were to be had on Culardoch but a biting wind had me rapidly gulp lunch and descend quickly before heading across to climb Carn Liath. I scared a few deer in the process and began the easy climb up and across the South summit. The wall, which has been created here right along to Creag a chait, is something else. Once again, it showed that man can make his presence felt on the hills but in a more subtle fashion. A rapid descent through the forest had me back at the car at 1445 and ready to take in some 'Us and them' with Senior P. Hello, is anybody out there?

The precursor to Gulab Jamin on Ben Gulabin

I was in desperate need of a hill over 2500ft. Most of my remaining Munros are at least 90 miles from home and on the W coast so with impending inclement weather, I decided to head to the Cairngorms. If the weather held, I could try for Carn an Righ and if it seemed dodgy, I could grab Gulabin. At a starting point of 350m, it's a very easy climb up the ATV track to the bealach between the Corbett and Creagan Bheithe. I had not noted the dilapidated hut until I was on the climb up the former but I could see an old pylon of sorts - I would have a wee shufty on the way down. Unfortunately, I entered clag at 700m and so I only saw white-tailed bunny flashes as well as ptarmigan in flight. I sat at the summit and enjoyed a fantastic Gujarati spread, courtesy of my neighbour who had popped round the night before. Fantastic. Like deep fried spicy potato dumplings - highly calorific no doubt but I had earned them. The descent was quick and allowed me to have a rummage around the discarded ski paraphernalia. It's an eyesore when this stuff is left behind - it apparently took the Dundee Mountaineering Club an afternoon to build the hut back in 1948 - it's a pity their inheritors haven't brought it back down. The book time says 1 hour 20 to ascend - very generous - I took 50 min to ascend and 30 min to descend and I wasn't motoring. It must have fab views from the top but I didn't see them - no matter, I enjoyed this little leg-stretcher.

Streap is affa steap

Did this as part of the two Munros at the head of Glenfinnan - cracking wee arete after the summit followed by a nice easy angled descent off a strange shelf - then a knee-jarring climb down to the path. Great hill of character.

The Innse double

As part of a Corbett and Munro wild camp, Darren and I headed into Corriechoille and parked up beside the old disused tramway. It was a lovely day and the forecast was superb. We packed up and set off at 1445 in the heat of the day so the muscles were warmed up pretty quickly. It was a great path heading into the Lairig Leacach and before long, we took to the lower parts of Cruach Innse. It was only 400m of ascent from here and I assured Darren it would be straightforward. It hadn't looked steep but we were fair pechin'. We eventually topped out to stupendous views over t the Easain and Mheadhoin Munros as well as over to Sgurr Innse and the Grey Corries. We didn't linger and began the trek down to the bealach at 550m. From here, Sgurr Innse looked tasty and we fair roasted up the steep wee path and on to its summit. Now, the book says to head SE towards a shelf, which takes you down safely past the crags. Did we do that? Nope. We headed South and then West, which took us to an interesting downclimb. As we looked back at our descent, it was clear that we had missed the shelf by a considerable degree and that we had chosen a 'direttisima' route off the hill. Safe down and looking back, Sgurr Innse was a stunning hill. Definitely one of my favourites.

Meall an Fhudair

Parked just off the A82 and began the steep wee pad up the land rover track. I passed a herd of coos and they seemed non-plussed as I headed round towards the pylons. I then headed straight up on to Troisgeach. There wasn't much to commend this hill and once I got on to the plateau, I could still see I had another 1.5 miles of walking across boggy ground with hunners o lochains. They were full of frogs 'getting it oan' and I continued onwards leaving them to it. Once, at the summit, there was a cold, wee wind and I built the shelter a little bit higher, while taking in Beinn Bhuidhe and Loch Sloy. Beinn Damhain was across to the South and I made my way back over towards it before dropping down to the Lairig Arnan and meeting up with the original land rover track. I scared a small herd of deer and watched as they bounded effortlessly away to the West. It was quite moving, to again feel so very organic. A fine little pad. Good for the very remote feeling one has at its summit.

Carn na Drochaide

I had read that this hill doesn't offer much to commend it. Au contraire, a mon avis. I had driven from Glasgow up to Braemar to meet MerryWalker who hadn't realised she had won WOTM. A nice surprise. We met at Keiloch to do Culardoch and Carn Liath but with torrential rain and clag, we decided to tackle something shorter and made our way to Linn of Quoich. As the road meandered on, I thought to myself that MW might think I was going to bump her off as you never know who you might bump into on these websites e.g. the Montyquatsch? Anyway, we discussed much from spit-roasted dogs (her own?) to infection control and as we set off from the provisional car park and started catching up. It is nice that you meet someone through a website and find common ground and rather than head directly up the hill, we took a more sedate route, which I would encourage. Thankfully, the weather broke and the views across the big boays got better and better. As we arrived at the summit, we had great views over to Beinn a Bhuird and Ben Avon - it brought back memories of my stag night and the Tors! Brilliant stuff. I had mis-correctly thought there was a viewfinder up there and looked around - little did I realise that the wee cairns were view-finders of the different glens. We descended down the direct route to the Linn of Quoich and found a dead frog, floating eerily in a wee puddle - quite bizarre and its eyes gazed at us rather evilly. We said our adieus and promised to catch up again another time. We both enjoyed this wee hill and would strongly recommend it, for one of these wee pads.

Up on MacRainich's rock with Shaz

Creag MacRainich - a nice wee pad, I told Shaz. Great starting point of 300m so only another 510m of ascent from the layby at the head of Glen Ogle. And indeed, it was easy-going until we started heading up through the crags, which has seen recent mini-avalanches. We treaded carefully but Shaz was a little spooked so after we eventually tagged the summit and retreated in the snow, we chose another route which involved post-holing and tweaked knees. Shaz described a leafy, crisp day oiut but the hills had other ideas. We returned to the car, chastened by our 'short' day out but it was fine to get out and 'chill'. We had magnificent views across to Ben Vorlich and Stuc a Chroin, which had a mass of snow. When will Winter ever end?

Up the Sow

On my way to Macduff, I decided to stop off at Dalnaspidal and make a quick ascent of the Sow of Atholl. I had driven past it often enough but today, I'd add it to the collection. It was a cauld wind and I layered up before making my way over the track, bridges and began to the climb over the heathery tussocks. Easy to start off with and a lovely day but the threat of snow was evident and as I got to 600m, it began to blizzard. There were no route-finding problems but I could feel the snow accumulate on my beard and my self-portrait extolled the benefits of having such fuzz during Winter. I touched the summit and returned promptly. As is typical, I was halfway down and the snow stopped and the sun came out. Nice to get out and blow away the cobwebs though and at 2 hours 20, a nice wee jaunt.

Cir Royale

Stunning part of Scotland.

Beinn Bheula - a hidden gem

Take 2. Totally lost on this the last time out but parked up and headed along the logging track once more. Took a right across a new bridge and made for the waterfall. From here, it was a straightforward loop. However, this was a cracking wee hill due to its isolation with not a soul about and some scattered plane wreckage just below Creag Sgoilte crags. A Grumman from the 1940s apparently. The walk back through the firebreak was spooky though. Felt somebody was right behind me the whole way out. Surprisingly mild for this time of year.