Beinn nan Imirean

Another week of hard work, another Sunday where I had permission to bugger off for the day. I had spied Beinn nan Imirean for a while being one of the closest Corbetts to the house (about 75 minutes drive). However, most books and accounts suggested it was very boggy thus I waited for a cold day to head over from Auchessan. While there had been a good drop of snow, I would find that the ground was still boggy underfoot and this made for quite a slog to the top. I arrived at Auchessan, not quite remembering the etiquette about parking. I decided to park well away from the exit, just off the road and on to the verge. Rather than hill running gear, I had decided to take plenty of gear and boots so this would be more of a fast hike.

The approach was exactly the same as for Sgiath Chuil and I vaguely remembered it. I think it may have been 7 years since I had been here. Once up past the farmland fencing, I struck off more or less West-North-West and ploughed through the snow-fields and bogs. The snow began to fall but there was no issues of navigation and when it did at last stop, the view up to the summit was grand. I stopped before the last pull up on the ridge beside the lochain and had a mince pie - sublime. Views over to the Munros were fantastic with wee pockets of sunshine penetrating the Winter grey. I re-embarked upon the ascent and found the wee summit cairn with a great view into Glen Lochay. I had also considered coming at this hill from that approach as part of a 20K run but that could wait for the 2nd round of Corbetts! At 849m, the wind was stiff and I set off back home. Uneventful until a slip on the wee grassy mound just behind the farm, with a 5-yard skite on shitey grass. A quick wash in the burn and a skip back to the car in just under 3 hours for this 11km hike. This might be a boggy affair but one that saw nobody on the Corbett except me, while the Munroists were in evidence across the hills.

Beinn Stacath (and Creag Mhor)

 

I was able to have breakfast with the family before I left this morning. No need to sneak out and be silent. Consequently, I arrived just before Ballimore farm at 0800 and knew that I'd be privy to a cold approach. However, this was to develop into a fantastic run across these two hills, once I was up and on to Creag Mhor, the Graham. From Ballimore farm and the emerging sunrise over Benvane, I began the rise over Creag Mhor (what a steep pad). Eventually I found the two stones sitting on a large boulder (the smallest cairn ever?) and took a moment to breathe in the views. Surprisingly, Lochearnhead was still in shadow and was undoubtedly a few degrees colder than my present sunny clime. 

 

I began the descent down to the bealach between Creag Mhor and Beinn Stacath. There were considerable numbers of deer here and they scattered quickly before I could take some snaps. Then began the last major climb of the day but I felt very fit and things soon levelled off. Once again, the ground hardened and it was a joy to run with views across to Stob Binnein. I even had a fox accompany me up over point 701m. Perhaps a first on the hills. Once up at the trig point of Beinn Stacath, the sky began to change and it was an odd hue, looking over to Ben Ledi and beyond (Dumgoyne and even Tinto in the distance). All that was left was to descend off the Eastern ridge and down the snaking land rover track before a simple run back to the car. 2 hours 55 minutes and 10 miles of trip.