Beinn Lora

10 April 2010.

Participants - Just me
Where - Beinn Lora, 308m/1,010', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 49, NM 919377

I was heading for Mull for a few days before going on to an MBA meeting at Roybridge and took in Beinn Lora on the way up. I have climbed this hill a few times before; it is an excellent short walk waymarked from Benderloch and there are fine views from the summit. It overlooks the Connel bridge, which now carries the road over Loch Etive but which was built originally to take the Oban to Ballachulish railway line. For a time, it carried both rail and road- something that I can vaguely remember from my childhood- but since the railway was closed in 1966, it is a road bridge only.

 The weather had changed suddenly from winter to spring and it was a hot day. The first part of the walk was through the forest on a marked track.  A gate at the top of the forest led on to a boggy col before the final climb to the summit plateau. This is the view from the gate looking to the summit....

and approaching the trig....

The main reason for this hill's popularity is the quality of the views. Firstly up Loch Etive to Ben Cruachan...

over Oban airport to Connel....

north to the hills of Appin and south Glencoe....

and across the Firth of Lorn to Mull....

This was an easy short walk to start the week; it was 3 miles with 300m of ascent and as I lazed about in the sunshine at the summit for a while it occupied 2 hours and 20 minutes.