Thursday 11 October 2012

Meall Odhar

9 October 2012.

Participants - Just me; Ben had to miss out because there were a lot of sheep about, deer on the hill and a deer fence that I wouldn't have been able to get him over.

Where - Meall Odhar, 656m/ 2,152', Graham, Map 50, NN 298298

I decided on the approach from the south, using the track to Cononish farm, and therefore parked at Dalrigh. The main reason was that this looked a much more open route than that from Tyndrum via the old mines with the other hills in view all of the way. It was a fabulous early autumn day with the colours starting to come out on the trees.....


My objective soon came into view, it is the hill on the right in this picture, the Corbett, Beinn Chuirn is the other hill.....


I couldn't let the opportunity pass to take the classic picture of Ben Lui and its central gully.....


The area between the track and the hill was heavily forested but I knew that there were fire breaks that I could use and that one in particular was a recognised route. To reach it, I went through an old gate and crossed the more westerly of two rough fields, following 4x4 tracks where I could and heading for the top left hand corner of the field....


Sure enough, this led to a wide break in the trees with the makings of a path up it.....


Beyond the trees, it was just a case of climbing the steeper slopes of the hill towards the east ridge. I disturbed a small herd of deer at one point and every so often there was the roar of a stag from one of the hillsides round about.....


This is looking east towards Ben More, Stobinian and Cruach Ardrain from higher up.....


The cairn was surprisingly big for a lower hill (the shoulder of Beinn Chuirn is behind with the Cruachan hills distant).....


There was hardly any wind and it was really pleasant wandering around looking at the views and taking pictures. This is looking to Ben Lui.....


and this is to Beinn Dorain and the Auch Corbetts.....


The only downside was a constant humming noise from the gold mine at the foot of Beinn Chuirn. I presume that it was the sound of drilling. But apart from that, it was the perfect day to be out and the walk back to the car was lovely.....



3 comments:

blueskyscotland said...

Some nice photos.Seen on the news Its Looking like the gold mine will open for gold extraction soon so they must have an agreement now with the National park.

Unknown said...

Ben looks like a great dog....stiles and deer fences can be a nightmare with a dog..i've got a labrador poodle cross whose coming up on 100 Munros and Corbetts

Neil said...

Hi Kellan,

There's so much to think about when you take a dog on the hill. I try to avoid hills with a lot of livestock about; Ben hates being on his lead when he is out and he's a really strong dog now. Deer fences are a definite no-no!