Beinn Dorain

11 October 2010. One of those cloudy high pressure areas had moved in- typical for this time of year really. The forecasts were promising that it would be clear in the west with excellent visibility so I headed for Bridge of Orchy. It was dull when I left home, sunny at Strathblane, cloudy again driving up the side of Loch Lomond with the hills covered in clag, and as it hadn't improved by the time that I reached Crianlarich I was beginning to think that I had made a wasted journey. But driving up the hill out of Tyndrum things suddenly looked promising.....

I parked in the car park at the Bridge of Orchy hotel and by the time that I had got my gear on, it was clear that it was going to be a corker of a day. Could there even be a cloud inversion, I wondered? October is one of the best months in the year for them. The path into the Beinn an Dothaidh/ Beinn Dorain corrie had improved greatly since I had last been here, although where it started to steepen it remained the bog fest that I remembered. But I was soon past that bit and dry underfoot conditions returned when I reached the steepest section. This is looking back towards Bridge of Orchy from not far after the start.....

I knew that the views were going to be good but I was unprepared for what I saw when I reached the col; whereas the hills to the west were hazy, cloud filled the glens to the east with only the tops poking out above the sea of white. Beinn Heasgarnich is the long ridge in the centre of the pic.....

It was really warm in the sunshine and I sat about at the col for a while. Eventually I dragged myself away and continued upwards, this is another view of the hills to the east with Beinn Mhanach and its western top the pudding shaped hill on the left......

It was a bit hazy still to the west but as I got higher it was obvious that the inversion conditions were persisting in the glens to the south; this is looking to the Crianlarich hills from close to the summit.....

The final approach to the summit.....

Along with several other people, I spent about an hour on top, lazing about in the sun and looking at the views. This sort of day is why I climb hills!

The view to Ben More and Stobinian (slight telephoto).....

over the Corbett of Beinn Odhair to the Crianlarich hills (I like this one; it gives a good impression of height).....

and to the Ben Lui group.....

 Eventually I decided that I had better make my way back down. The cloud in the glens had more or less lifted and the views were back to being just excellent! This is looking east to Beinn a'Chreachain and Beinn Mhanach from the descent.....

along Loch Lyon with the Ben Lawers group in the far distance.....

over a wee lochan on the ridge to the neighbouring Munro of Beinn an Dothaidh.....

The view east from the col when I got back to it was good but I think that I preferred it with the cloud in the glens.....

It was just a case of retracing my steps back down the path to the car. It was more like June than October, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I paused a few times for more photographs- this is looking back up the path to the corrie.....

and this is a view of the Etive hills to the west of Bridge of Orchy, Stob Ghabhar prominent.....

The walk took 5 hours and 20 minutes, it was about 6 miles and involved almost 900m of ascent.  I stopped at the same viewpoint on the way back and took this final shot of Beinn Dorain for the day.....