Meall Tairbh

26 April 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben

Where - Bridge of Orchy, the round of Coir' Orain - Meall Tairbh, 664m/2,181', Graham, and Ben Inverveigh, 636m, HuMP, OS 50.

This was one that I had had on the radar for some time; these hills are situated in the middle of a big group of Munros and Corbetts and were bound to have good views. All I needed was the weather, it would be pointless doing this one on a day when the cloud was down! Today was the day- good forecast, bright sunshine. This is a view of Meall Tairbh from the road between Bridge of Orchy and Inveroran.....

I had decided to do the round in an anti-clockwise direction so as to get the rough and boggy part over at the start and also so that the longest and steepest drop into Coir' Orain would be tackled in a downhill direction. In fact, the ground near the start was not too bad.....

I was not disappointed by the views. The Inveroran hotel buildings and Loch Tulla were receding into the distance.....

but the views to the surrounding hills were opening up; Stob Ghabhar and Stob a'Choire Odhair.....

the Etive Munros (long time since I've been on these).....

and the Corbett of Beinn Mhic-Mhonaidh with the Cruachan hills beyond.....

On the way up, I spotted a small herd of hinds in front of us- about a dozen or so. Luckily, Ben didn't seem to see them- a disadvantage of having short legs and being so close to the ground in rough heather and grass- but I made sure that they spotted us and dispersed across the hillside. I am not sure if he would have been interested or not but I didn't fancy having to try to get him back from a mile or more away if he chased them! The ridge of Meall Tairbh is a long one and of course the top was at the furthest away end but we got there eventually. This is looking west to Beinn Mhic-Mhonaidh and the Cruachan hills....

Ben Lui to the south was a nice pointy peak from here.....

I stopped at the cairn to try to get something to eat- a bit difficult when you have a (wet) dog with you that likes to sit on the same rock that you choose and wants to play rather than look at the views!! So it was a brief stop before we set off again to descend to Lochan Coir' Orain at the head of the glen between the two hills.....

Ben Inverveigh almost makes it into the Graham tables, it is ok for height but does not have the required amount of relative drop from Meall Tairbh, it fails by about 8m or so. We reached the ridge of Ben Inverveigh close to its southern end so there was a bit of a hike before we reached the top.....

However, it was excellent walking on short cropped heather and grass and the views this time were best to the east, to the Bridge of Orchy Munros.....

and to the Corbetts around Auch.....

although the Etive hills remained in view to the west.....

and just past the summit, there was a good view across the glen to Meall Tairbh where we had been earlier.....

We meandered on along the ridge past the summit until we arrived at some construction- a small phone mast or something- I didn't look closely- where a track started that went more steeply downhill joining the West Highland Way lower down. And then eventually we were approaching the car.....

Although not a particularly taxing round, I found this quite tiring, it was a hot day. I think that Ben was tired as well, he jumped into the car as soon as I opened the boot and curled up on his mat. I reckon that the round was about 8 miles with about 700m of ascent and it took us just over 5 hours.

Cnoc Coinnich

18 April 2011

Participants - Us again
Where - Cnoc Coinnich, 761m/2497', Graham, Map 56, NN 233008

Cnoc Coinnich- the equal highest of the Grahams-  was one of a handful of hills that I thought that I had climbed before but could not be certain and had not therefore included it in my Marilyn total. So it was high up my list of hills to do. This is a view of it that I took last year from Ben Donich, its Corbett neighbour to the north.....

It was still warm although hazier than yesterday and as the best of the sunshine was forecast to be in the morning we set off fairly early from home. It was very handy being able to drive a couple of miles past Ardgartan to the large car park at Coilessan; the Forestry had even been working on the road filling in the potholes. No chance of getting lost at the start of this hill, the route up the glen was well signposted.....

After about a mile the track was replaced by a path that climbed steeply to the top of the forest.....

There was a fence at the top with a stile but also an old, semi broken gate which I was thankfully able to open to let Ben through. A few hundred yards after leaving the forest we came across a cairn from where there was a good view of the rest of the walk.....

The path we had been following was part of the Cowal Way and we continued on it to the highest point on the plateau before heading for the north-west ridge of Cnoc Coinnich- the ridge on the right of the photo above. It was typical of the hills around here- quite a bit of rock higher up but the ridge was grassy and we therefore avoided any potential problems. Ben hasn't learned yet to watch what he is jumping off and I didn't want him disappearing over a cliff! For that reason we didn't spend much time at the summit when we got there as the cairn is perched close to a considerable drop. In fact, I only stopped long enough to take the obligatory summit photo......

before moving away slightly from the summit to take a picture looking down towards the Clyde although the view in that direction was a bit disappointing- a combination of the haze and the sun being in the wrong place.....

Just below the summit there was a wee lochan in which Ben splashed happily (Ben Lomond in the background).....

We stopped on the way back down where there was an excellent view towards the Brack with Beinn Luibheinn, Beinn Ime and the Cobbler to its left.....

Back on the Cowal Way we caught up with a large group of people who were walking the entire route. I had a look at the map when I got home and it looks like a good route through some really rough country.  But Cnoc Coinnich was enough for us today- all in all it took about 4 hours.

Beinn Dubh (Loch Chon)

17 April 2011

Participants - Us
Where - Beinn Dubh (Loch Chon), 511m/1,675', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 56, NN 404045

It was only a short drive today- up to Aberfoyle and then along Loch Ard to a parking place at the start of the track to Comer, which sits at the foot of the east face of Ben Lomond. I climbed Ben Lomond from this side once, a long time ago, but remember it as being a long way. The parking place was at the side of Loch Dhu, which with its surrounding conifers looked a bit Canadian.....

The track in was perfectly surfaced and put East Dunbartonshire roads to shame. After the initial mile or so, the walk was dominated by the view of Ben Lomond ahead.....

This would be a lovely glen were it not for the conifers and the electricity pylons but I suppose that the track is the compensation. Quite a bit of the forest on the Beinn Dubh side had been cleared, although I noticed that replanting with more conifers had begun. Shame. Shortly after the power lines crossed the track, another track branched off to the right traversing steeply up the hillside so I took it. Higher up, it turned into a path composed of brash, which was a bit tiring to walk on.....

and then after a bit seemed to carry on round the hill rather than up so at that point I took to the cleared hillside. It was a bit awkward underfoot but the felled area only lasted for a short distance. However, I had spotted a more serious obstacle ahead- a fence. I am now studying maps before I set out to ensure that there are as few obstacles for Ben as possible on the walks; however, this fence was not marked on the map. And it was no broken down specimen this. It was solid and there didn't seem to be any gates. I tried a bit of gardening below the fence where it crossed a small gully but there was no way that Ben was getting through that. So only one thing for it- I had to lift him over. Fortunately, it was a low fence; I am afraid that a deer fence would have seen us having to retreat. Beyond the fence we were on to rough moorland and were soon passing a wee loch on the ridge (the Crianlarich hills distant).....

It was not far from there to the summit and a small cairn which probably reflects the number of visitors that this hill gets.....

Moorland dominated the scene, this is looking north-west with the Arrochar Alps distant.....

It was a hot day now and Ben found a pool in a rock close to the summit in which to cool off....

We wandered about a wee bit to see if there was any way of avoiding the fence on the descent. There wasn't but we got a better view of Ben Lomond across Glen Dubh from one of the knolls we visited.....

So it was back the same way with Ben visiting lots of pools at the side of the track. Needless to say, we had this one to ourselves!

The Lomond Hills

12 April 2011

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - West Lomond, 522m/1713', Sub-2000' Marilyn, Map 58, NO 197066 and East Lomond, 448m/1471', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 58, NO 244062.

Well, the hot weather didn't last very long! Today it was back to being a typical April day- bright and breezy with a few showers blasting through. Most showers were forecast for the west so we went east, a good choice as it remained dry all day. It was windy though so walking on the higher hills would have been a problem; on days like this, the Lomond Hills in Fife are ideal. They are another well known and distinctive range of hills, seen from great distances on a clear day. Like Arthur's Seat, they are of volcanic origin. This is a view of West Lomond from near Milnathort.....

I parked at Craigmead car park on the hill road between Leslie and Falkland; it provided a high starting point and is situated between the two hills. As usual, I tackled the higher West Lomond first. I was pleased to see that all the sheep had been moved off the high ground which meant that Ben could run about freely all day. The track across the moor to West Lomond is excellent with the objective always directly ahead.....

As always, Ben was first to the summit, despite the fact that he covered enough ground to have climbed the hill about three times.....

There were a few other walkers about so I asked one of them to take a picture of me sitting at the trig with The Furry One with Loch Leven in the background.....

We didn't linger for long as the wind was strong up here but simply retraced the outward route with East Lomond now being in sight all of the way.....

It must be hot work rushing around all the time; Ben certainly seemed to enjoy going into this wee pool.....

We stopped briefly at the car before crossing the road and picking up the track to East Lomond. This was a shorter walk but also steeper and looking back from near the top, there was a good view of West Lomond and the ground that we had already covered.....

There was a view indicator on the summit of this one (for some reason the trig is situated some 70m lower on the south slopes of the hill); here is the ritual picture of Ben at the summit with the eastern part of Fife in the background.....

and the view west to West Lomond.....

and looking down at the village of Falkland.....

Just before the final steep pull up to the summit, the Regional Park authorities have set out a short trail around an old lime kiln. Limestone quarrying was once a thriving industry in the Lomond Hills. The stone was cut from rocks around the kiln and processed on site. There were lots of information boards around and the short detour to see the site was really interesting.....

I suppose that the walk totalled about 7-8 miles; it is one that I have done a few times now but one that really requires a good day to be appreciated fully. Today was just such a day!

Arthur's Seat

9 April 2011.

Participants - Me, Roddy and Ben
Where - Arthur's Seat, 251m/823', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, in the centre of Edinburgh.

A number of very recognisable hills have a sufficient amount of relative height to qualify as a Marilyn; Arthur's Seat must be the most recognisable and is almost certainly the most visited. It is the remains of a volcano which would have been active about 340 million years ago and it dominates the Edinburgh skyline. One of the best views is obtained from nearby Calton Hill.....

It was a warm sunny day and the tourists were out in force so we were lucky to find spaces to park in the St Margaret's Loch car park. It was a bit hazy however so I have added a few pictures that I took on a previous visit to some of the ones that I took today. There are lots of different routes on the hill, some of the paths have been improved although the more rocky areas are worn and quite slippery, especially if you are wearing trainers- which we weren't. On this occasion we decided to walk up the road as far as Dunsapie Loch and then take the short walk up to the summit.....

This is the view from above Dunsapie Loch down the Forth estuary to the distant North Berwick Law, taken on an earlier visit.....

and this is looking north over the city to the river.....

It was very busy on top but we managed to find a moment when the trig area was relatively clear to take a picture to record that Ben had climbed another Marilyn.....

As I said, it was a bit hazy and the sun was in the wrong place for a good picture looking over the city to the Pentlands so here is another one from a previous visit.....

Ben was on his lead so the descent of the rocky bit at the top was a bit tricky as he pulls a lot and he is getting strong. On this evidence, he won't be going along Collies Ledge, or the Aonach Eagach, or over the pinnacles on Liathach; mind you, I won't be going to these places again either as my nerves when in high narrow places were never very good and are a lot worse now.

We descended in a southerly direction and took an improved path down steeply to the start of Hunter's Bog. This is looking back at the summit from the start of the path.....

and on the path with Salisbury Crags in the background.....

and another view back to the summit from lower down.....