Roasted and Pummelled on Doire Ban

10 May 2016

Participants: Just me

Where: Doire Ban, 566m/1,857', Sub-2k Marilyn, Map 41, NN 090643

It looks so tranquil, doesn't it? Doire Ban from Lochan Lunn Da Bhra, south of Fort William and tucked in at the west end of the Mamores.....

I had left home early because the forecast was for sunshine and heat and I wanted to get started before the hottest part of the day. The route was obvious and straightforward, park a few hundred metres short of the loch, walk down to a bridge that carries the road further up the glen and take a track on the left. There was one stream to cross but the water was low and the stepping stones good. I passed a wee hut and then it was on to rough, mainly grassy slopes. This is looking back to the start, the top of Ben Nevis just appearing......

 

another view of the loch.....

and a picture of the Graham, Beinn na Gucaig above the loch. I climbed it a few years back from the same starting point.....
 

It was turning into a funny sort of day weather-wise. Although the sun was beating down out of an almost clear blue sky, the wind was quite strong. It wasn't a constant wind though; it would be reasonably calm one minute and then a gust would almost blow me off my feet. The higher that I got the more tortuous my progress became. It was like a furnace when the wind dropped. Then I would suddenly be blown to a stop. I found a partly sheltered area where I could take a couple of photographs. Beinn na Gucaig again.....

 

 

and Mullach nan Coirean, the westernmost Munro in the Mamores.....

  

As I got higher, the wind stopped being intermittent. Now it was just a steady blast. I was glad that I wasn't going any higher than 566m. It must have been fun on narrow ridges. The cairn turned out to be just a small heap of stones, certainly not enough to provide shelter. The problem was holding my phone steady enough to get a photograph. I am amazed at how well they turned out. Beinn a'Bheithir in the background.....

 

 

The Glencoe hills in the background.....
 

 

Needless to say, I quickly turned tail and headed down. It was still reasonably tranquil down at the car, here is a view of the Lochan and Beinn na Gucaig.....

I was rather tired; but it had been enjoyable, in a masochistic sort of way.