My Planned Route for the 2016 TGO Challenge

Oban to Stonehaven

Screenshot of planned route (scroll down for zoomable map)

Having previously started at Shiel Bridge, Strathcarron, Mallaig and Glenelg, I decided I fancied a more southerly route this year, so I've opted to start in Oban.  However I also wanted to visit Ballater and finish in Stonehaven, which are both more northerly than any of my previous routes!  Therefore my resultant route is reasonably southerly, before heading NE from Pitlochry to Ballater.

It splits nicely into five chucks:

• 2 days from Oban to Glencoe, via Lismore
• 2 days from Glencoe to Bridge of Gaur
• 3 days from Bridge of Gaur to Pitlochry, via Ben Lawers
• 3 days from Pitlochry to Ballater, via the cocktail party in Gleann Mòr
• 3 days from Ballater to Stonehaven, via Mount Battock

And here is a nice zoom-able and pan-able map showing my planed route:

See planned route in new window

It's a similar length to my previous TGO Challenge routes, at 325km, and there's around 14,000m of ascent.  Assuming that the weather is fine I'm planning on climbing 7 Munros, 7 Corbetts and 3 Grahams, plus a few other hills on the way across.  However I anticipate that bad weather might put pay to some of these plans!  Although you never know, it might be another year like 2008 when it was dry and sunny for most of the fortnight!

This is by my fifth TGO Challenge and I'm already counting down the days until I set off!  Only 100 days to go...

A Long November Weekend in the Western Highlands - Index

Back in November I had four excellent days walking in the Western Highlands, although things didn't quite go according to plan!

Colin and I headed north with plans to finally have a crack at backpacking the Mullardoch Round, which would take in 12 Munros over 4 days.  However deep fresh snow on the hills made for slow progress and so our 4-day backpack became a somewhat shorter 2-day backpack, followed by a couple of day walks: one in Kintail and one near Bridge of Orchy.  Even though we had to cut the backpack short, we still had a very successful trip and climbed six new hills (2 Munros, 1 Munro Top and 3 Corbetts).

Besides the deep snow, the weather conditions on the hills were generally good and we got fantastic views every day (although not necessarily for the entirety of every day!).  Waking up less than 200m from the summit of Munro was quite magical as we watched the sun rise over the snowy mountains, although it was quite cold overnight!  And then there were lovely late afternoon clouds over Glen Shiel the following afternoon and then the long shadows of the winter sun on our final day.

"Self Portrait" on the N ridge of Beinn Bhreac-liath

This post is an index of my blog posts on the trip, which include lots of photos and also maps of my routes, and there's also a link to my original plans and my Social Hiking map from the trip.

• Original plans for the Mullardoch Round
• Day 1 - Loch Mullardoch Dam to Carn nan Gobhar
• Day 2 - Carn nan Gobhar to Loch Mullardoch Dam
• Day 3 - Day walk up Ciste Dhubh
• Day 4 - Day walk up Beinn Udlaidh and Beinn Bhreac-liath
• Social Hiking combi map for the four days, with occasional tweets and photos

N.B. 13/02/13 - Post date updated to 05/12/12 (from 14/01/13), to keep post in-sync with rest of this trip's posts

Beinn Udlaidh and Beinn Bhreac-liath

Monday 26th November

A round of two snow covered Corbetts from Glen Orchy

Distance: 14km; Ascent: 960m; Mostly overcast, but sunny later; with Colin

See tracked route in new window

We had toyed with the idea of bagging Gairich above Loch Quoich today, but decided that would leave us with too long a drive home afterwards.  Therefore instead we opted for a pair of pleasant sounding Corbetts above Glen Orchy.  By the time we had packed up and driven down from Roybridge, it was 9am by the time we set off walking from near Invergaunan in Glen Orchy.

Looking down the Allt Ghamhnain valley towards Ben Inverveigh

A rough vehicle track headed through the forest close to the Allt Ghamhnain, which made for relatively easy going through the forest plantations.  Our plan had been to strike uphill once out of the forest so as to gain the north ridge of Beinn Udlaidh.  However when we reached this point, the route of ascent didn't seem too appealing and there was also the added problem of a newish deer fence with no certainty of a crossing point further uphill.  Therefore we instead continued along the rough track through a large area of recently planted trees, with the aim of heading uphill once we left the deer fence enclosed area.  It was pleasing to see that the newly planted trees were a mixture of different species and not just regimental rows of pines!

New tree planting

Southerly edge of the new deer fence in Coire Ghamhnain

It transpired that the newly enclosed area extended somewhat over a kilometre further up the coire from the edge of the established woodland, so that by the time we had got to its southerly end the most obvious route up onto the hills was simply to head up the slopes of the coire headwall to gain the bealach, so this is what we did.

View from the bealach

Loch Tulla from the E ridge of Beinn Udlaidh

By the time we had reached the bealach we were well above the snow line, and also now exposed to a bitter wind, but there were some excellent views to the south east from here.  We headed up the east ridge of Beinn Udlaidh, carefully picking our way through a couple of steeper rockier sections, to reach the summit plateau, which was in the cloud.  We reached the large cairn at around 12:30pm, which was surrounded by a few random abandoned bits of old machinery.  We stopped here in the shelter of the cairn for a bite to eat before heading a hundred metres or south southwards to visit the true summit of Beinn Udlaidh (Corbett, Marilyn).

Abandoned machinery near the summit of Beinn Udlaidh

By the large cairn on Beinn Udlaidh

True summit of Beinn Udlaidh

Due to the wind, we didn't linger at the true summit for long and soon we were descending back down to the sunny bealach, with excellent views once we dropped below the cloud.

Semi-frozen lochan in the bealach

Beinn Udlaidh from the ascent of Beinn Bhreac-liath

We began the ascent of Beinn Bhreac-liath and were soon back in the cloud trying to find the summit of another plateau.  We found two small cairns around a hundred metres apart and visited both of them to ensure that we had visited the summit of Beinn Bhreac-liath (Corbett, Marilyn).

On the summit of Beinn Bhreac-liath

The NNW ridge looked to be a pleasant route of descent on the map, so that is the route we took.  The first couple of kilometres were very level and so we remained in the cloud, but once we started to descend there were excellent views across to the Black Mount.

The Black Mount from the N ridge of Beinn Bhreac-liath

At around 3pm the sun finally managed to appear between the clouds, but it was not for long as around 30 minutes later it set behind the north shoulder of Beinn Udlaidh; however there were some good views.

"Self Portrait" on the N ridge of Beinn Bhreac-liath

Sunset from the N ridge of Beinn Bhreac-liath

Soon we were below the snowline and descended in the dusk to Invergaunan and beyond to the road.  We returned to the car at around 4pm and drove south happy after a fantastic four days hillwalking in the Highlands.  I shall have to plan another trip back there in the New Year!

N.B. 13/02/13 - Post date updated to actual date of walk, i.e. 26/11/12 (from 31/12/12) 

Glen Etive Hills Backpack

Last weekend, Colin and I spent an excellent two days backpacking in the hills to the south of Glen Etive.  The weather was significantly better than forecast and, apart from a handful of other hill walkers on the Saturday, we saw no one else all weekend.  We had a good high camp spot in one of the bealachs with good views, and we got a view from the top of every Munro!

This post is an index on my blog posts on the trip, which I have updated to include more photos and maps of our routes, and there's also a link to more of my photos from the weekend.

• Day 1 - Glen Etive road to bealach to N of Beinn nan Aighenan (the short way)
• Day 2 - Bealach to N of Beinn nan Aighenan to Glen Etive road (the longer way!)
• Photos from the trip 

Beinn nan Aighenan

Backpacking in the Glen Etive Hills - Day 2

Distance: 16km; Ascent: 1060m; Dry, mainly clear and sunny; with Colin

See route in new window

The alarm went off at 7am and upon looking outside we discovered that the cloud had dropped overnight so we were now surrounded by mist!  Therefore neither of us were particularly motivated to get a move on.

When we did eventually start walking it was 9:15am and the cloud was beginning to thin and lift.  We ascended up the south ridge of Meall nan Tri Tighearnan, following occasional very faint paths back into the mist.  Soon we reached the more well trodden ridge line and turned right to ascend up to the cairn which marked the summit of Meall nan Tri Tighearnan (Corbett Top).

The summit of Glas Bheinn Mhor (uploaded from my phone on the walk)

After a quick breather we descended to the east and began the snowy accent of our first Munro of the day.  At around 10:15am we reached the summit of Glas Bheinn Mhor (Munro, Marilyn), from where there were occasional views north to the peaks on the far side of Glen Etive.  Cloud kept blowing past us and intermittently obscuring the view, thus making it difficult to photograph!

View NW from Glas Bheinn Mhor

Ben Starav just coming out of the cloud from Glas Bheinn Mhor

We descended the ridge to the east on a good path to reach the bealach.  Here the path headed off down into the coire, but our way lay onwards and upwards across boulder fields and a steep ascent.  Eventually the slope angle eased and we stopped for a moment to admire the views of the surrounding hills now that they were all free of cloud.

Glas Bheinn Mhor from the NE

We took a curving line up the gently angled, snow covered, slopes to reach the summit of Stob Coir'an Albannaich (Munro, Marilyn) at around midday.

On the summit of Stob Coir'an Albannaich

It was now lunchtime, so we sat on the summit admiring the excellent views whilst enjoying our tasty lunch of wraps, spicy cheese, salami and chorizo.  Afterwards we descended the snowy east ridge for a few hundred metres before finding a safe place to descend down towards the bealach.  The snow was a good angle for glissading and so that's how we made much of our descent - far easier than walking!

Remains of old cornices on the summit of Stob Coir'an Albannaich

Buachaille Etive Mor and the northern Black Mount from Stob Coir'an Albannaich

From the bealach we ascended up to the summit cairn of Meall Tarsuinn (Corbett Top).  After a brief rest for some mango, we continued along the ridge to reach the summit off our final hill for the day: Meall nan Eun (Munro, Marilyn).  The views from here were some of the best of the while weekend and we estimated that we could see 50 Munros from here, including Ben Nevis whose summit had just come out of the cloud.

Loch Tulla and the Bridge of Orchy hills from Meall nan Eun

Ben Nevis and the Grey Corries from Meall nan Eun

Once we had finished taking in all the views, we retraced our steps for a few hundred metres before continuing down the north west ridge.  Soon the ground became steep and craggy, so we had to carefully pick our way down to the coire below.  By now the sun was back out and it was beginning to feel quite warm.

Looking down Glen Ceitlein

We crossed the coire floor on intermittently wet boggy ground, interspersed with bone dry ground.  Eventually we picked up the path, which we followed below an impressive looking gully on Stob Dubh.  The valley floor around here was very pleasant and would probably make a nice camp spot.  We continued along the path to reach a landrover track which we followed back to the car, where we arrived shortly before 4:30pm.  It had been an excellent two days of backpacking and the weather had been significantly better than forecast :)

Allt Ceitlein

Backpacking in the Glen Etive Hills - Day 1

Distance: 10km; Ascent: 1200m; Mainly dry with occasional sunshine; with Colin

See route in new window

After consulting the weather forecast and concluding that we had no way of knowing which hills were likely to escape the threatened thundery showers, we decided to head to Glen Etive for a couple of days backpacking.  Therefore at 11:30 this morning we set off walking from near the end of the Glen Etive road.

River Etive, looking upstream from bridge

It was warm and sunny as we followed the estate road over the River Etive to reach Coileitir, where we picked up a boggy path that traversed the hillside in a south westerly direction for just under a kilometre.  We boulder hopped across the reasonable sized river to reach a better path on its far side.

The Allt nam Meirleach

We followed the reasonable path, ignoring the fork to Ben Starav, to continue southwards above the deep rocky gorge complete with impressive waterfalls.  Soon after 1 we stopped at a convenient rock for lunch of wraps with spicy cheddar and salami.  After lunch, we continued upwards up the steepening slopes complete with snow patches to reach the bealach.

The Allt nam Meirleach, with Glas Beinn Mhor beyond  

  Waterfall near the top of the Allt nam Meirleach

There were excellent views from the bealach; Ben Cruachan looked very impressive to the south, and we could pick out most of the Glen Coe mountains to the north.

Looking north from the bealach into Glen Etive and the Glencoe hills beyond

From the bealach, we followed a faint traversing path south east across boulder fields to reach a second, lower, bealach.  Here it was sheltered from the wind, so we stopped for a break on some nice warm rocks.

Beinn nan Aighenan

After sufficient rest we began our ascent of the north ridge of Beinn nan Aighenan.  There were good views to the east of an impressive storm over Loch Tulla, which we hoped would pass to the south of us, and as we ascended it became clear that this would be the case.

Approaching storm over Loch Tulla

Higher up the ridge was covered in soft snow, which was quite deep in places and hence made for slow going.  We reached the summit of Beinn nan Aighenan (Munro, Marilyn) at around 4pm.  There were fantastic views from the summit across to the sunny, snow capped mountains of Argyll and the Glen Coe area.

Summit of Beinn nan Aighenan

On the summit of Beinn nan Aighenan

After admiring the views we retraced our steps northwards.  By now it was clear that although the earlier storm had missed us, there were more dark clouds heading our way.  The rain started shortly before we reached the bealach and we decided to camp around here for the night.  Therefore we ascended briefly north away from the rocky bealach to find a nice flat grassy spot to camp for the night at just after 5pm.

Our overnight pitch in the bealach to the north of Beinn nan Aighenan

I was feeling quite tired so I had an early evening nap whilst Colin went to bag some random tops on the far side off the coire.  On his return we had dinner of couscous, pepper, chorizo and cheese followed by chocolate mouse and hot chocolate.  After dinner we sampled the fine New Zealand whisky that I had brought with me, which was nice but it seemed a little strange to be drinking non Scottish whisky in the Highlands!

Evening clouds over the Ben Cruachan hills

Photo of Beinn nan Aighenan, uploaded from my phone on the walk

Ganavan Bay & Ferry to Colonsay

We woke to heavy rain so having remained in the hostel for as long as we could we headed to Cruachan power station visitor centre for a look around the exhibition and some lunch. By the time we had returned to Oban and bought some food the weather started to improve. Therefore we opted for a short stroll on the beach at Ganavan Bay and the coast to the north. Again there were excellent views across towards Mull and Lismore.

Later that afternoon we took our first CalMac ferry of the trip, to Colonsay. The weather was now sunny and there were excellent views of the many islands that we passed on route to Colonsay.

Seil & Easdale

Distance on Seil: 3km; Distance on Easdale: 2km; with Lynsey & Isabel

See route in new window

As we had to leave our lodge near Oban this morning, we had a reasonably late start due to having to pack everything back into the car! We headed south to Seil and after a brief stop to admire the Clachan Bridge we drove to the southern tip of the Island at Cuan for our first walk of the day. We set off walking at 11:30am, with Isabel in the rucksack carrier, and managed to take a wrong turning and almost ended up in someone's garden (this of course is the problem with rights of way not being marked on OS maps of Scotland).

After seeking out local knowledge we were soon walking along the correct path north to meet the shoreline. The sun was out as we followed the shore northwards for 1.5km with excellent views of Mull and Easdale; we returned the same way and reached the car at 1:30pm.

We drove round to Ellenabeich and headed off for our second walk of the day; this time with the pushchair as there was a route on Easdale in our All-Terrain Pushchair Walks book. The ferryman kindly helped me lift the pushchair onto the small boat for the short crossing of Easdale Sound.

The walk was an anti-clockwise circuit of Easdale island past some of the interesting remains of its slate industry including many quarry pools. I took a brief detour to the highest point on the island to admire the views. Just as we were nearing the end of the walk it started to rain very heavily. As the ferry waiting room doorway was too narrow for our pushchair we went for tea in the island tearoom whilst the thunderstorm passed overhead. After 45 minutes or so, the storm had passed and the rain died down so we headed down to the jetty for the ferry back to Seil.

Glencruitten Woods

As Lynsey was away climbing the Dalmally horseshoe for the day, I again had Isabel to myself for the day. Once the rain had stopped and the sun had come out I went for a short stroll, with Isabel in the rucksack carrier, in Glencruitten Woods to an excellent viewpoint over Oban Bay and Mull.

Kerrera

Distance: 12km; with Lynsey & Isabel

See route in new window

Today was the day that the weather broke and became more typical of previous trips to the west coast, i.e. overcast and rainy! We decided to go and explore the island of Kerrera, which had a route in our All-Terrain Pushchair walks book. The small ferry was designed to carry the occasional vehicle, so we had no trouble wheeling Isabel on in her pushchair.

We set off walking soon after 10:30am and it was drizzling intermittently. There were good views across the Sound of Kerrera as we followed the vehicle track around to the Kerrera Tea Garden. Luckily this also had an indoor room, so we were able to get out of the rain. By the time we had finished our good lunch the rain had pretty much stopped so we wandered down the grassy track towards Gylen Castle, which we admired from the pretty bay of Port a'Chaisteil.

After returning to the tea garden we continued on a less good vehicle track to the house at Ardmore. From here we headed north on a rough track, which required the front wheel to be locked and occasionally having to lift or wheelbarrow the pushchair over some of the more tricky obstacles. However the ride must have been comfortable as Isabel remained asleep throughout!

By the time we reached the vehicle track at Barnabuck, it was raining again and it continued to rain for the remainder of the walk. We followed the vehicle track eastwards back to the jetty to wait for the return ferry, which is when Isabel woke up. All in all it was a good walk with some good views despite the weather!

Cruachan Horseshoe

Distance: 14km; Ascent: 1770m; Solo

See route in new window

It was now my turn to have a day out in the hills, so I opted for a round of the Cruachan Horseshoe given that it included my closest unclimbed munros (along with some munro tops and a corbett).  I set off from the road at around 10am and began the steep ascent up through the woods; it was already quite warm so the ascent was hard work!

Eventually I reached the track below the dam and soon started to ascend up onto the the south ridge of Meall Cuanail (Munro top), whose summit I reached at midday.  It was very windy here, but there were excellent views of Ben Cruachan and out to the west towards Mull, Morvern & Lismore.  I descended over rocky ground down to the bealach before ascending the south ridge of Ben Cruachan; the first 50m or so were up a scree path; this was then followed by areas of boulder fields.  I reached the summit of Ben Cruachan (Munro) at around 1pm and had lunch enjoying the excellent views north along Loch Etive towards the Glencoe hills and Ben Nevis.  There was barely any wind on the summit and in the other directions I could make out Jura, Rum and the Cairngorms.

I descended the east ridge, scrambling down a small gulley and continuing past an awkward slab to eventually reach the summit of Drochaid Ghlas (Munro top) soon after 2pm.  I continued heading east to climb up to the summit of my second munro of the day, Stob Diamh (Munro).  Again the windy was quite strong on the ascent, especially in the bealach, but it was quite calm on the summit itself.  The views from here were excellent, especially looking across toward Ben Lui and neighbouring hills.

I descened the south ridge and reascended to reach the summit of Stob Garbh (Munro top), with the sun still shining.  I continued south and descended to the bealach.  From here, Beinn a'Bhuiridh presented a uniformly steep unpleasant looking slope, which I slowly picked my way up.  Eventually, I reached the summit of Beinn a'Bhuiridh (Corbett) shortly before 4:30pm.  After briefly taking in the view, I hurried back down to the road to meet Lynsey & Isabel, where I arrived at 5:45pm after an excellent day in the hills.