Ben Bheoil from the South West

The day dawned wet and windy, I had a lie in until 10am when it cleared up a little. My first summit, Beinn Bheoil, was the only summit that week to give all round clear views, ironic for it was also the wettest day of the trip. Ben Alder seemed to trap the rain behind it giving me some nice dry weather here. Back to my rucksac and it was now up to Ben Alder.

The plateau up here is one of the most serious and vast in the Highlands in winter conditions, the top was reached in slight drizzle and it was now lunch time. The wind was light so lunch wasn’t too uncomfortable, clouds hinting at moving away but never did in the end. I set my compass and then walked on packing my compass into my pocket, big mistake that. I subsequently drifted south from my course and it was only after coming out of the mist that I realised I was in the worng glen. The loch out to the left I thought was Loch Ossian but the other features were inconsistent with the map. It was then I realised that it was Loch Ericht I saw, I subsequently corrected myself and the mistake cost me an hour of my time.

The weather seemed to be two hours of rain with two minute dry spells in between. The sunshine over Leum Ulleum to the west never got any closer and the weather never changed from then on that day. I reached the next ridge when the weather was dry. The bealach was just under the cloud and I thought I could see a bright bit to the north. My next summit awaited and it started raining. It’s O.K. I thought it will be over quickly; why does that never happen? Instead I had horrible torrential rain for over an hour while on the main ridge which numbed my hands and made me miserable.

I reached the final summit and continued to the next bealach before descending north into Coire na Coichille. The rain stopped while my tent was set up but then continued after that. It seems that the rain does have some kindness after all.

It still rained and I had my lie in as usual. It cleared slightly and I made the opportunity to pack away and get back on to the ridge. It then started raining once more. I had a theory that the Ben Alder forest Munros were acting as a rain barrier and that the rain would subsequently be less bad around Loch Pattack. My theory was correct in the end.

I reached Geal Gharn and made no slip-ups with compass navigation this time for I had to locate the precise ridge route off with cliffs lining either side of the plateaux there. In the end I drifted 100m to the south due to a large mossy bog getting in my way. The stream exit on the plateaux acted as a good reference with which to locate the ridge. After locating the ridge it stopped raining but the mists yielded no views.

The final summit was reached with little effort before dropping down to Loch Pattack. The view back to the Ben Alder forest was grand, bleak and wild. I now was to head for a stream flowing off the slopes of The Fara. From there I had a dry evening, something I’ve missed for over two days.

The day stayed dry all day but the mist cunningly knew when I was nearing the summits. Both summits were clear until just before and after I reached the summits. The Fara is a very long and level ridge but broad all the way, it was subsequently a dull plod with no suprises in the mist. The descent brought me out of the mist and for the first time I saw civilisation and the characteristic rounded summits which dominate the Grampians. The Fara is only for those who are keen.

I was glad to be in Dalwhinnie for it had been five days since I had any fruit pastilles and I loved them! It was lunch time and the day was warm. I was to retrace the steps I left in May along the aqueduct and then climb Meall Cuaich. Hydroelectric engineers were out working on Loch Cuaich and I left my sack before hiking up to the summit and back again. I hoped for views this time and I thought that maybe there were mist generators activated when I got too close to my target.

Next day started cloudy but got better and better during the day, I was left in Perth waiting for four hours for my dad to arrive. The day was excellent and was a shame that we weren’t walking that day. So far I was bang on Schedule.

It was a bright though hazy day, the winds from the south west were strengthening through the day and we were heading south west. This proved to be tiresome for my dad. I was glad to have a shower and clean clothes at the youth hostel, I had a bad nights sleep due to lots of snorers in the Youth Hostel. Morrone was scarred with radio mast and a few other buildings, but the ridge to An Socath left all that behind, the distance was accentuated by the haze.

The going was a mix of deep heather on the low bealach and pleasant short heather the rest of the way with rocks on the high tops. One summit, Sgurr Mor had a sizeable cairn even though it wasn’t even a Corbett, nice summit though. The forecast rain seemed as though it would be coming in earlier than predicted. I knew Storm force winds were expected for next day so we were glad to find a sheltered spot high up at the head of Glen Ey.

The rain beat down at 6am so I had my now routine lie in until 10pm, I set off when the rain stopped while dad was left to recover from blisters. The gales had blown away leaving just strong winds on the summits. The going low down was tough up to Loch nan Eun but the place was very wild and desolate just like near Loch Ossian but with the summits more heathery and closer together.

Frequent showers dominated the early afternoon but I found a wind shelter on Carn an Righ to have my lunch in. Just as I reached the final summit the clouds cleared completely giving vast views across the empty Glen Geldie and Dee to the main Cairngorm group. The air was crystal clear and views fantastic. The day ended on an upbeat note though we were behind the planned schedule.

I realised that doing all the summits as planned wouldn’t work with dads fitness, so I replanned the walk to omit summits that could be climbed easily another time. Today I didn’t have a lie in. Carn Bhac was reached after a lot of desolate moorland walking and the final destination for the day could now be seen. A shower set in but proved to be the only one today as we made our way down to the infant Glen tilt.

A band of blue sky persisted over this glen while clouds wreathed the surrounding summits. The walk down was pleasant next to the river though the Glen was very gusty and seemed to funnel winds spilling over from the Tarf valley. The Tarf valley was wide and remote and would take an easy day to reach the nearest road from here.

While pushing on in to a tiring gale, an adder slid effortlessly past me, this was the first wild snake I’d ever seen. We were in the remotest part of the Grampians; far more remote than the Cairngorm summits. It stayed dry during the night except for isolated showers.

Ben a' Ghlo from Carn Ealar

Beinn Dearg from Carn Ealar

Today weather wise was a lot better, I had good clear views on both summits and they were the finest I’ve ever had this trip so far. On the way up to the connecting bealach we saw two otters which is a privilege as they are apparently quite rare. A heather bank collapsed when dad tried to cross a stream leaving him soaked, the accident led to a sprained ankle for him and to that end he had to curtail his trip the next day. It was the most inconvenient place to have an accident as we were as remote as can be from the nearest road. He could walk none the less so while he rested at the bealach I climbed each summit before we headed north into Glen Geldie.

Despite the sprain he still made fast progress down the Geldie burn to the next main river junction. High cloud moving in from the west warned us of more rain to come but I was glad with the reasonable weather so far. The western highlands were faring a lot worse though with rain every day and cloud down to 300m according to Radio Scotland.