Glen Lyon

In contrast to Knoydart, our outing last Saturday to climb Carn Gorm, Meall Garbh, Carn Maury and Meall nan Soybean was not quite so idyllic!
The sun was shining as we headed north up the Invervar Burn to climb northwest up grassy slopes to the summit of Carn Gorm. The strong wind forecast for later in the day was already blowing, carrying with it flurries of snow, and we trudged on in deteriorating visibility. Snow ceded to rain, and the views which make this high level circuit a joy were sadly non existent. By the time we reached the summit of Carn Mairg the wind was blowing around 35-40mph, so we decided to descend by Allt Coire a Chearcaill to Invervar over sodden ground. I think we all enjoyed ourselves, despite the challenging conditions!

Knoydart

The weather recently has been pretty dismal so I thought I'd cheer everyone up with a couple of photos taken in Knoydart at the beginning of April. Perfect conditions for a brief trip to this glorious part of Scotland to climb Ladhar Bheinn. At sea level the sun was warm though quite a cold breeze blew, and from the top we had a wonderful 360 degree vista of snow topped mountains, interspersed with plumes of smoke rising from many small hill fires.

Beinn Chabhair

Yet another beautiful day at the end of February saw Richard and I toiling up the side of the Ben Glas waterfall in warm spring sunshine en route to Beinn Chabhair. There was real heat in the sun which was already beginning to melt the frosted moorland and the ice in the burn by the time we stopped for a breather
at Lochain Beinn Chabhair. A steep climb took us on to the north west ridge of the mountain where deep pockets of hard packed snow and some icy sections on the north facing slopes meant a careful progression to the summit cairn. Blue skies, pristine snow and sunshine, and fantastic views! We descended along the ridge to Lochain a' Chaisteil and back down the side of Ben Glas waterfall where we had the pleasure of meeting Benji, a handsome ginger and white cat, taking a stroll up the hill with his two young companions. Safe on a lead, he seemed to be enjoying his day just as much as we had.

Lochgoilhead

The very next day Jane, Rob and I took to the hills again, driving to Lochgoilhead to climb 2 Grahams to the north of Beinn Bheula - Beinn Lochain and Stob na Boone Druim-fhinn. Fine weather once again, though to say we had a few problems negotiating fallen trees at the start of our climb would be an understatement! After a struggle we reached open ground and a steep climb up the south east ridge of Beinn Lochain. Eventually we reached a grassy col and from there it was only a short climb to the summit cairn. It was too cold to hang about for long so we headed north over grassy slopes to our second Graham of the day, and our descent to Lettermay, thankfully via a proper firebreak this time.  Another very enjoyable day with Rob reaching the halfway mark of his Graham count!

Luss hills

Last Thursday I spent the day climbing 3 Grahams with Jane, Rob and Derek. The weather was still holding as we completed a very enjoyable circuit of Beinn Eich, Cruach an t-Sidhein and Doune Hill from the head of Glen Luss. A great walk, and good to catch up on all the chat!

Ben Vorlich

The next day we decided to climb Ben Vorlich up the south east ridge from Inveruglas. Once again the conditions could not have been better as we climbed steeply away, over rough ground, from the Loch Slot track. I like this route up the hill, and today the sun shone on the snow covered ridge all the way to the summit where, once again, we had fantastic views to savour.

Arrochar Alps

What fantastic weather it has been lately for some hillwalking so, not wanting to drive very far, I headed off to Arrochar with a couple of folk to climb Beinn Ime. Conditions were perfect as we climbed steeply up the path from Succoth to Bealach a' Mhaim. The Cobbler looked magnificent in the sunshine and hard frost ensured the bealach was not as boggy as usual, making for easy progress to the slopes of Beinn Ime. Still quite a lot of snow cover on the upper slopes, hard packed and icy in places, and great views to enjoy as we grabbed a quick sandwich at the top before heading down.