Over The Hill

Last week as we enjoyed the views from the summit of Beinn Dorain and looked northeast towards the snow-clad tops of Beinn a'Chuirn and Beinn Mhanach the seed was sown for a future walk through Auch Gleann. By "future" I had assumed it may be sometime in the summer as it would involve a walk of about 20kms, thereby stretching the limits of daylight hours in wintertime.

However, via a few emails and phone calls during the week, Beinn Mhanach surfaced as the preferred walk for today, and so here we were, making our way along the well maintained estate track passing Auch Lodge and under the curving span of the viaduct as it carries the WHR around in a long loop below the base of Beinn Odhar, over the Allt Kinglass and on below the base of Beinn Dorain as it winds is way towards Bridge of Orchy. Contrary to the weather forecast, it was a beautiful morning with clear blue skies and the air was quite still; so much so, that we found ourselves stopping to discard layers and stuff them into our rucksacks before we had gone too far along the track.

Last weeks snow had all but disappeared as we transited the glen on the long walk-in. Long it may be, but certainly not boring. Auch Gleann is quite a delightful glen, lined on either side by the steep, and often craggy slopes of the surrounding mountains, Munros to the west and Corbetts to the east. Ahead, and clearly visible from the start of the walk, our destination, Beinn Mhanach and its twin top, Beinn a'Chuirn lit up by the bright winters sun. Behind us, looking back over the A82 we could clearly see Ben Lui, which still held some snow in it's uppermost crags. And if that wasn't enough to keep the concentration, the track crisscrosses the Allt Kinglass a total of seven times en route to the base of Beinn Mhanach. In fairness, it should be said that all of the crossings were very straightforward as the water levels remain quite low, even this late in the year.

The grassy slopes of Beinn Mhanach are steep and trackless, therefore once the estate track is left behind, it is simply a matter of head down and keep plodding upwards towards the large dome that forms the summit plateau. As we climbed we realised we were in a race against the lumbering mist that was coming at us from the direction of Ben Lui, looked like the weather forecast was catching up with us. As we reached the summit, I quickly moved across to the north edge and grabbed a photo or two of Beinn a'Chreachain, still bathed in sunshine, but sadly, as I then moved towards the east edge, hoping for some views over Loch Lyon the mist caught up with me, it was that quick, and suddenly the whole summit was covered in a blanket of drifting mist. And so it remained, obscuring any further views. Nevertheless, we had had a great walk-in and were happy enough to be on the summit.

After a spot of lunch, we decided to take in the adjacent Munro Top of Beinn a'Chuirn and make our return to the estate track from there. And so, an easy walk, albeit, by compass bearings, took us down through the mist towards the 849m bealach and a very short ascent soon found us at the small cairn marking the summit of this outlier. The route directly south from this summit is very craggy, and so we swung south east for a little before turning south and descending on the ridge above the gully carrying the Allt a'Chuirn as it flows from it source at the 849m bealach.

Back on the estate track, we now had the longish walk-out back to our cars. But again, this glen proved a very worthwhile walk, as we made our way passed the ruins that mark long-gone inhabitants, one of whom was the poet Duncan Ban MacIntyre, whose poem Beinn Dorain I quoted at the start of last weeks report - strange how one walk can link to another.

This was a great day, thanks everyone.

And here is a thought for that summer walk - make it a "two-car" and we can start at Achallader Farm, up to Coire Daingen, loop around to Beinn Mhanach and walk back out Auch Gleann!