Over The Hill

What a contrast to our walk 2 weeks ago on Cruach Ardrain, then we had bright sunshine and clear blue skies; today we have a reasonably thick covering of snow, a bitter cold wind, and low, hanging mist; thankfully the snow plough had done its work and cleared the Green Wellie car park and so parking was not a problem.

Taking to the West Highland Way, we left Tyndrum and headed along the track until we were a short distance beyond the footbridge over the West Highland Railway, at which point we started a steady ascent of the south southwest ridge of Beinn Odhar. A grassy ridge, with a slight covering of new snow, which in some parts had drifted to a metre in depth, which rises just steeply enough to get the legs working and the lungs filled with the cool morning air.

The weather played games with us, one moment offering a glimpse of blue skies, the next, blanketing everything in a low mist; and, to add to the mixture, a chill wind, which became quite bitter the higher we climbed.

Approaching the old mine around the 650-700m height, the snow and grassy slopes gave way to snow covered rock which remained the case for the final climb towards the flat open summit, upon which sits a fairly large cairn, marking this 901m Corbett. We scuttled towards the edge of the plateau to find some shelter from the wind in which to take our break and to catch the occasional glimpse of the surrounding tops of Beinn Dorain and Beinn a'Chaisteil.

It was a short break, and we were soon on our descent, taking the reverse route back down the ridge. Typically, although the wind stayed strong, the mist did rise shortly after we left the summit, giving us some lovely clear views of the snow covered summit.

A lovely hill, and some snow thrown in just to add some character - a great days walking - Thanks Ian.