Over The Hill

It's probably indicative of the weather this summer, that after descending a hillside for 3 hours in light rain and drizzle, which at times had a distinctly cold feeling about it, we drew the conclusion that the weather had been kinder to us than that which was forecast for the day! I'm not too sure whether my fellow walkers turned up irrespective of the weather forecast, or out of pure curiosity as to this rather unusual route for an ascent of Ben Oss; whichever, thanks for your company.

The route from Glen Falloch makes use of two Hydro access tracks in adjacent glens, and we set off from the northern-most track winding uphill to pass under the WHR before contouring the hillside above the railway and onto the southern hillside of Fionn Ghleann, where the track abruptly ends at a small hydro dam built over the Allt Fionn Ghlinne.

Along the way, we had our first sightings of the two Munros that would dominate the landscape of the walk, Beinn Dubhchraig and Ben Oss. Surprisingly, given that the weather forecast had been for a cloud base of 600m or less, both tops were completely clear of cloud, which sat in a very thick layer of dull grey, somewhat above the tops, probably around the 1200m height. Could this possibly last and give us a cloud-free summit?

Beyond the dam, the glen rises very gently for the next 1.5 kilometres, as you wander along the grass and reed lined banks of the river towards the rising ground at Sput Ban where the river tumbles over the rock bed in a series of waterfalls of various degrees as you climb towards yet another flatter area at around the 500m level. Here, the river turns through 90 degrees flowing directly from, the as yet unseen, Loch Oss, some 2 kilometres ahead. The ground rises a mere 140 metres over these 2 kilometres, creating a series of small grassy ridges, the approach to each one upon which you expect to reveal Loch Oss, only to be disappointed as yet another ridge appears a few metres ahead.

It is not until you stand on the final grassy ridge that suddenly, right in front of you is Loch Oss, and the mystery as to why it remains invisible right until the last moment is revealed; the final ridge is at 640 metres height, with only the slightest of drop beyond, less than a contour, probably only 5 or 6 metres, but it is in this bowl that Loch Oss sits, nestling there unseen until you step onto it's very shoreline.

Walking anti-clockwise around the shoreline to the northern side of the loch the ground rises once again to a stream that enters the loch from the northwest, flowing down from an obvious gully which leads directly to the 941m un-named east top of Ben Oss; this would be our ascent route. But not before we took advantage of the dry, but slightly cooler conditions for a well earned lunch break alongside the stream.

Climbing up the steep grassy gully from Loch Oss to the 941m top is in complete contrast to the long, but very gradual ascent that is made from the starting point via Sput Ban and all the way to Loch Oss; but what should we expect, we are taking on a Munro after all. Thankfully, the ascent is short, and we are soon making our way steadily up the rocky final section to the summit cairn at 1029m; and surprisingly enough, a new Munro for Jimmy; this one having eluded him for some time. Despite the grey cloud hanging over our heads, we still had a wonderful panorama around us as we gazed over the distant tops; but not for long, as we observed the misty rain slowly making its way towards us; we were about to see the last of the dry weather.

About 2 kilometres south of the summit of Ben Oss a track emerges out of nowhere on the hillside, and it was to this point we descended, initially over the rocky upper slopes of the southern ridge of Ben Oss before taking to a good grassy ridge alongside a steep gully which leads directly towards the start of this obscure track which in turn continues on downhill to the hydro dam and pipeline on the Allt nan Caorainn. From here, an excellent hydro access track follows the southern hillside along Gleann nan Caorann and zigzags steeply down Troisgeach Bheag, this time passing under the WHR and back to the A82, leaving us with a very short 100 metre walk back along the roadside to our start point.

A day in which we were grateful for the weather we had, not great, but it could have been a lot worse if it had turned out as forecast.

Once again, thanks for you company - Enjoyable as ever.