Over The Hill

A grey day, with persistent drizzle and a strong wind was forecast for the Kinlochleven area as we met up at Tarbet and decided, that despite the poor forecast, we would go ahead with Plan A and make Glas Bheinn, the 792m Corbett to the south of Loch Eilde Mor our target for today. Surprisingly the A82 was fairly quiet as we drove across Rannoch Moor and through Glen Coe before turning off towards Kinlochleven, where, upon arrival at the car park we had yet one more pleasant surprise awaiting us; there was actually the hint of blue skies above, no drizzle, and no breeze; maybe, just maybe, this fine spell would hold.

The track, up through the woodlands above Kinlochleven is rough and steep, but the advantage is, that you soon gain height, and as you leave the woodlands behind, the views back along the length of Loch Leven can be quite beautiful, even on a day like today, when only the lower tops were free of cloud, the higher Munros hidden under quite a thick blanket of dark heavy cloud. Following the fine moorland path we made good progress across the northern slopes of Meall an Doire Dharaich towards the western end of Loch Eilde Mor,

Some 18 month ago, a previous attempt to climb Glas Bheinn by Alan and the Cairn Dearg group had to be abandoned as hydro works around the loch prevented them crossing the outflow at the dam and accessing the southern side of the loch. Today all was fine, as the new dam structure is now finished, complete with a fine wooden bridge spanning the outflow directly above the dam; an impressive piece of work, and an ideal spot for a short break before continuing on our way.

Beyond the dam, we followed an old stalkers track which runs parallel to the shoreline before swinging east and climbing between the twin tops of Meall Beag and Meall na Duibhe towards the distant high point just below Meall na Cruaidhe from where the path then descends towards the waters of the Blackwater Reservoir. We stayed with the path, a little wet and boggy in places, but nevertheless a fine path across the hillside until it reached the 550m height where we left the path and headed across the rough heather hillside towards the summit of Glas Bheinn, still almost 2 kilometres away.

We had been lucky with the weather, which until this point had remained dry and reasonably clear, however as we walked the last few metres towards the summit cairn we were engulfed in a drifting mist, which brought with it a light drizzle and quite a cold wind, the mist unfortunately blocking any views we may have had from the summit. We found what shelter we could and had a short lunch break before checking our compass bearings and setting off through the mist on our return towards the stalkers path, where, back below the mist and drizzle we had a pleasant walk back towards the dam and finally onwards down through the woodlands into Kinlochleven.

Glas Bheinn proved to be a fine hill and well worth the effort for a pleasant day in the hills with the best of company - Thanks everyone.