Over The Hill

We have often stood atop Ben Reoch or Tullich Hill and gazed upon Beinn Bhreac and promised ourselves that we would include Beinn Bhreac in a future walk. Well, following almost 16 weeks since last setting foot on a significant hillside, we decided to celebrate the lifting of the 5 mile lockdown restrictions by recce'ing a post lockdown walk on Beinn Bhreac and Ben Reoch from a starting point at Invergroin in Glen Douglas.

A slightly overcast morning, dry and with a light breeze set the weather for our walk as we left the small parking area just to the east of Tullich Farm at Invergroin and onto to a slightly wet, but well defined ATV track which skirted the west side of the forest and onto the open hillside. The ATV track continued for some distance beyond the forest boundary and made for fairly easy going over the grassy hillside as we headed directly for the summit of Beinn Bhreac.

Higher up the hillside, as the ATV track swung away to our left, we started to ascend the slightly steeper slopes on the final approach to the summit area. Here it became obvious that the ATV track had been created during the building of a substantial new fenceline which now runs around the hillside just below the summit of Beinn Bhreac, necessitating a very short detour along the fenceline to get to a gate, through which we were able to make the final approach to the Trig Point marking the 681m summit of Beinn Bhreac.

This was a new summit for all three of us, and no one was disappointed. We were all quite stunned by the views it offered for almost the entire length of Loch Lomond, looking to our right southwards to the islands and the broad expanse of water that is the southern end of the loch, and northwards, along the much narrower expanse enclosed by much steeper hillsides as we looked north towards Ardlui. And, not just the views of Loch Lomond, eastwards, Ben Lomond filled the landscape directly in front of us, while, turning westwards, the Arrochar Alps rose above the nearby hilltop of Tullich Hill.

Nothwithstanding the views, this summit has character, the summit itself being a rocky knoll surrounded to the east by numerous rocky outcrops, some with great fissures splitting the rock above ground, and others going deep into the ground as we stood gazing down into them. I would rate this as one of the most interesting and scenic tops within our local hills, a real charming summit, and one which must surely be a certainty for future walks.

A broad grassy ridge runs north northwest for just short of 3kms from Beinn Bhreac to the summit of Ben Reoch, dropping en route to a 525m bealach, before climbing over a 632m top and finally onto the 661m summit of Ben Reoch. A second, new fence has been erected along the general line of the ridge, which blocks direct access to the rocky outcrop at 632m, and, whilst we could have climbed over this fence, we decided to remain to the east of the fence, bypassing the 632m top and headed directly for the summit of Ben Reoch, where our second stop of the day was somewhat curtailed due to a swarm of small black flies and the dreaded midge, obviously enjoying the slightly humid and calm conditions prevailing around Ben Reoch.

It had always been our intention to return direct from Ben Reoch, although we did consider the probability that on another day we may well head from Reoch to Tullich Hill and the additional 300m ascent that would entail to make this a fine circular walk; but as I say, that is for another day.

We retraced our steps towards the 525m bealach before make a generally south southwest contouring descent across the hillside heading for the forest boundary from where we had started the days ascent. Although not difficult, this was the one point in the day when we just ploughed through tufted grass, some reed beds, a section of quite short bracken, a few grassy gullys carrying the water off the mountainside down to the river flowing in the glen below, and yet another new fenceline!.

This was a fantastic walk, and a fitting start to what, hopefully will be an expansion of our walking options for the remainder of the summer.

Brilliant day, in the company of two fine chaps! Thanks

Note: For anyone interested in the route - none of the fences mentioned in my report are shown on the OS maps. The fences are only about 1 metre in height, but are topped with barbed wire. The gate below the trig point is the only point of access, otherwise, it is a climb over the fence.