Over The Hill

The weather forecast for Wednesday was not too promising, a lot of rain, possibly heavy, and a few sunny periods, so the phone calls on Tuesday evening left us all a little doubtful about the Wednesday walk. But, what the heck, what's a little rain, so come the morning it was up the A82 with Cruach Ardrain in our sights.

We parked up in the large lay by just south of Crianlarich and set of with a light drizzle to keep us cool, but not enough to warrant getting the jackets out, for the moment anyway. We followed the farm track passing under the railway via the sheep-creep and across the substantial bridge over the River Falloch and onwards up the track heading along the west bank of the river and into Coire Earb. We were heading for a much older and now disused bridge which crosses the River Falloch at the end of the forest on the opposite bank of the river. This bridge and the track leading to it is still shown on the OS 25000 maps, but lack of use means that the track is now no more than a stony scar on the river bank, and the start can be easily missed as it branches from the main track. Thankfully, however, the bridge was still intact, as the river was carrying quite a bit of water, and crossing it by any other means may have been difficult.

Once over the river and onto the hillside that leads to Grey Height its just a matter of picking the best route uphill through the long grass and very wet and boggy hillside. There is a path of sorts if you keep close to the forest boundary fence line, which we did on the return, but there is little difference whichever option you choose, its still wet and boggy. As we reached the start of the ridge below Grey Height we did then pick up and follow the ridge path as it twists and turns over the numerous knolls and humps en route to Grey Height. It was about this point that our luck with the weather ran out, and the rain we had been watching creeping up Glen Falloch from the south caught up with us and decided we needed a good soaking, just to let us know its still summer!

The path climbs steadily along the ridge, and through the rain, mist and cloud we eventually caught our first sight of Meall Dhamh, at 814m, a rocky bulk of a top with a small uninspiring cairn marking its summit. There is a steep drop of 50m from the top, down a narrow twisting path to the bealach and small lochans below before the path again ascends steeply onto the slopes of Cruach Ardrain.

From the 850m height, we followed a clear path which contoured around the slopes of Cruach Ardrain, and after a while swung uphill again to meet up with the main path before crossing the summit top northeast to the large cairn marking the true summit. It was a wet and windy summit upon which we did not dwell for too long, except to discuss our possible return options, (A) via Stob Garbh (B) dropping down into Coire Earb and the River Falloch, or (C) retracing our steps for a linear walk. Given the weather and expected boggy conditions in the lower glens, we opted for option C, and so set off on the return trip.

As is often the case, just as we were leaving the summit, we did get a break in the weather, at least the rain was lighter and the cloud base lifted above 1000m for the first time today, probably blown along by the the stronger winds we were now encountering. Anyway, the brighter skies gave me a chance to get a few photos to go with this report.

I was a fairly leisurely return along the ridge, or maybe we were just delaying the wet boggy section below Grey Height. At least the heavy rain held of, and we did get back to the car in a dryer state then when we left in the morning.

Another great day in the hills, and for our watering stop we tried out the newly refurbished and just opened Loch Lomond Arms Hotel in Luss, and it didn't disappoint, its a nice place, and well worth a visit.

Thanks Alan, Lawrie and David, a really enjoyable day.