Beinn Suidhe.

A quick phone call midweek and we had a booking for 4 folk at Glasgow University`s tiny hut at Clashgour near Bridge of Orchy.Bob was suffering from a ligament problem and doesn`t really fancy bigger stuff anymore sadly which left Scott,Gavin,Graham and myself to set off from Glasgow at 6.00pm.A stop for fish suppers in Balloch (interesting nightlife there Bob..! ) meant that it was nearly 9.00pm when we pulled into the car park at Forest Lodge.On with the headtorches and sacks and we sped into Clashgour.


I had never actually seen inside it before and any hopes I harboured that it would resemble the Tardis spacewise were immediately knocked on the head on opening the door :)


Nevertheless we got the fire going with the 10kg of coal we had carried in,opened the wine and settled in for the night.Went to bed at the reasonably early time for us of 1.30am mainly due to the fact that the wine supply had disappeared mysteriously.Probably Gavin`s fault...just look at the evil grin staring down from the upstairs sleeping quarters....


Alarms went off at 7am and we had a quick cup of coffee whilst watching a rather nice sunrise over Beinn an Dothaidh and Beinn Dorain.....


Scott and Graham headed of for Stob Ghabhar shortly after while I graciously gave Gavin an extra half hour to recover from his hangover.My plan had been to do the circuit of Beinn Suidhe,Beinn a`Chuirn,Meall Tairbh and Beinn Inverveigh but a niggling sore toe convinced me to settle for an easy day on Beinn Suidhe alone which suited Gavin`s condition also :)

The bearded one and I set off eventually at about 9ish along the banks of the Abhainn Shira where there were huge slabs of ice littering the path,a remnant of the big freeze a few weeks ago.
The bridge over the Allt Ghabhar at NN 238 420 has been removed for safety reasons by the estate but it was easy enough to get across the stepping stones today.Along the riverside to the bridge over the Abhainn Shira and across onto the track heading for Glen Kinglas.


It was pretty nippy in the shade but the sunshine,as predicted, was now on the hills above.
We carried on westwards until a gate on the left gave access to a path leading to the gap betwen Tom Liath and Beinn Suidhe itself.From there it was a steep ascent weaving through the outcrops up to Pt.636.No rush though and we stopped on numerous occasions to admire the views as they opened out.It really was a fine day.

Stob Coir an Albannaich....


The snowfields across to the summit were crisp and a pleasure to walk upon unlike Auchtertyre Hill a few weeks previously.We surprised a lovely hill fox halfway across and he trotted off down to Glen Kinglas having been denied a ptarmigan supper by our appearance.We did however leave him a compensatory corned beef sandwich in case he came back over later.

Stob Ghabhar...


What a great summit for views.! All the way round from a cloud covered Loch Awe,Cruachan,Kinglas and Etive hills,Stob Ghobhar,Rannoch Moor and the Bridge of Orchy hills..fantastic :) We dithered around for the best part of an hour before a slight wind got up and the cold chased us off.

Glas Bheinn Mhor...


The clouds had been hanging around the hills to the east of Bridge of Orchy all morning .....



The return was made down the western slopes as it looked like the frozen surface of Loch Dochard and the late afternoon light might provide some good photos.....


The sounds coming off the frozen loch were amazing.The ice was creaking,groaning and crashing....





Back along the path,just around the Allt Suil na Curra we were treated to a close up of a golden eagle being hassled by a couple of ravens.I`ve never seen one this low before.

The stepping stones over the Abhainn Shira with Beinn Suidhe behind...



A few more stops along the riverbank and we were soon back at the hut just 10 minutes after Scott and Graham.