Cnoc Coinnich. A New Scottish Corbett. Lochgoilhead in Winter.

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A day out on a newly promoted Corbett above Lochgoilhead, an isolated but beautiful village on a sea loch situated west of Arrochar and Loch Lomond. We passed The Cobbler, seen here, on the way and knew it was going to be a stunning winter outing of crystal clear blue skies and snow covered peaks.

Beinn an Lochain, 901 metres, rising high above the steep sided valley of Glen Croe. Impressive metal fences line the road here to prevent further land slides as this road has been blocked several times in past years due to increased rainfall causing mud and rock slides down the mountains. A long detour is the only option when that happens.

A Glen Croe view of The Cobbler cliffs and Ardgartan Arete. A classic severe rock climb in summer up the left hand peak in the first photo. You can just see a tiny person near the summit in this one (middle of skyline ridge.)

Lochgoilhead and Loch Goil. I was here with my friend John who is collecting Corbett's but both of us were surprised to see ice sheets forming on this sheltered fjord like sea loch. It hadn't reached the shoreline yet and was far too thin to walk on but you could see the process starting, probably as a result of several days of minus -5 to  minus -10 nights below zero in a row and static seawater with no wave action.

A dump of snow had also cooled the land, dropping daytime temperatures further. A view of Ben Cruachan here, one of the giants of the region at 1,126 metres, or 3, 694 feet, the highest summit in Argyll.

Our summit, Cnoc Coinnich, was a lowly Corbett at 763 metres, 2,505 feet, and had gained Corbett status after remeasuring. Like all west coast mountains though they give good value for that modest height with a sea level start point. Most of them are also steep sided and ringed with cliffs.

A view of a neighbouring small peak.

Down in the forests below the snow line we had also spotted a male pheasant in its bright plumage, an Indian introduction used as target practice all over the Scottish Highlands and Southern Uplands. Beautiful bird, as are all the game birds we shoot in Scotland. Could not believe how wonderful a partridge looks when I spotted one a few years ago for the first time. A doubled edged sword as they are only in this country thanks to an unlucky ability to shout their presence on taking off then flying poorly in a highly visible straight line and therefore far easier to hit than other, more evasive birds.

 Funny how we always manage to kill off or want to own the prettiest and most precious things in existence as a trophy. When you think about it these are the UK game equivalent of Birds of Paradise.

A view of The Cobbler, side on, from Cnoc Coinnich. The long distance foot path, The Cowal Way, travels through this district for around 90km from Portavadie to Loch Lomondside following a twisting line through this still largely unfrequented and mainly mountainous Cowal peninsula cut off by narrow sea lochs.
https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Cowal+Way  Info link and zoom in detailed map of the route here.

From the shoreline car park and public toilets in Lochgoilhead a signposted route leads up through pine woods and a small gorge to cross the high level pass over towards Arrochar. We followed this steeply uphill until it leveled out above the forest then made for the snow line and our summit slopes.

Although The Cobbler had visible hill-walkers moving on it and a usually crowded car park these days, this area has far less outdoor folk in general but there was a faint trail uphill through the snow created by Corbett baggers attracted to this peak. Anything under this list height is still largely trackless thankfully- few folk making it onto the lesser lists of hills as knees pack in, old age advances, or enthusiasm fades. A snowy Cowal Way high point in this photo above from the slopes of Cnoc Coinnich. A lone hardy winter backpacker meets two trail runners.

John on the uphill push. The snow was firm and consolidated in most places with just enough grip to avoid putting crampons on.

The upper slopes. Really good fun crunching up here and an easy enough angle without punishing the legs too much- ascent or descent.  This was just perfect for old guys looking for adventure without too much effort involved as some of the other hills in this district are really tough- especially in winter.

And fantastic views from the summit itself. Ben Lomond here.

Arrochar Alps. Beinn Ime, 1011 metres, ....probably. ( It was too cold to get the map out again at this point as I was enjoying some feeling returning back into my frozen fingers for once- winter summits and keen frequent photography makes for painful extremities most of the day when its ten below zero with any wind at height.)

On the summit and a happy John. Another Corbett bagged. I think he's about halfway through them now.

Watched this film a while ago (on Anne's recommendation) and didn't think I would like it ( I remembered the original Danny Kaye version- not so keen on that effort) ... so was pleasantly surprised when I did, mainly because of the spectacular outdoor scenes- some shot in Iceland. It also introduced me to the growing sport of long boarding (seen here) as a bored 9 to 5 city worker, at a turning point in his life, decides to track down action photographer Sean Penn when he goes missing on an assignment and discovers adventure outdoors for himself. Best watched full screen.