Bagging, Bells and Bovine friends - The Inveraray Meet. 

Dun Leacainn, Beinn Ghlas, Cruach Tairbeirt, Beinn Eunaich, Beinn a’Chochuill, Beinn Bhuidhe, Ben Cruachan, Stob Diamh, Beinn a’ Bhùiridh, the Brack, Cnoc Coinnich, Stob Coire Creagach, Beinn Mhic Monaidh and, finally, Dùn na Cuaiche (all 253m of it) were the hills of various denominations climbed by our determined band over the weekend of the Inveraray meet. I think that gives a tally of 5 munros, 5 corbetts, 3 Marilyns and 1 Tump.

Our party arrived at Inveraray Hostel  to be greeting by a table groaning under the weight of bottles and a feast in preparation in the kitchen. This was not for us, unfortunately.  We were sharing the hostel with a party of fourteen female campanologists from other parts of Scotland and beyond, who had come to ring the bells in Inveraray Bell Tower. The tower was built by the Duke of Argyll as a memorial to the  Clan Campbell members who lost their lives in the the First World War. The peal of ten bells is considered to be the finest toned peal of bells in Scotland and attracts bands of bell ringers from across the UK.

We didn’t hear our campanologists efforts, because we had hills to climb.

 Dan writes:

Clear conditions were forecast, but strong winds threatened to thwart our plans. Myself and Irene travelled early on Friday morning to climb Beinn Eunaich and Beinn a’Chochuill. It was a very steep climb to get onto Eunaich’s south ridge and strong gusts slowed progress. Happily however the tops were without much wind at all.  It was then on to the Inveraray Hostel with our small group sharing with the large group of campanologists. I am not sure which group had the nerdiest evening chatter. 

On Saturday with Irene and prospective member, Sarah we decided to try for Beinn Bhuidhe. It was a pleasant stroll down Glen Fyne with another steep climb from Inverchorachan. It was another sunny clear day with winds gusting 30mph but very pleasant in shelter. A motorway not shown on our paper map gave a quicker descent. It was nice company back at the hostel and out for dinner before a stroll round Inveraray. 

On Sunday a more restful stroll up a 250m lump above Inveraray castle and homeward bound. Lovely company, lovely hills, lovely sun.

 Steve writes:

Steve took advantage of being in Inveraray to bag a brace of Marilyns a few miles away near Furness.  The first, Dun Leacainn benefited from new tracks through what had previously been heavy forestry defences, and afforded tremendous views north and south along Loch Fyne.  The second, Beinn Ghlas was more retiring with poor access, and is not recommended.

On Sunday Steve took in the Marilyn of Cruach Tairbeirt for which a good path led from the free car path at Arrochar and Tarbet station. The summit was a great viewpoint from Loch Lomond and the Arrochar Alps.  He heartily recommends it as an opportunity to stretch the legs if passing.

 Arthur writes:

Robin and I squeezed our cars into a pull off on the B8077 opposite the track leading to some disused quarries at the foot of Beinn à Bhùiridh beside Ben Cruachan. Granite from the quarries was used to build viaducts on the West Highland Railway and the track that we followed is actually the bed of a standard gauge branch line from the Callander to Oban Railway, which zig-zags to climb to different levels of the quarries. We found some remains of the track bed in the quarries.

A steep pull up Monadh Driseig took us to the unexpectedly broad ridge of the summit cone of Beinn à Bhùiridh - probably not a bad thing in the strong, gusty wind. We wandered along the knobbly ridge to the summit cairn taking in great views of neighbouring Ben Cruachan with Mull and Jura to the west.  An uneventful descent allowed for some good photographs of a herd of Highland cows with calves. Although I did keep a respectful distance as the bull had his beady eye on us.

Saturday saw us head for the Brack and recently (2016) elevated Corbett, Cnoc Coinnich. A steepish pull up the Brack’s NW ridge to the summit gave us fine views over to the Cobbler and the other Arrocher Alps summits. Cnoc Coinnich gave the better views over looking lochs Long, Goil, Eck and Gare loch. My compatriot was most miffed when two Glaswegian ladies we met on the summit suggested that Inverness was too far from the hills and that Glasgow had much better access to the hills. (You do the maths - it is not clear cut!). He was mollified, though, by meeting with and talking to, a couple of Duke of Edinburgh groups and two Countryside Rangers who were about to deal with an inappropriate camp fire.

We parted ways on Sunday and I headed for a pleasant stroll up Beinn Mhic Mhonaidh in Glen Orchy, before braving the whacky races of motorbikes and meandering holiday traffic on the A82.

 Robin writes:

Mission accomplished - bagging Stob Coire Creagach on Sunday. The summit is a mere 1.5 km from the parking area as the raven flies (and yes, there was one) but with a 600m height gain, starting height in Glen Kinglas being around 180M. The GPS tells me I walked 2.82 km to cover the 1.5 km straight-line distance, thanks to my customary zigzagging and general jouking aboot, but I still managed to summit ten minutes faster than the Corbetts book suggested (1hr 30m instead of 1hr 40m) so not too bad. The route is relentlessly steep straight from the roadside, then eases off a bit as you enter Coire Creagach, after which you are faced with a confusing array of steep ground and broken crags, but it's not as bad as it looks, and a way through is easily found, though it would be a very different proposition in mist. From the small cairn marking the top, it was possible to see Beinn a'Bhuiridh, the Brack, Cnoc Coinnich and Inveraray itself, which was nice. No escaping the roar of the motorbikes racing down from the Rest and Be Thankful however. With more time the continuation west along the ridge to the trig on Binnein an Fhidhleir would have been well worthwhile.

On Sunday, Sarah headed for the round of Ben Cruachan and Stob Daimh to round off her weekend. she says “ Such a great day: a brilliant circuit!”

Taking part: Dan, Irene, Steve, Robin, Arthur and prospective member, Sarah

Words: Dan, Steve, Robin, and Arthur

Photos; Dan, Irene, Steve, Robin and Arthur