Hills: Beinn na Gucaig, Doire Ban and Tom Meadhoin
Date: Saturday 5th February 2011
Company: Just myself
Time: 6Hrs 20Mins


I set off this morning to ascend Beinn na Gucaig from Lundavra.

I parked in a passing place a few hundred metres from the road end. There is a sign at the road end that advises – No Parking, vehicle turning only.

Click here to see a map of the route undertaken

I walked along the final stretch of road towards the farm. On reaching the farm, I followed a track parallel to the loch. I took a small detour just beyond the farm to avoid cattle and calves which were standing on the track. I'm glad Beinn wasn't with me today.

Beinn na Gucaig from start of walk:


I followed this track beyond the end of the loch until reaching a fence heading up towards the 450m col. I then followed the fence up the hill.

Ascent of Beinn na Gucaig:


Lochan Lunn Da-Bhra is a lovely loch. It reminded me of a small Loch Ossian.

Lochan Lunn Da-Bhra and Meall a'Chaorainn (of Mullach nan Coirean):


Beinn a Bheithir is quite prominent during the ascent of Beinn na Gucaig. It was capped in cloud much of the day as were other higher hills including Ben Nevis.

View towards Beinn a'Bheithir:


Beinn na Gucaig:


On reaching the ridge, it was nice to get views across to Stob Coire a'Chearcaill. On a clear day this would be a great hill for views across to Ardgour.

Stob Coire a' Chearcaill from Beinn na Gucaig:


Final ascent of Beinn na Gucaig:


Heading towards summit trig point:


There is quite a lot of slate at the summit and in many of the burns on Beinn na Gucaig. Was quite surprised to find slate here.

Summit of Beinn na Gucaig:


Unfortunately, views down Loch Linnhe were a bit limited today.

View from summit of Beinn na Gucaig:


Beinn a'Bheithir (zoomed) from summit of Beinn na Gucaig:


At the summit, I decided to see if I could find a way across to Tom Meadhoin. I gave up on this idea on seeing how dense the forest was between the two Fionas. Instead, I decided to head for Doire Ban. This involved a descent back down to starting level .

I initially descended alongside a fence and forest. This eventually got a bit too steep, given the very wet underfoot conditions, so I zig-zagged down a bit further to the left.

Looking across to Doire Ban:


Looking back at steep descent:


Before reaching the forest track I passed a nice waterfall that wasn't marked on the map.

Waterfall:


I then ascended Doire Ban alongside a fence and forest. I had to climb a six-feet fence near the start. The ascent of Doire Ban was reasonably steep but it didn't take long to get to the top.

Steep ascent of Doire Ban:


Beinn na Gucaig from Doire Ban:


Final ascent of Doire Ban:


I took a zoomed photo of Garbh Bheinn in Ardgour during the ascent. This is the hill I would have liked to have done today had the weather been a bit better.

Garbh Bheinn of Ardgour (zoomed):


I visited the featureless summit and then the small cairn (45m from summit).

At the summit Tom Meadhoin looked fairly close. I therefore decided to also ascend Tom Meadhoin. The downside to this plan was that I would need to re-ascend Doire Ban on the way back.

Looking towards featureless summit of Doire Ban from small cairn:


Glen Coe hills from Doire Ban:


Tom Meadhoin from Doire Ban:


Thankfully the descent from Doire Ban to the col was easy compared with the descent from Beinn na Gucaig.

Ascending Tom Meadhoin:


Tom Meadhoin is a nice Fiona for views across to the Mamores and Glen Coe hills.

Stob Ban to Am Bodach from Tom Meadhoin:


Final ascent towards summit of Tom Meadhoin:


Glencoe:


On reaching the summit cairn at 621m, I thought that the distant 615m top looked higher. For a minute I considered heading out to the 615m top but then I thought sod that, I'm not bagging Fiona tops!

Looking towards 615m top from summit of Tom Meadhoin:


From Tom Meadhoin I headed back to the col and walked back up to the summit of Doire Ban.
If doing this route you could instead descend to the West Highland Way track instead of re-ascending Doire Ban. This would however add on a bit of distance.

From Doire Ban, I descended the NNE ridge towards Lochan Lunn Da-Bhra.

Descending the NNE ridge of Doire Ban:


Lochan Lunn Da-Bhra:


The walk from the Loch towards the Allt na Lairige Moire was really wet underfoot. As my feet were already wet, I just walked through the Allt na Lairige Moire.

Wet feet crossing the Allt na Lairige Moire:


A good day out with plenty of ups and down and not many paths.