Hill: Beinn Mheadhoin (Strathconon)
Date: Sunday 24th March 2013
Company: Just myself
Distance: 8.9km, Ascent: 570m
Time: 3Hrs 10Mins

I only had time for a short walk today so I set out to ascend Beinn Mheadhoin in Strathconon. I parked just off the road at Inverchoran.

Click here to see a map of the route undertaken

Looking towards Inverchoran from start of walk:


From the roadside, I made my way towards Inverchoran.

Horses at Inverchoran:


Once beyond the property, which is skirted via a signed detour, I walked a few hundred metres along Gleann Chorainn. I then followed a good landrover track up the hill (not a footpath as suggested on my Landranger map).

Looking back towards Inverchoran and across to Meall na Faochaig:


After following the track for circa 1.5km, I got my first view of Beinn Mheadhoin.

Looking towards Beinn Mheadhoin:


As I progressed along the track, four stags ran out in front of me. I took a few photographs of two of them.

Stag running away from me:


Another stag:


The weather was fairly pleasant compared with the previous two days, albeit it was still bitterly cold and quite windy.

Looking back towards Creagan a’Chaorainn:


I left the main track to ascend Beinn Mheadhoin via its North-East flank.

Trackless approach to Beinn Mheadhoin:


Circa 100m after leaving the main track, I was stopped in my tracks by a deep ditch. The snow in the ditch was at least as deep as my walking pole so I followed the ditch for a couple of hundred metres to cross it via a wooden plank.

A deep ditch:


The ascent of Beinn Mheadhoin was straight-forward – the snow was soft and mostly only a couple of inches deep.

Looking back towards the plank over the deep ditch:


Looking towards Carn na Cre:


I followed a line of several cairns waymarking a route to the summit.

One of several cairns en-route to Beinn Mheadhoin:


Looking towards summit of Beinn Mheadhoin:


On reaching the summit, I stopped to put on a second pair of gloves. It was really cold up there.

Summit of Beinn Mheadhoin:


Extreme windchill avoidance:


View from summit of Beinn Mheadhoin:


View from summit of Beinn Mheadhoin:


View from summit of Beinn Mheadhoin:


View from summit of Beinn Mheadhoin:


After taking several photos at the summit, I returned to the car via the same route.

The day previous, I refrained from hillwalking in order to join a protest about the proliferation of windfarms in the Highlands.

A few photos follow: