Date: Friday 27th January 2023
Company: Just myself
Distance: 12.2km, Ascent: 1092m
Time: 5Hrs 45Mins
On Thusday afternoon I drove from home to Killin where I spent the night at the Killin Hotel. Unfortunately, not much sleep was had due to several drunken workmen, who were also staying at the hotel, shouting both inside and outside the hotel pretty-much non-stop from when the bar closed until 2am. However, following a good breakfast, which at least in part made up for the lack of sleep, I drove from Killin to the Glen Lochy car park for an ascent of Beinn a' Chleibh and Ben Lui.
I last ascended Ben Lui in February 2002 from Coninish, via Central Gully, with a couple of friends from the Cairngorm Club. This was a great day out apart from ascending in low cloud and lack of visibility and views.
Ascending Ben Lui via Central Gully (2002):
At the summit of Ben Lui (2002):
For an ascent from Glen Lochy, having read numerous reports on WalkHighlands telling of significant mud and bog, I was not enthusiastic about ascending this way but thought it should be ok following a hard frost. For the unbridged river crossing, as well a needing a hard frost, I also wanted no rain and low temperatures the day previous to avoid the river being in spate from rain and/or snow melt. According to the weather forecasts all was good and I could expect 60% cloud-free Munros
. 0%
cloud-free Munros would have been more accurate
.Route:
From the car park I followed the track leading down to the river with the railway underpass immediately beyond.
Glen Lochy car park sign:
While there was no bridge, a conveniently placed bench was used to change out of my boots and into water shoes. After rolling-up my trousers I commenced crossing the river.
Unbridged river crossing:
I managed to cross the river without difficulty and then had to crouch down to get under the railway pass. Beyond the underpass I dried off my feet, changed back into my boots, and stashed my water shoes under a bush to collect on my return.
About ten minutes later I reached a burn which I crossed with the assistance of the rope which I found really useful for balance as the stepping stones had a thin covering of ice.
Rope to assist crossing the burn:
After crossing the burn with the rope, I could see a gate at the opposite side of another burn. I opted not to cross this other burn but to continue along the path which led to a vehicle track running parallel to the "path".
Ascent alongside the Eas Daimh:
On reaching the vehicle track, I stopped to take a photo of the burn from the bridge. The mudfest path commences from this point following the left bank of this burn.
View from bridge on vehicle track:
One of several small waterfalls:
The ascent via the track which is normally very muddy was to be honest not that bad. Most of the mud and bog as hoped was frozen solid. I managed to reach the gate near the top of the forest with boots almost completely dry. As temperatures would be rising during the day, I was expecting to not get off so lightly in descent.
Gate providing access to the open hillside:
Once through the gate, I followed a faint path up through Fionn Choirein leading to the col between Ben Lui and Beinn a' Chleibh.
Fionn Choirein:
Ascending Fionn Choirein towards the col between Ben Lui and Beinn a' Chleibh:
The final section of track leading to the col had a section of hard neve to cross, there was ice on the track and a cornice to ascend so I stopped to put on crampons and get my ice axe out before proceeding onto the wide ridge.
Approaching the col:
Once onto the ridge, I debated whether to first ascend Beinn a' Chleibh or Ben Lui. I opted for Beinn a' Chleibh as it was the lower and easier of the two. I was now walking in low cloud with minimal visibility. As I had my crampons on, I stuck to the line of neve as I made my way up Beinn a' Chleibh.
Ascending Beinn a' Chleibh:
I visited a couple of cairns and used my GPS to confirm I was at the summit. On reaching the summit, I took a quick photo and immediately returned back to the col via the same route.
At the summit of Beinn a' Chleibh:
During the descent, one of my big toes was really hurting (Hallux Limitus) so I was in two minds as to whether to also ascend Ben Lui. I decided to put up with the pain and go for it.
The ascent of Ben Lui was definitely more challenging than Beinn a' Chleibh with around fifty metres visibility at best. I knew Ben Lui was a very rocky hill so my navigation had to be good as any paths were covered in snow and were not visible. I checked my GPS several times during the ascent to confirm my altitude.
Approaching the summit of Ben Lui:
I first visited the North-West top before continuing on to the summit.
Ben Lui North-West Top:
As I made my way to the summit, I stuck to walking on exposed rocks avoiding walking on the cornice.
Corniced edge:
It was great to reach the rime-covered summit cairn.
Ben Lui summit:
From the summit, I returned to the col via approximately the same route. During the descent my iPhone switched itself off despite still showing over 50% power. While I new this was a problem with older iPhones I was disappointed to find this is still an ongoing issue with newer ones. This is good reason to not rely solely on a mobile phone for navigation on the hill. I was also carrying a paper map and compass, and an external battery pack for the phone which I stopped to plug in.
Once back onto ice free ground, I stopped to remove my crampons and put away my axe before returning down Fionn Choirein towards the forest.
Looking back to Beinn a' Chleibh from Fionn Choirein:
Looking back to cloud-capped Ben Lui from Fionn Choirein:
As the temperature was now above zero, the track down was a mudfest. I used my walking poles to test out the ground as I progressed downhill. I made it down with only slightly muddy feet.
Mudfest:
Mudfest:
On reaching the railway underpass, I stopped to collect my water shoes and proceeded to just walk through the river in my boots as it was then only a short distance back to the car and doing so would clean all the mud off my boots.
9 Munros remaining to complete Round 2 - hopefully a completion in 2023.