Scotland

Ben Lawers, Beinn Ghlas and Meall Corranaich

Character: High level walking that is never exposed. Wonderful views

Ascent: ~3500 feet

Time: 6 hours

Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer Sheet 378, 1:25,000, Ben Lawers and Glen Lyon

Transport: We used a car! Nearest town - Killin

Sources: Irvine Butterfield "The High Mountains"

Accomodation: Killin SYHA (Tel: 01838 300 260)

This is a fantastic walk, but its only disadvantage is that there is no real excitement. There are no big crags to cause vertigo, and no rough scrambling - but then some would say that was an advantage!

Quicktime (.mov) movie, 11.5 MB

We started at the highest driveable point - I think that is called cheating by most. This was the head of the Lochan na Lairige (the northern end) where a large cairn and a couple of road widenings mark the point where people leave their cars and start the walk.

Meall Corranaich from the start of the walk

near the head of Lochan na Lairige

We almost immidiately lost the track! The ground underfoot is very peaty and does not hold a path long. The route we followed was marked on our map with as the same lines as the Access land border, but clearly this may be subject to change. After doing a rough semi circle around to the north, you start to head south around 1 km from the road, close to a knoll marked at a spot height of 669 metres. The one good thing to be said of this wet peaty climb is that as you get higher the views open out. There are great views to the Tarmachan ridge to the south west, and to the north you also get views to the hills of Glen Lyon.

The path is more distinct higher up, and bypasses a minor top marked as 941 metres on the map and heads straight up Meall Corranaich.

This western side of the hill just climbed is a boring trudge, but the descent to the saddle between this Munro and the next, Beinn Ghlas, is quite interesting. Never exposed or highly rocky, it none-the-less requires you to keep your eyes open and negotiate some bouldery inclines. We had cloud on the day we did the walk, but occassionally they would lift to give view to Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers.

At the col between the two peaks, you feel yourself completely immersed in a mountain environment. Paths descend to the north and south into the valleys in these respective directions. To your east and west are two significant peaks. And a path to the north east beckons you around the side of Beinn Ghlas to see more of Ben Lawers itself.

Some brave walkers in front of us at this stage chose to go straight up the north west ridge of Beinn Ghlas. There is no clear track, and the going would be steep and unpleasant, if relatively swift. Instead it seems the vast majority, us included, bypass Beinn Ghlas from this side, and instead aproach it from the Ben Lawers side where a long gentle ridge takes you to its summit.

After bypassing Beinn Ghlas, the saddle between it and Ben Lawers is reached. The ascent to Ben Lawers is quite steep, but never difficult. Eventually the summit cairn and its twin trig rear up, and you reach the top. The views from here (when the clouds parted) were magnificent. Ridges seem to radiate in all directions. The Scots reading this may disagree, but it had the feeling of Snowdon, without the school kids and greasy cafe! Like Snowdon, there is a high mountain lake, and similarly, both have the complexity of surrounding lesser peaks and numerous ridges.

Far below Ben Lawers is the wonderfully hemmed in lake of Lochan nan Cat, and surrounding it the impressively sharp peaks of An Stuc and Creag an Fhitich. It was a shame that we did not have the time or energy to continue eastwards - clearly the group gets more interesting in this direction. In any case, the walk so far had been good exercise with views to be marvelled at.

 

Summit of Ben Lawers

East Ridge descends towards Loch Tay. Initial exposure

Lochan nan Cat

We returned to the col under Beinn Ghlas and climbed this peak up the motorway of a path that ascends it. The reverend A E Munro of course works in mysterious ways. Why one would bother to elevate a non-descript outlier like this to full Munro status is beyond me. The re-ascent is only some 50 or 60 metres! Perhaps the reason is that from the banks of Loch Tay at Killin, or from the Tarmachan ridge, Ben Lawers is almost (or actually is) hidden by Beinn Ghlas, so it gains stature by hiding its higher brother.

The descent via Beinn Ghlas' south south west ridge is very straightforward, with great views down to Loch Tay and the hills to its south. We were exceptionally lucky on this July day to come across a nesting Ptarmigan. It made itself very visible to distract us from its nest and chick (which had been seen by another walker a few minutes prior), and I got the shots below with my camera.

Ptarmigan

Nearly at the foot of the descent, and the lovely (!) visitor's centre, you walk through a wonderful reserve where sheep have been kept out to allow some of Ben Lawers native plants to survive and thrive, Ben Lawers is well known for flora that is unique in the UK and much more similar to that found in alpine areas.

Flora reserve, foot of Ben Lawers.

Meall Corranaich and Beinn Ghlas on skyline