Ben Lui & Ben Oss

Tuesday 18th July 2006

This was the first day of my holiday in the Scottish Highlands and was a gruelling walk in very hot weather, but still a great day. I caught a train from Crianlarich, where I was staying, to Tyndrum, which is merely the next station up the line but it saved me crucial miles of walking. From the lower station I headed through a conifer plantation, around the side of a low hill and down into the Cononish valley. Joining a clear landrover track I walked up the valley to the Cononish farm, where I was stopped by the farmer; no problem, but he needed a hand getting his Land Rover started, which was indeed a problem because it was heavy! It took us many attempts pushing it back and forth until finally we had it positioned at the top of a slope where gravity was able to take over and get the thing started. After all that pushing I was exhausted, and I hadn't even got to the mountain yet!

Returning to the track I resumed my course towards Ben Lui with the huge mountain looming fearsomely before me as I approached. When I reached the Allt an Rund the track ended and a path continued on the other side of the stream climbing into the corrie. Now my hard work really began as I climbed steeply up into Coire Gaothach; this was tiring work in the heat, but it was great fun all the same climbing between two expectant sentinels that stared down the valley with imposing crags high above me. At the right moment I left the path and ventured across grassy slopes to the left-hand ridge to steeply climb Stob an Tighe Aird.

No path was visible until I neared the top, which gave me a great sense of achievement when I finally reached the summit, but that was only the beginning as a short grassy ridge took me to the foot of vertiginous crags that lead me all the way up to the summit of Ben Lui. Dismissing the bypassing path that veers left above Coire an t-Sneachda I began to scramble up the craggy mountain-side. To my surprise and joy I found an excellent path that snakes up the mountain ensuring a relatively easy ascent but still required real scrambling at times. Eventually the summit of Ben Lui was reached and the views, of course, were sensational; the early cloud had lifted revealing a stunning landscape all around. 

After lunch I decided that the north-west ridge wasn't going to be as interesting as the ridge just I’d climbed so I set off on a long trek across the mountain-side to bag two more Munro’s. From my vantage point at the top of Ben Lui the adjacent Munro of Beinn a'Chleibh didn't seem worth the effort, so I headed south quickly descending the grassy slopes to Bealach Laoigh and then much more slowly I climbed up the long slopes of Ben Oss. Once I had bagged this Munro I headed down to Bealach Buidhe and up to the top of my third Munro of the day, Beinn Dubhchraig. It had taken me three hours, and a lot of effort, to bag those two Munros and I can't really say I enjoyed the experience.

The terrain was nothing special and the views were becoming hazier as the day progressed; Loch Fyne in the distance looked impressive, but it was just too hazy to be really good. With no path to follow until I was approaching Bealach Buidhe I couldn't even enthuse over that, but once a footpath arrived on the other side of the pass I was in heaven again. I love paths that cunningly weave their way up a hillside, zigzagging back and forth and showing off the exceptional skill of their builders. The path up Beinn Dubhchraig from Bealach Buidhe is just such a path; I don't know why it was built but it is a masterpiece whose only drawback is its short length.

After a breather and another splash of sun cream on top of Beinn Dubhchraig I headed off the mountainside with my day at the top of mountains over, but my walk was not over as there were still two more hours of walking left until I safely returned to Tyndrum. My descent began by heading down the north ridge of Beinn Dubhchraig dropping to the right into Coire Dubhchraig to the young Allt Coire Dubhchraig. Eventually I found a path beside the burn that led me into a young plantation past three useless deer fences until I reached the River Cononish. This was a fabulous woodland walk with a clear path that dropped slowly all the way down to the bottom of the valley. It was a little soft in places but the recent hot weather ensured sound footing all the way down.

Crossing the river I followed a path over the railway line and eventually joined the West Highland Way near Dalrigh. I had considered walking all the way back to Crianlarich, but a look at the distance on the map and the knowledge that a train was due in Tyndrum prompted me to trek along the West Highland Way back to Tyndrum and wait for the train. I've wanted to walk up Ben Lui for years and now that I've finally accomplished my goal I had to wonder what the rest of my holiday would have in store for me.