Beinn a’ Ghlo

Monday 26th May 2014

The day before this walk, I had started my annual holiday in Scotland with the intent of just enjoying the walking without the need to go up a mountain, but on this walk a mountain was exactly my goal. The day didn’t start very well with light rain and low cloud that gave me the prospect of a day that is not the best for climbing a mountain. Walkers, however, are hopeful people and they are always thinking that the weather will improve (and that the summit is just behind the next rise), despite long experience to the contrary. On this occasion it did improve, but only intermittently. Last year I walked past Beinn a’ Ghlo along Glen Tilt fully intending to climb it, but eventually I gave it a miss because I was tired and didn’t have the energy. Since Beinn a’ Ghlo was already a mountain that I was eager to climb I couldn’t resist deliberately arranging another attempt this year.

I started the day by catching a train from Pitlochry, where I had been staying, the short distance to Blair Atholl where I began the ascent. Rather than using the route recommended by Ralph Storer in his book '100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains', the definitive introduction to walking up Scottish Mountains, I decided to take the more usual route, what could be described as the Munro bagger’s route. Ralph Storer’s route may be the best route, but Munro baggers are not interested in the route, they are only interested in getting up to the summit as quickly as possible. To do that they drive up a country lane to Loch Moraig and start from there, while I had to walk up the road, in the rain, from the Old Bridge of Tilt through dreary farmland to the loch where I found the usual collection of Munro bagger’s cars. Beyond the car park I continued along the track and began to realise why Ralph Storer had recommended the Glen Tilt approach as opposed to this dull route.

Eventually I came off the track following a bog trot to the foot of Carn Liath where a clearer path weaved an excellent route up the steep hill, which I found completely exhausting and left me wondering why I wasn’t very fit. The excruciating climb went on and on under the poor weather, but just as I was thinking the weather would never improve it stopped raining and the sun came out to provide me with the final push that finally brought me to the windswept summit of Carn Liath. The views south and west towards the River Garry and beyond were clearing nicely, but the views back towards the rest of Beinn a’ Ghlo and the Cairngorm Mountains beyond were still resolutely clinging onto their clouds. A bitterly cold wind was blowing at the summit of Carn Liath and didn’t encourage me to stay so I soon set off along the narrow ridge wrapped up tight against the cold.

Soon I was rewarded with a parting of the clouds and such a fabulous view of the Beinn a’ Ghlo range that I actually began to enjoy the walk! A small rise on the ridge is bypassed by the path (Munro baggers are very single-minded), but I wanted to enjoy the narrow crest of Beinn Mhaol before descending steeply to a narrow pass, the bealach between Carn Liath and Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain. As soon as I crossed the pass it started to rain again so for the climb to the top I had to battle through strong winds and rain as I plunged once more into clouds. Just as suddenly, as I climbed the slopes towards the summit, the rain stopped and I was bathed in sunshine while the clouds lifted to reveal a stunning vista across the valley south of Beinn a’ Ghlo and by the time I reached the summit of Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain the clouds had completed lifted to afford me with stunning views all around.

The third Munro, and the highest point on Beinn a’ Ghlo, was also beginning to appear for the first time on this walk from amongst the mist, but by this time I had already decided that I would not be climbing it. This was partly because I wanted to catch a train in Blair Atholl not long after five o’clock, but mainly because I was so tired. I felt that I didn’t have the energy for the steep descent and re-ascent required to get up to the top of Carn nan Gabhar, so I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to drop straight down into Glen Tilt from Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain. First, while sitting beside the summit cairn, I had my lunch as the rain fell once again with the clouds staying high and enabling me to enjoy my surroundings across Glen Tilt and towards the Cairngorm Mountains, despite the rain. Before I left the summit the rain stopped and once again the sun came out so I could bask in the awesome scenery before beginning my descent.

This was not easy and I think my route selection could have been better, although Ralph Storer does recommend this route down if short of time. Initially I came down the south-western ridge around a boulder field and down ridiculously steep terrain to the top of Glen Fender, which I had anticipated but I hadn’t realised that there is also a steep descent into Glen Tilt, and I made the descent worse by trying to head down the valley on the steep slopes to try and find a bridge over the river. As more bands of rain and sunshine passed overhead I continued the strenuous descent remembering that I was coming down because I was tired and yet this was the most tiring part of the day. Eventually after much negotiation of the steep terrain I passed Balaneasie stone cottage and the spot where I’d camped last year, which I was overjoyed to see again, but I was concerned that it had taken me a long time to get to Blair Atholl from this camp spot last year and I didn’t have that long this time.

Fortunately I’d dawdled last year so I was easily able to get to Blair Atholl in time for the train. Once I’d reached the track at the bottom of Glen Tilt, at Gaw’s Bridge, I set off at a rapid pace down the valley, but by the time I reached Gilbert’s Bridge I realised I would have no problems catching the train so I was able to enjoy the descent and the sunshine through lovely Glen Tilt. The weather was very changeable on this walk, even more so than the day before when I’d also thought it had been changeable. I was frustrated that I was not able to reach all three Munros because I was so tired, which has been a common complaint for me over the last couple of years in Scotland, and I don’t know what the answer is. The ridge on Carn Liath was gloriously narrow and a pleasure to walk along but it was woefully short, while Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain seemed much broader, and what I saw of Carn nan Gabhar didn’t seem special. A return in better weather is required before I can properly pass judgement, but it’s always great to be at the top of a mountain.