Cruach Ardrain

Tuesday 24th May 2022

My plan for this day was to head north on the West Highland Way and then maybe the next day go up some mountains, however the weather forecast for the next day was poor, so it looked like my best opportunity to go up a mountain was on this day, which I didn’t want to waste by walking on the West Highland Way. Therefore I booked another night at the Crianlarich Youth Hostel so I could do the mountain that I’d planned to do the day before when bad weather had forced me to look elsewhere. This mountain was Cruach Ardrain, which I had previously climbed in 2005, but in poorer weather. I started by walking along the road out of Crianlarich, which was not the route that I had previously taken when I followed Ralph Storer’s outdated instructions in “100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains” that took me up a horribly boggy gap in the trees above Crianlarich. The recommended route now is to head up a track beside the River Falloch towards Coire Earb and then head up the western slopes to Grey Height and was what I had intended on doing, but that involved retracing my steps of the day before, which I wasn’t keen on doing so when I saw a path that headed into the wood I came off the road.

This soon proved to be a bad idea as first I had to make my way over the remains of felled trees and then after reaching a forestry track I had to avoid two logging trucks, so when I saw a slender path heading up the hillside through a gap in the trees I came off the track and took the path even though it took me onto ridiculously wet ground. Eventually I emerged out of trees, but not in an easy place to reach the top of Grey Height and certainly not where I had emerged from the trees in 2005, so I had to cross below the northern crags until I reached a point where I could gain the clear path that comes up from the River Falloch and was the path that I should have been on. The sunshine that had greeted me at the start of this walk proved to be short-lived as it soon became largely overcast with the weather refusing to be consistently good though it was better than the day before. After passing over Grey Height a ridge developed that passes over craggy ground and made me thankful that I had stayed in Crianlarich to enjoy a clear path up a great mountain. I was mindful of the fact that on my holiday in 2005, when I had previously climbed this mountain, I didn’t have a camera, so I was keen to take plenty of photos to illustrate not just this walk, but also the ones that I did in 2005.

While still on the ridge, it started to rain for a short time, but this didn’t bother me too much as there wasn’t much wind which had been my biggest problem the day before with the weather. I was happy to be making my way along this ridge while around me were clear views towards Cruach Ardrain and across the valley to the other mountains that I had climbed in 2005 including An Caisteal, which I had climbed the day before. After passing over Meall Dhamh, the bulk of Cruach Ardrain appeared before me looking impregnable while my path seemed to agree as it veered across the steep western slopes reluctant to attempt the climb. Eventually the clear path peters out to meander faintly up the steep slopes on a tiring climb that was compensated by the great views around me until eventually I reached the southern slopes of the mountain and the clear path that comes up from Beinn Tulaichean. In 2005 I had deliberately made my way across the saddle to bag this Munro, but I had no such desire now, so I turned left to head up to the top of Cruach Ardrain, just as the weather began to worsen again. Therefore I sought shelter on the southern slopes below the summit and had my lunch while it rained again, though the views south remained throughout.

By the time I had eaten the weather had cleared so that from the summit cairn I had tremendous views in all directions which prompted me to cross the summit plateau to take many pictures of the awesome views including west towards the Glen Falloch Group and south towards Beinn Tulaichean. Dark clouds lingered east atop the highest peaks in the area, Ben More and Stob Binnein while north up Strath Fillan there was still rain, though the views up the broad valley were still great. My onward progress was north east down what appeared to be a sheer cliff face, but since I remembered it as being the route I took in 2005 I looked for a path and found a faint, eroded path that weaves very steeply between the rock outcrops. I descended the steep hillside very slowly keeping my centre of balance as low as possible carefully making my way down and concentrating all the time until eventually I thankfully reached the craggy, complex bealach at the bottom where a faint path led me around the crags of Stob Garbh avoiding any unnecessary ascent before finally bringing me up to the summit of this Munro Top. Although the sunshine now held for the rest of the day, it was quite windy on this ridge, which unfortunately detracted from my enjoyment of it similar to the day before.

From the summit I had great views down Strath Fillan towards the dark clouds that remained in the distance as I slowly started to descend the ridge that gradually broadened to became more grassy and dull until eventually I reached the fence that marks the edge of the forestry plantation. I remembered that there is a steep descent beyond this fence so to avoid it I turned right keeping to the top of the ridge, but soon this also started to descend steeply and brought me into an area of dense, young conifers that was almost impossible to battle through until finally I came onto a forestry track that provided me with an easy return to Crianlarich. I was so glad that I was able to do this walk and that my plans had not been so rigid as to prevent me from making the most of the sunshine. Despite weather that was not the best with rain showers in the morning and strengthening winds in the afternoon, I was still able to climb a great mountain with some gorgeous craggy terrain that was a joy to be walking amongst. I do not have many opportunities to be at the top of a Scottish mountain in good weather so I was frustrated the day before not to have such an opportunity, but this day more than made up for that with a great walk up a Scottish mountain in good weather.