A Wild Vista

A month ago, I enjoyed my third day out on the hills to the east of Bridge of Orchy. This group of five Munros, and Beinn Dorain in particular, must be among the most eyeballed in the Highlands, with the busy A82 and West Highland railway line both skirting the western edge of the range, giving the passing traveller impressive closeups of stream-riven slopes climbing to 1000 metre-high summits, and furtive glimpses through lonely glens into the interior.

My first two trips to this area couldn’t have been more different. Both involved an ascent of Beinn Dorain (with the addition of Beinn an Dòthaidh the second time), using the same route from Bridge of Orchy, but in wildly differing conditions. Here’s a summit photo from each day:

Summit photo, Beinn Dorain, February 1994.

Summit photo, Beinn Dorain, April 2002.

In February ‘94, the final pull up onto the summit ridge was through a full-on blizzard. Careful map-and-compass work and not a little determination led to the cairn in near white-out conditions. Fun, of a sort, but it hardly made for a relaxing day on the hill.

Eight years later, and the same route yielded a pleasant bimble up late spring snow in the sunshine, and expansive views from this singular summit. Reversing this bit of the route and tacking on Beinn an Dòthaidh, we were treated to an extensive display of crepuscular rays, projected through a layer Altocumulus.

Crepuscular rays over Beinn Dorain (from Beinn an Dòthaidh).

And this year’s trip to the Bridge of Orchy Hills? Well, this time the itinerary started a few miles north of Bridge, at Achaladair Farm. Beinn Achaladair and Beinn a’ Chreachain in combination give a very fine day on the hills indeed. Not that it’s easy. And the weather was pretty ropey too. I was all for calling it a day after Beinn Achaladair, and returning to the car at the farm while my companions continued, but they were having none of it.

Fortuitously, shortly after leaving Achaladair’s rocky summit ridge, I got the fillip I needed as the clouds parted to reveal the vast, lochan-studded expanse of Rannoch Moor. The steep profile of The Buachaille, and a distant Loch Ericht were pretty much all I could reliably identify in this expansive vista.

Rannoch Moor from Beinn Achaladair.

Aching legs were easily forgotten now, and, despite a quickly noticed navigational error leaving the top of Beinn a’ Chreachain (the old “180° off” malarkey — must remember; red end of the compass needle points to magnetic north — I was having a bad day!), the remainder of the day was uneventful.

Now, having seen Rannoch Moor from this vantage point for the first time, I really want to get out there and explore more extensively. A brief incursion from the A82 to a cracking little lochan on a fishing trip some years back has been pretty much it so far. Something else to add to the list…