Ben Lui hills - overnighter from Glen Falloch

October 8-9

I know, I know… it's a bit silly to approach Ben Lui from the south, when all the spectacular stuff on this Fine Peak lies to the north. Ah yes, but so does the drone of the A82. It's not always easy to turn the southern hills into wilderness experiences, but ever hopeful, we chose an approach from Glen Falloch. This was partially successful, and in some respects bizarrely unsuccessful.

Anyway, first some of the tedious housekeeping about our approach. We went anti-clockwise, from Dubhcraig to Beinn a' Chleidh. In terms of views and terrain, this gets a thumbs up. The whole route could be done in a day, but we split it over two days to get a high camp. We parked at the Falls of Falloch car park, and from across the road, headed up the vehicle track on the north side of the Allt Fionn Ghlinne, which (having gone through a second gate) takes you under the railway and straight into the trackless stuff. Hm. This was a mistake. On the south side of the Allt Fionn Ghlinne, not marked on my map, is a recent hydro road. I can't work out quite were the access point for this is, but from Google Earth I reckon it is down by Glen Falloch farm. This would have been a more sensible place to start from, as it's where our route ended the following day. As it was, after a bit of thrashing around, we eventually decided to cross the Allt Fionn Ghlinne and follow the hydro track. Sadly, this track terminated before long, leaving us to beat a way through the tussocks to the southern end of Beinn Dubhcraig, from where I took this photograph…

…looking back down the Fionn Ghleann. I know that to seasoned Marilynistas this kind of terrain must look like a billiard table, but to me it's not a good sign when I can only see the top half of Caroline and nothing at all of Sadie the Dog.

Still, all things are relative. My initial plan had been to go from Glen Falloch across the no-man's land on the right of this photo…

…in which case I suspect we'd still be there.

The views from the top of Beinn Dubhcraig remind me that all day we were on the cusp of really good weather out to the north and east…

…and flatter light over to the west…

…where Ben Oss and Ben Lui lay in wait.

Not that we were complaining. On the slopes of Ben Oss, here's the view back to Dubhcraig and the Crianlarich hills…

Looking over from the top of Ben Oss I spied a likely spot for the tent on the shoulder of Ben Lui, just on the left of this photo…

And here she is. Tarpy. Perfect spot. Running water only just down from the shoulder. Flat springy ground. What more could you ask for?

Well I suppose we could have asked for a blazing sunset, a pin-cushion of stars, the Northern Lights, (oh, and a wafer to go with it) but the orange glow in the background of that photo was about as close as we got to a sunset. Still, we settled in for an autumnal evening of listening to the stags echoing round the corries. And what was the first thing we heard? The weeeeeeeeeeeoooow! of a bike flying up the A82 through Strathfillan. I reckon that's at least five miles. The next sound, when it was already pitch dark, was a couple of walkers passing by the tent, on the way to their own pitch just along the ridge. One of those curious conversations through canvass. On our side, it has to be said, the conversation was mainly carried out by Sadie. Just carrying our her terriertorial job title, you understand.

I got up once during the night to witness the celestial amber glow of the Southern Lights. I've heard others refer to this phenomenon as Glasgow.

Up again at first natural light to see this…

…which, after a while, became this…

Ben Lomond to the south-east…

…Cruachan to the west…

… to the north over Strathfillan…

…and Beinn Bhuidhe to the south-west…

It was still, not cold, and clear as a bell. Up and away, with only a short distance along the ridge...

…to the top of Ben Lui…

The view down into Cononish Glen…

…with cloud playing around the ridges…

By coffee time we were on top of Beinn a' Chleidh…

…which was Sadie's 234th Munro. At the time I thought it might just have been her last. Like a lot of ageing small dogs, she has a narrowing trachea which means that she spends a lot of time clearing her throat. Maybe it sounds worse than it really is, since her tail never stops wagging. And as my next couple of reports will testify, there's still life in the li'l ol' thing yet!

From there, it was a gentle plod down the slope down to the top of the hydro track in Gleann na Caorann. This is the view back up to Beinn a' Chleidh and Ben Lui…

Visually this was October at its best. Aurally, well, that was another matter. Although it was Sunday, a helicopter was busy flying in work parties to each of the pylons that stride through the glen. Down at the pipe line there must have been thirty vehicles. What chance meeting that kind of industry here on any day - let alone a Sunday? So much for a wilderness experience!

One last view over to the Crianlarich hills before the winding descent down into Glen Falloch…

And the verdict? With the tweaks to the route I suggested at the start, if you want a feeling of remoteness* in some busy hills, I'd definitely give this route a thumbs-up.

* Though maybe check with Balfour Beatty first.