BRIDGE OF ORCHY HILLS FROM LOCH LYON

In the last week of the summer holidays, before term starts again for me, C has a birthday. We had it in mind to do a last summer trip north, and even with an iffy forecast, we decided to give it a go. On my radar this time were the Bridge of Orchy hills, but done from the Glen Lyon side.

There is a bikeable track all the way round Loch Lyon now. Still not shown by the OS, but trust me, it's there. To get to Srath Tarabhan, below Beinn Mhanach, we chose to go on the south side of the loch. Nothing much in it on the map, but what the map didn't show was…

…which might look very idyllic, but actually presented us with a problem. The herd of cows saw us coming, only about a mile up from the dam, and splintered straight through a rather knackered gate, before stamping off up the loch-side track. We stayed well back, but they weren't interested in leaving the track to do that grazing thing to which (as I pointed out in vain) they were professionally obligated. Nup, they just marched on. Eventually, at the bottom of the Allt Fionn a'Ghlinn we managed to squeeze past them. An hour later, just as we were parking up the bikes, a four-wheel drive passed us and I explained about the coos… and wished I hadn't bothered. Apparently it was not that the gate was not fit for purpose (although C was grateful that I didn't point this out) but that the hydro road was 'not meant for bikes'. Well, I could have gone off on a philosophical riff about the 'meaning' of inanimate objects, but on balance…

Anyway, on a lighter note, the weather was not iffy, but Good! The plan was to go up Beinn Mhanach, over to Beinn a' Chreachain, then (with a high camp wherever) along the hills to Beinn Dorain. So here we are on the grind up Beinn Mhanach, looking over to Beinn Dorain…

And looking down Loch Lyon from the trackle over to Beinn a' Chreachain…

Big sky walking…

Looking straight down a distant Loch Ericht from the Meall Buidhe top…

And eventually out to Beinn a' Chreachain, from where we were able to look back to Beinn Achallader and our potential high camp…

Last climb of the day, with Beinn Mhanach in the background…

And up to a memorable summit. Even the dog, for once, seems more interested in the view than in the contents of my rucksac…

And close-by, up went Tarpy…

And another, looking south-west…

So that was home for the night sorted. As we cooked tea I could hear a rattling sound in the distance, and from the edge of the plateau, a few yards away, we could see what was causing it…

Through the folds of the Auch Corbetts…

And a last look out to the west…

Now then, I don't want to be a tease, but the best view of the whole trip I have no photo of. The night was pretty cold, and when I got out of the tent and about 2am, the pin-cushion above me was… well, I've certainly seen nothing like it since I lived in New Zealand. I did suggest to C that she poke her head out to see, but all I got was a disinterested grunt. That would have been that, but when we got back to civilization the following day, our friends in Killin had seen the sky too and Kept Going On About It.

When we got up the following morning we could see why the forecast had been iffy. We were actually right on the cusp between glorious weather, which we could glimpse out to the west, and clag out to the east.

Hm. Wonderful in the west…

…but with us, it definitely felt as if summer was on the way out.

Was that snow we could see on the ridge leading down east from Beinn Dorain? Er, no…

And that's the ridge, over a Meall Garbh and a Meall Tional, that we took back down to the bikes. The lustre had left yesterday's hills. Yes, a great summer for us, but now it was definitely over…