Ben Cruachan, 1126m
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Date: 27/7/1982 |
Tops and Munros |
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Companions: Anne |
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Distance: 12km | |
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Climbing: 1300m | |
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Time: | |
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Weather: warm with hazy sunshine | |
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Munro Tally: M40-41, T61-67 | |
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Towards the end of a wonderful 3 week cycling holiday through the western isles - Skye, Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra - we were camping at Taynuilt. We were able to cycle up the private road to the Cruachan dam, 390m above sea level - an excellent start. From the dam, we climbed up the rough slopes of the ridge of Stob Garbh, then on along easy ground to Stob Diamh, the first actual Munro summit. A short rough ridge led east to outlier Sron an Isean, with views across to Beinn Eunaich and Beinn a' Chochuill (which I climbed 18 years later!). We retraced our steps to Stob Diamh, then along the main ridge to Drochaid Glas, whose exposed summit is a few metres north of the main ridge along a rocky spur. Superb spot for lunch! The ridge then narrowed to a fairly sharp arete between the northern and southern corries, with a steepening climb leading up to the highest summit of the day, Ben Cruachan itself. We followed the ridge westwards to Stob Dearg, usually known as the Taynuilt Peak, a shapely triangle at the wetern end of the ridge. We retraced our steps to the col, then contoured round the southwest side of Cruachan across "boilerplate slabs" to the gentle ridge out to Meall Cuanaill and then back down to the west end of the dam. Finally an exhilarating descent by bike down from the dam to the shores of Loch Awe (spoilt only at the bottom by our first puncture in 350 miles!) | |
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Approaching Ben Cruachan Having a rest half way up the private (locked) road to the Cruachan dam. Meall Cuanaill (the last top of the day) on the skyline behind the power lines form the Cruachan power station deep underground - and well worth a visit. This makes Cruachan the only Munro which is worth going into as well as climbing. |
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Loch Etive The view up Loch Etive from (I think) Drochaid Glas. Starav's twin peak can be clearly seen on the right, and Ben Trilleachan on the left, with the Glen Coe hills in the far distance. |
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Summit ridge of Ben Cruachan View from Sron an Isean along the ridge. Stob Diamh is the rounded hump on the left, then the cliffs of Drochaid Glas immediately in front of Cruachan itself, and Stob Dearg (the Taynuilt Peak) furthest to the right. | ||||
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To see an OS 1:50000 map of this mountain, click here
To see a road map of the area around this mountain, click here | |||
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Comments or questions? david@dbethune.com |
