I took my usual Easter long weekend in the Highlands, this year a solo trip to Angus, where I chose to camp as I hoped the late Easter would give mild temperatures. To get a head start on the drive up, I worked from my parents’ house in Kendal on the Thursday, and set off from there at around 3:30pm. Traffic was mostly quiet and, after a dinner stop at Stirling services, I arrived at Foresterseat Campsite, just outside Forfar, soon after 8pm. That meant I was able to get my tent set up well before dark and spend some time looking at the maps and guidebooks. It looked like I’d be the only tent that night, but one other arrived as I was going to bed.

Although there was a light ground frost, Friday started sunny. There was a forecast of some light rain by evening so I got away promptly. I chose to head to Glen Isla to bag three Grahams over two walks. The first walk started at the top of the low pass between Glen Isla and Glen Shee. An easy grassy ridge with good ATV tracks led me quickly up to Duchray Hill, which gave good views north towards the Munros of Creag Leacach and Glas Maol, and over Glen Shee to the West Mounth.

Continuing round the horseshoe, the descent to the pass was made a little more awkward by newly planted forestry. Once across the road, it was an easy climb up Mount Blair on a large path through grass and then heather. The summit has a transmitter mast and trig point and, unusually for a Graham, a view-finder indicating all the surrounding peaks that could be seen. The visibility was excellent and I was able to pick out summits including Ben Lawers, Bidean nam Bian, Ben Nevis, Beinn a’ Ghlo, Cairn Toul and Ben Macdui. Those high Munros were mostly capped with snow, but there was none left at lower levels. Again I continued around the horseshoe for an easy descent back to the car.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2947331

The second walk of the day started a little further up Glen Isla at Fergus. I followed good grouse-shooting tracks up beside Fergus Burn to the minor summit of Craig Lair, then onward to the Graham, Badandun Hill. The views were not as extensive as from the morning’s hills, but Mayar and Driesh were closer at hand (at least their undramatic southwestern slopes!). Surprisingly, I saw two other pairs of walkers further down the ridge.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2947335

I popped into Tesco for provisions on my way back to camp, and cooked and ate relatively early to be done before any rain. As it turned out, it had still barely drizzled by bedtime, so I needn’t have rushed. The campsite felt busier now, with three more tents arriving and numerous caravans and vans (but I don’t think any of them were occupied by hillwalkers!). A few light showers did come through overnight.

On Saturday morning I was well placed for a visit to Forfar Loch parkrun. This is an attractive, flat and quite fast course, once around the loch with a short extra loop at the western end to make up the distance. I was happy with my pace and was in third place most of the way but the two others who’d been hanging on my heels were able to outsprint me at the end to leave me as fifth finisher.

Afterwards, I drove up to the foot of Glen Lethnot for the day’s chosen Graham, Hill of Wirren. It was dry and clear but there was quite a chilly wind as I walked up more shooting tracks up the ridge then across rough heather to the summit. Mount Keen and Mount Battock were the most identifiable hills in the view. I continued to East Wirren, which gave better views of the Aberdeenshire coast, and descended by another ridge, pausing for a late lunch in the lee of a well-appointed but locked luncheon hut.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2948198

Sunday looked like the brightest day of the trip, so I headed to the most exciting of the hills on my to-do list, Hunt Hill at the head of Glen Esk. This was nearly an hour’s drive from Forfar, the second half of it all on the dead-end road up the glen! The car park was quite busy as it’s also the start point for the southern approach to Mount Keen. I had bagged that one from the north when I did it.

To make the most of the good weather, I took the long and scenic route, a full horseshoe around the Loch Lee skyline. This meant setting off a couple of kilometres down the valley to Glen Effock to begin. Good tracks led from there up onto Cairn Caidloch and Burnt Hill, which gave views of the craggier hills ahead. Then it was harder walking across pathless long grass and short heather all the way to the rocky spur of Craig Maskeldie. This is a fine vantage point over Loch Lee and Hunt Hill, and a good place to pause for first lunch.

It was just a short descent to a good footbridge over the Water of Unich above the impressive Falls of Damff, where I passed two girls who I think were there for the waterfall rather than the hill. A steep climb led along the top of the crags to the summit of Hunt Hill, a very fine viewpoint, particularly looking back towards Craig Maskeldie.

A short but steep descent on soft heather brought me to the Stables of Lee, where I was surprised to find actual stables that looked in recent use. Then I climbed steeply back up to the summit of Wolf Craig, where I sheltered behind one of the numerous cairns for lunch with a view of Mount Keen. It was also a good viewpoint towards Lochnagar and the snowy plateaux of Beinn a’ Bhuird and Ben Avon. There were intermittent ATV tracks and deer trods to ease progress along the flat ridge to the final summit of the day, Monawee. From just below the eastern cairn marked on the map, a newish hydro track gave a quick descent through the forest to Kirkton, followed by a short walk along the lane past Invermark Castle back to the car.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2949358

That left just two Angus Grahams for me to tackle on Monday: Cat Law and Corwharn on the west side of Glen Prosen. The cloud was lower than expected to start the day. I parked by the roadside at Easter Lednathie and was soon in the cloud as I walked up the track to Peat Shank and then up small trods to the summit of Cat Law. Once I’d visited the boundary stone, cairn and trig point, I used the compass to identify which of the many trods would lead me off the right way.

At around 550m I broke free of the cloud, which had clearly risen quite a bit since I’d set out, and had a view along the ridge to Cormaud. There was a good shooting track to follow for a while, then rough heather along the ridge of Tarapetmile and down to the top of the pass between Glen Uig and Glen Quharity. More shooting tracks led easily from there up to the summit of Corwharn, by then just about below the cloud.

I decided I’d stop for lunch whenever I found somewhere sheltered, but it turned out that didn’t happen until I’d trudged along the mostly-pathless ridge all the way over Adenaich Hill and Finlet to Broom Hill, almost the end of my walk! I did eventually find a good spot on the final descent, with a view of Long Goat across Glen Uig.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2950268

As on Friday, I had an early dinner to get my cooking done before forecast evening drizzle, and this time it was a good decision. I got an early night as I planned to be up at 6am on Tuesday, with a lot to pack into my day!

The day dawned sunny, so it wasn’t too chilly as I had breakfast and broke camp. I was on the road at quarter past seven, driving around an hour via Coupar Angus and Dunkeld to Glen Cochill, just south of Aberfeldy. I was surprised to find another car parked at the entrance of the Calliacher Wind Farm – it turned out to be a dog-walker rather than a Graham bagger! My route followed the wind farm tracks through Griffin Forest to near Loch Hoil, then shooting tracks most of the way up to the minor summit of Creag an Loch. This gave view over Loch Fender to the Graham, Meall Dearg.

A rough descent and reascent through long heather led me to the summit, with pretty good views of Ben Lawers, Schiehallion and Beinn a’ Ghlo. Then a short descent east got me back onto tracks. The guidebook’s recommended route through the forest back to the wind farm track turned out to have a fairly well-walked path and the full descent to the car took less than an hour.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2952082

Back on the road by 11:30, I stopped in Stirling for petrol, at Abington for lunch, and at Lancaster for a stretch of the legs. The final section back to Derby was delayed a bit by an accident near Warrington. Google re-routed me via the M61 and M62 to avoid the worst of the queue, but inevitably found other rush-hour queues that way. Nevertheless, I was home just after 6pm and a quick turn-around for food and a shower allowed me to head out to band rehearsal in the evening!

Overall, a productive long weekend of bagging, ticking off eight new Grahams and taking me to 126 out of 231 in total. Although the southern Cairngorms don’t have the most spectacular hills in the Highlands, they were a good choice this time as I’d seen that the weather on the west coast had been much wetter. Not long until I’m heading back up the M6, M74 and beyond, for the Gentian trip to Torridon in early May! After a good Graham fix at Easter, I expect I’ll be content mainly to revisit that area’s exciting Munros on that trip!

You can see my full photo album on Google Photos here.

This year, for the first time, my New Year week in the Highlands was a solo one. Ruth and Josh had decided they would instead stay with some of the younger Duffers, and a swarm of Dufflings, in a large holiday cottage in Glenelg on the west coast. But I don’t have sufficient tolerance for living among small children to do so for a full week, nor as close a friendship with that group, and preferred to do my own thing. I found that Aviemore Youth Hostel have a couple of private single rooms, so that was a convenient and inexpensive choice with plenty of walking options nearby to suit all weather conditions.

I drove north from Kendal on Saturday 28th, pausing at Talkin Tarn Country Park, east of Carlisle, for a parkrun on the way. I wasn’t feeling very energetic and finished in a disappointing 20:30 despite the course being a little under distance, not muddy and only slightly undulating. Nevertheless, it’s a scenic course and it was good to get a little exercise before continuing my drive.

The roads were quiet and I made good time to Aviemore, pausing in Perth for lunch, petrol and some groceries. I arrived around 3pm and was able to check in earlier than advertised. The room was basic but fairly spacious and had everything I needed, and I was pleased to find that the kitchen also had plenty of storage and fridge space to share.

Sunday’s forecast was for a moderately windy day with some rain arriving later, so I got a dawn start at Glenmore Lodge for a walk up Bynack More. While walking up to An Lochan Uaine, I passed a couple of pairs of walkers going the other way with overnight kit. We didn’t stop to talk but I assume they’d spent the night at Ryvoan bothy. The track gives easy walking and I was soon at the bridge over the River Nethy, and could see that the summit of Bynack More was clear although there was lower cloud over Cairn Gorm. After a spell of mild weather, there was almost no snow on the hills.

As I continued up the ridge path, I passed two young men descending, who had been to the summit and warned it was extremely windy. They must have started well before first light! The gusts did get extremely strong as I got higher up, but I wasn’t worried about sometimes getting blown a few paces off the path as the ground to the side was not steep. Before long I was at the summit, where I was able to find a bit of shelter behind the tors.

There were good views southeast to Ben Avon, Beinn a’ Bhuird and Beinn a’ Chaorainn, but the higher hills further west were in the cloud. I decided to pop down the ridge to the Barns of Bynack for a different vantage point, somewhat regretting that decision when it was a real battle against the wind to return to the summit! Soon, though, I was heading back down the north ridge, the wind gradually dropping as I lost height, and I was back at the car before any rain arrived.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2837131

Monday was forecast to improve to showers after overnight rain cleared. I opted to head to the Monadhliath hills, where I could bag a new Graham, Creag Liath, with the option of continuing over one or more Munros if conditions and motivation suited. I parked at the head of Glen Banchor a bit before 10am and waited a few minutes for the rain to stop as I could see brighter skies approaching. Sure enough, it did stop and I was able to avoid putting my full waterproofs on. A group of five walkers set off towards A’ Chailleach (Munro) while I waited.

Creag Liath is actually only a short detour from the standard route up the Munro Carn Dearg, so the path most of the way is pretty well-walked and there’s a helpful footbridge over the Allt Fionndrigh – essential as the rivers were in spate after the wet night. The summit gave decent views over flooded Speyside. As I could see Carn Dearg was also just about clear, I decided to continue that way.

Glen Ballach was very boggy so it was good to reach the firmer ground of the final ramp up to the Munro summit. The ridge has attractive crags on its east side. An unusual fogbow briefly appeared as cloud swirled below them.

I sheltered behind the cairn to put on an extra layer, as the wind was cold, and to consult the map. I reckoned if I walked fast I’d be able to visit the other two Munros and get back to the car before dark, so that became the plan. It’s about 8km along the ridge to Carn Sgulain, but it must be some of the easiest terrain between Munros, with no large or steep ascents or descents, and navigation made easy by a faint path and very clear line of old fenceposts the entire way.

Carn Sgulain was in mist and time was short, so I didn’t linger there, setting a compass bearing to cross the upper reaches of the Allt Cuil na Caillich northwest of A’ Chailleach. It was only a ten minute climb from there to the summit, which was just about clear with blue skies to the south of the large cairn.

It was only an hour before sunset, so I pressed on quickly, following the ridge a short distance west then descending the obvious but very boggy ATV track into the valley of Allt a’ Chaorainn. It was clear that the river was not crossable where the main path is marked, so I continued down the west bank to find the footbridge marked further downstream – somewhat hidden out of sight among trees but it’s there if you need it!

That just left 1.5km down a track to the car. I was not expecting to find a runner doing hill sprint repeats in that fairly remote spot, in the twilight ten minutes after sunset! Presumably he’d run up from Newtonmore for his workout as he was running back down the lane that way as I drove out. With the three Munros added, it had ended up being quite a long day (27km) but it was good to have made the most of the dry weather.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2838191

Tuesday looked wetter, with warnings of more flooding, so I decided to climb a Graham north of Carrbridge. I parked on the B-road near Auchterteang, and set off when there seemed to be the biggest gap between showers on the rainfall radar! That worked pretty well as I got almost to the summit before the next rain arrived. Most of the ascent was on a good Land Rover track, with just a short trot along the boggy ridge to the trig point. There was a light dusting of fresh snow on the ground, unlike the previous two days, and the temperature was much lower. I got brief views of the high Cairngorms in the brightest moments.

To make a circular route, I continued along the heathery ridge to Creag na h-Iolaire, visiting a few rocky ‘cnaps’ along the way, before descending by another track to reach my outward route a couple of kilometres above Auchterteang. I had need to put on full waterproofs, but the rain had only amounted to a couple of sharp showers.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2838964

I didn’t bother to stay up to see the New Year in. There didn’t seem to be any kind of celebration at the hostel as the residents who wanted to party headed into town for the purpose. More snow fell overnight, and the weather was set to improve through New Year’s Day, so I decided to head for another Munro, Meall Chuaich, which has an adjacent Graham I could include on the way up. The A9 was clear of snow so it was an easy drive up to Dalwhinnie to park in a layby around 10am. There were several other cars parked there, with one group of four just setting off – clearly a popular choice for New Year’s Day, thanks to the easy road access after snowfall I suppose.

After a couple of kilometres on the access road beside the Cuaich aqueduct, I diverted off the main Munro-baggers’ route to cross over the small hydro dam and ascend the heathery slopes the other side of the valley. That led me quite quickly to the summit of Creag Ruadh, the Graham. There were some reasonable views over Speyside, Drumochter and the surrounding hills, but all the Munro summits were in cloud.

A short descent took me to the dam of Loch Cuaich, then a short walk along tracks got me back onto the main Munro route from the bridge over the Allt Coire Chuaich. I could see the group of four, now well ahead of course, as well as a couple of solo walkers descending. The ascent was straightforward, with the snow soft and not too slippery. Sadly the summit did not clear by the time I got there, just as the group were setting off back down.

The wind was bitterly cold so I only paused very briefly at the large cairn. It was only when I was back on the track in the valley that the summit actually cleared and some decent blue patches began to appear in the sky. There were some glimpses of Ben Alder along Loch Ericht, and the large corries of Carn na Caim looked good in the snow. I was back at the car by 3pm, so perhaps starting an hour later might have given me better conditions, but 11am seems too late to start on a winter Munro day!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2839678

The Met Office thought there was a good chance of cloud-free summits by afternoon on Thursday (although the MWIS did not agree!). I decided to be optimistic and have a go at climbing Braeriach, as it would be good to visit one of the very high Cairngorm peaks during my trip. My plan was again to start at 10am and move fast to get the best of the day. There had been more fresh snow overnight, but the road up to the Sugarbowl car park was fully clear. I was surprised to find someone gritting the steps on the footpath down to the Allt Mor bridge, soon after I set off!

Initially, I was following several other sets of footprints towards the Chalamain Gap, and I hoped these would continue towards Braeriach. However, after a while I caught up with the family who had made them and it was clear that the high mountains were not their objective for the day, so I had to make my own footsteps thereafter. The boulder-filled groove of the Chalamain Gap was just as awkward in fresh snow as I remembered it from my last winter ascent of Braeriach with a few duffers 17 years earlier (to the day!). Nevertheless, I had soon clambered through without any twisted ankles and was back on the easy path down into the Lairig Ghru.

Soon after starting to ascend the other side, I reached the cloud-base at around 700m. The path was quite distinct to start off, but became invisible under the snow higher up the ridge to Sron na Lairige. From the 1180m cairn, it was pretty much white-out with navigation to the 1184m cairn and across the next bealach entirely by compass bearing and pacing. I was glad to reach the rim of Coire Bhrochain, helpfully not corniced so it was safe to use the steep edge as a navigational handrail to the summit. The right hand side of my jacket and trousers were well frosted up with ice thanks to a snow shower, blowing from the north.

It had taken nearly three-and-a-half hours to reach the top – a bit longer than I’d bargained for with the tricky navigation – so I turned straight around to get as far down as possible before dark. More pacing and bearings got me back across the bealach and Sron na Lairige and onto the right descent ridge. Although less precision was required on the descent, it felt trickier with worse visibility going into the wind!

The cloud had risen a little over the afternoon, and I started getting views over Lochan Odhar, Gleann Eineach and the Lairig Ghru when I reached around 900m (still 400m below the summit of Breariach)! By that point I had found the visible path and my own footprints (not being re-filled by the wind at that level), which sped progress the rest of the way. There was some brightness in the sky over Speyside but not over the Cairngorm hills.

I found that a few other people had walked as far as the Lairig Ghru during the day, adding to my morning footprints. It was after sunset by the time I got back up to the Chalamain Gap, so I expected that I might need my torch for the last bit of my walk. But thanks to the clearing sky and reflective white ground, I was actually able to keep walking without headtorch all the way, reaching the car at 4:30pm, 40 minutes after sunset. I hadn’t had the dramatic corrie views I’d hoped for, but I’d certainly had a large dose of Type 2 Fun and done some very useful practice of my winter navigation skills!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2840625

I fancied something less taxing for my final walking day of the trip, so on Friday I did some more Graham bagging on the Hills of Cromdale, east of Grantown. My preferred route was from Strath Avon, to the east of the hills, but that meant a fairly long drive. This ended up taking nearly an hour as, although all the roads had been ploughed after more overnight snow, they had not yet been driven enough for the grit to have full effect, and it was safest just to roll along at 30mph. I parked by the phone box at Ballcorach, rather than risking getting stuck in the unploughed car park the other side of the river.

The ascent via Knock was on a decent track to start with. This was snow-covered but a set of fresh footprints led up and down – I concluded someone had taken their dog for a walk up and run down. Beyond the end of the vehicle track was undisturbed snow, which was pretty hard work to wade through all the way up to the minor top of Carn Eachie and from there along the ridge to the first Graham summit, Carn a’ Ghille Chearr. I was surprised to pass a group of reindeer! I did not know that part of the tame Cairngorm herd actually live here on the Glenlivet estate!

It was cold in the wind and the summit was just in the mist, so I didn’t hang about before heading back south, diverging from my footprints after a while to stay on the ridge line. It was very hard going across the bealach as the snow was deeper there, generally around a foot, and the ground underneath was unfrozen and boggy. I passed another large group of reindeer here, which were happy for me to take a fairly close-up photo.

Eventually I reached the tall memorial cairn on An Sgoran, where I was surprised to see a pair of walkers coming up from the Cromdale side. They were locals making a regular visit, but only as far as the cairn. We chatted a little as we had some food in the shelter of the cairn.

Then I continued, finding shallower and firmer snow generally, to the second Graham summit, Creagan a’ Chaise, which has an even larger memorial cairn. That just left a gentle descent east through more soft and deep snow to pick up another vehicle track down to Milton, and then a couple of kilometres along the lane back to the car. The roads had cleared fully of snow by that time, knocking 15 minutes off the journey time back to Aviemore.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2841544

My plan had been to break Saturday’s drive back to Kendal with a visit to Perth parkrun, but it was cancelled due to ice. With my knee a bit sore from the snowy walking anyway, I didn’t bother to go to Faskally Forest parkrun, which did go ahead near Pitlochry (I wasn’t so motivated by a repeat location!) and was in Kendal by lunchtime. I decided to spend the afternoon and night there and spend the time with my parents rather than rushing straight home. And despite the widespread amber weather warning for snow, I found the motorways clear on Sunday morning all the way to Hilton.

Overall, a pretty good trip, bagging five new Grahams and revisiting six Munros. That takes me past the half way point on the Grahams list: 118 down, 113 to go. I reached at least one summit every day, despite the usual mixture of wet, windy and snowy Scottish winter weather. Not much sunshine this year, but still a good selection of contrasting walks with views from some of the tops. My full photo album can be found here.

As usual, I took a trip to the Highlands for the long Easter weekend, this year a solo trip staying in hostels. I travelled up as far as Mum and Dad’s house in Kendal on the Wednesday evening, and spent the night there. Then after breakfast on Thursday, I continued north to Lochgoilhead, where my first objective of the trip was the recently-promoted Graham, Cruach nam Miseag (one of the few that are below 2000ft but above 600m and thus meet the new Graham criteria).

I parked by the shore of Loch Goil at Corrow, and set off up good forest tracks, then paths up the valley to Lochan nan Cnaimh. Clouds shrouded Beinn Bheula and Beinn Lochain as a prolonged shower blew through, but the rain had stopped by the time I paused for lunch in the shelter of some crags.

Doubling back on myself to continue up the ridge, it was a sharp climb up on rough grass, soon gaining views of the summit and down to Loch Goil. I passed over a couple of minor tops on the way to the blustery Graham summit, only pausing briefly there to take in the views before seeking the shelter of lower ground. At the start of the walk, I had been in two minds whether to descend directly north or back the way I’d come. It hadn’t looked too tricky to find a way through the forest, so I opted for the direct way, but somewhat regretted it as I did end up picking my way through the brashings and pits of a deforested slope for around 1km on the approach back to the forest track, failing to locate the timber extraction track that I’d seen from below. It was good to get back on easy ground for the final part of the descent.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2565414

I then drove half an hour or so to Inveraray Hostel for the night, where the warden informed me that I was the first guest of the year, that being their first day of opening and me the first arrival. I settled into my private twin room, then walked into town to buy groceries at Co-op, enjoying the sunshine over Loch Fyne on the way back. After cooking and eating dinner, I had a relaxing evening planning for the coming days.

Friday’s weather was supposed to improve as the day went on, so I didn’t rush to get out really early. My twin objectives were the Grahams on either side of Hell’s Glen, the other side of Loch Fyne, which are both easily accessible from the top of the 200m pass. First up was Cruach nam Mult. I followed the main track up Coire No, then a timber extraction track up through a deforested area to reach the open ground northwest of the hill. Then it was a simple climb up grass to the fairly unremarkable summit, the final 100m or so being in mist. It didn’t look like the cloud would break up imminently, so I headed straight back down the way I’d come, only getting fleeting views of Loch Fyne.

Back at the road, I crossed straight over and followed the zigzagging track up the opposite side, then ascended steeply beside the burn almost to the summit of Stob an Eas, the Graham summit. There were a few rocky steps to make the climb more interesting, and the weather was brightening nicely to give views towards both Loch Goil and Loch Fyne.

It was pretty cold and windy at the summit, so I soon continued northeast along the ridge to the subsidiary top of Beinn an t-Seilich. This was a better viewpoint both up Glen Kinglas and towards the Arrochar Alps, Beinn an Lochain dominating the view to the east. I found a sheltered spot for a late lunch in the sunshine, then meandered south along the craggy crest, taking lots of photo stops as The Cobbler and Beinn Narnain came into view, and the views to Loch Goil gradually opened up to the south.

From there, it was an easy descent west down smooth grassy slopes to pick up my ascent track again at the edge of the forest below Stob an Eas.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2566337

It was about an hour’s drive to Oban, where I would stay for the next two nights. Arriving at 4pm, I had an hour to wait before check-in opened at the Backpackers Hostel, but was happy just to sit in the lounge and drink tea. Once I’d checked into the dormitory – which I was fortunate to have to myself that night – I strolled along to Tesco to pick up a couple of extra bits and pieces, then had another lazy evening.

Ganavan Sands parkrun had been on my to-do list for some time, so I was pleased to have created the opportunity to visit it on this trip. I arrived promptly and went for a warm-up jog along the first part of the course, amused by the sign warning of a steep ascent from the off. By 9:30am, 93 runners – their third highest turnout ever – had amassed. Two were very quick, well ahead of me within a few hundred metres and three minutes ahead by the end, but I managed to establish a bit of a gap between myself and fourth place. On a hilly course, I was happy to finish in just a touch over 20 minutes. The views of Mull and Morvern were excellent in the sunny spells.

After parkrun, I took a short drive north to park in Gleann Salach, the other side of Loch Etive, where my objectives were a horseshoe of three Grahams around the River Esragan. First up was Beinn Bhreac, a broad and grassy hill with an ATV track leading about half way, then rough and rather boggy grass. It had been dry so far, but I could see some dark clouds approaching as I continued to the 726m Graham summit, Mam Hael.

Appropriately, a heavy hail storm began as I left the top, and I descended rapidly towards the saddle with Beinn Molurgainn as I could hear some thunder around. Thankfully, the thunder soon stopped and I could see brighter weather approaching, so I decided it was safe to continue back up. The hail had made the ground pretty white, but did turn to rain for a few minutes before petering out. Soon I was on the Graham summit and continuing southeast towards the minor top of Meall Dearg. The various cairns along its ridge proved to be excellent viewpoints over Loch Etive towards the higher, snowy peaks of Ben Starav and Ben Cruachan, and there were a few sunny spells.

Once I’d reached Bealach Carra, it was an easy scramble up the spur to the summit of Beinn Mheadhonach, the final Graham of the day. I overtook another walker, whose footprints I had seen in the hail earlier, on the way up, but didn’t pass closely enough to speak as he had chosen a less rocky line further right. The summit gave good views towards the sea and Mull.

I descended west then northwest down rough, grassy slopes to reach the confluence of the Eas a’ Chrinlet and Eas na Gearr, where the former could be crossed on stepping stones beside an ATV ford, and the latter had a very helpful bridge. Beyond the bridge, an obvious ATV track led quite steeply up onto the opposite hillside then traversed southwest back to my start point. The attractive rocky ground of the second and third Grahams had definitely made up for the boggy first hill and unpleasant hailstorm to give a good day overall!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2567681

I had been told that I would be sharing the dormitory that night, so was surprised when nobody had turned up by the time I went to bed. Sadly, five others did arrive around midnight and disturb my sleep! Nevertheless, I was well rested by morning and decided to head to a couple of Munros, Beinn a’ Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich, which had looked good across Loch Etive the previous day. The forecast was also good, particularly for the morning, with light winds and sunshine.

Once I’d had breakfast and checked out of the hostel, I drove the half hour to Lochawe and parked by the B8077 junction, wrongly assuming that any places further along the lane were already taken. The first few kilometres were on a good hydro track up the valley, with improving views of the Ben Cruachan group to the left.

Then it was a steep and unrelenting climb of nearly 500m up the SE ridge of Beinn a’ Chochuill, significantly aided by the expected Munro-baggers’ path. The climb was essentially snow-free, but a decent cornice remained on the north side of the ridge to make the view more dramatic. I enjoyed more stunning views of Ben Cruachan as I walked west to the summit of Beinn a’ Chochuill, as well as appreciating the row of snowy peaks between Ben Starav and Stob Ghabhar to the north.

Turning back to the east, I followed the good ridge path to the second, higher Munro, Beinn Eunaich, pausing for lunch in a sheltered spot a little below the summit. As it was still quite early, I decided to continue northeast along the ridge to Meall Copagach and the Lairig Dhoireann, rather than following the masses (perhaps 15 other people that day) down the south ridge back into the valley. Although there was a lot of very steep snow on the east face of Beinn Eunaich, the descent on the ridge itself was easily negotiated without ice-axe, and the continuation was snow-free and enjoyable.

As I’d suspected, the mapped path down the valley was faint and intermittent, but it was at least well marked with cairns. Once down in Glen Strae, a few kilometres on the track and road brought me back to the car. I drove another half hour to reach Crianlarich SYHA for the night, where I was able to claim a bottom bunk in an otherwise full dorm.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2568631

My plan for my final day in Scotland had been to visit some of the Grahams above Luss, but the mountain forecasts agreed that the far south of the National Park would probably have low cloud in the morning. Instead, therefore, I decided to walk directly from the hostel up a couple of Munros, Beinn Tulaichean and Cruach Ardrain.

My ascent route followed forest tracks up Coire Ardrain, escaping the forest by Creag na h-Iolaire and climbing steeply from there to gain the ridge. The views of Ben More to the left and Cruach Ardrain to the right improved as I continued south to the rocky top of Stob Garbh, and the direct route to Cruach Ardrain looked pretty intimidating with a good covering of snow. Luckily I had thought of that and planned instead to contour across the corrie to the bealach with Beinn Tulaichean and climb that hill first, a route that worked well with some large, flat snowfields to cross. I saw one other walker with his dog near the summit, where I paused for a snack.

Turning back north, I followed the ridge up to Cruach Ardrain, finding some deep snow drifts near the top but nothing requiring use of the ice axe. There were good views of An Caisteal and its neighbours to the west, as well as down into Strathfillan. To return to Crianlarich, I descended the easy ridge via Meall Dhamh (where I paused for lunch) and Grey Height, passing two other solo walkers heading up. On reaching the edge of the forest, I headed northeast to pick up the end of a timber extraction track that I could see not far below, rather than going down the very boggy rides described in the guidebook.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2570513

I was back at my car and on the road around 1:30pm and embarked on the drive back to Kendal. Despite some slow traffic through the Trossachs and in Cumbria, I arrived with about 20 minutes to spare before dinner with Mum, Dad, Ruth and Josh. I stayed the night at Mum and Dad’s.

The next morning, Ruth, Mum and I went for a stroll up nearby Farleton Fell to get some fresh air before my final couple of hours’ drive home. It must be quite a few years since my previous visit to this limestone-covered hill, and it was good to refresh my acquaintance.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2570518

My full photo album can be viewed here. Overall, a pretty good Easter trip, with three totally dry days in Scotland and the other two only showery. I had ticked off six new Grahams and revisited four Munros. I now look forward to my next Scottish trip, to Glen Shiel in late May with the Gentian Club.