The Sleeping Dragon, some rumbles of thunder and a deer fence ..

Beinn  Sgulaird (10th May 2004)


Beinn Sgulaird (seen here across Loch Creran) reminds me of a sleeping dragon, with a long knobbly back and tail stretching  out to the North East, from it's head - the little nameless 488m peak above Druimavuic.   Read on to hear about the rumbles of thunder and the deer fence!




Anne and I had camped overnight at Barcaldine, so it was only a short drive to our starting point at Druimavuic.  

The morning was hazy and warm, and we enjoyed the 5 mile walk alonside the River Creran with the mist gradually rising off the hill.


We continued up Glen Ure on a good track to reach the "dragon's tail" 2 hours after leaving the car at the loch side.  


The view below is looking up the dragon's back (the NE ridge) from the "tail" towards Stob Gaibhre (right) and the main summit (left).  


The sky was fine and blue, but large cumulonimbus were gathering to the east.  After lunch on the summit (below), we continued along the knobbly ridge over a series of small rocky tops.

As the rumbles of thunder grew more and more frequent, I was getting increasingly concerned about our slow rate of progress, and was keen to get back down off the hill before the storm headed in our direction.  So, no more lingering -  we hurried along over the last top, and down towards the "dragon's head"


When we reached the col, we were faced with a decision: go down to the left, go over the top of the "head', or go down to the right.  We took the right hand route - mistake!  


Unfortunately, this led down over some fairly rough ground and then through some forestry.  At last the road was in sight!  Oh no - a high deer fence barred our way!  There seemed to be no gate anywhere near, so we did some rather acrobatic teetering up and over!  Once on the road, we discovered a gate about 200m to the left.  Ah well, we'll know next time!


Later, we heard that a climber had been killed by a lightning strike on Ben Oss, about 20 miles away ....  see http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/2667

Easter 2004

Today is Jan 1st 2010;  Selkirk is (unusually) still deep in snow, which has been lying continuously since before Christmas.  This blog is still stuck back in 2004, so I'll need to press on through the next few years ....

Easter 2004 - we spent a week in a lovely cottage ay Keltneyburn, near Aberfeldy, with the whole family (right).


The weather was pretty good all week, so we had several expeditions to the hills.






First outing (5th April) was Schihallion (below) - a repeat climb for Anne and me, but a first Munro for Fiona!

We parked at the Bridge of Foss car park, and made speedy progress up the new NT path.  Half-way up, I was saying "I wish I'd worn my shorts", as it was lovely and warm.  I soon changed my tune once we got onto the summit ridge, where it turned absolutely Arctic, with a very cold wind blowing the powdery snow horizontally in our faces.  We didn't stop long at the cairn - just long enough for a photo of Fi on her first Munro!  (and maybe her last?).

Next day (6th April), I set off alone up Glen Lyon, to climb Meall Ghaordie (M 164).  Steep damp grassy slopes up into Coire Laoghain, then more gently on to the ridge at Cam Chreag, with snow underfoot from 750m, and a cold wind.  From the summit, there were beautifully clear views (right), and a superb sense of isolation for the world below.  It took 2.5 hours up, but only 1 hour to descend on snow, then grassy slopes into Glas Choire and round below Creag a' Mhadaidh.

Next outing (7th April) - persuaded Iain, Julie and Anne to join me to climb Beinn Tulaichean (M 165), from Inverlochlaraig (Balquhidder).   Very steep slog up to the ridge, with feet suffering in a new pair of boots.  Cold wind, but warm sunshine and clear views.  Several showers around, but none fell on us!  Enjoyed the snowy ascent (left) to the rocky summit, then descended north towards Cruach Ardrain, then east down into Inverlochlaraig Glen.

Reverted to my old boots for a traverse of the Tarmachan ridge, with Anne and Fiona (so another Munro for her!) on April 9th.  Started at the Ben Lawers car park, and followed the good path on to the hill.  Hit some snow, and mist above the SE top at around 950m, which cleared away later in the day.  Enjoyed ourselves as we progressed along the narrow ridge beyond Meall Garbh, with the wind at our backs.  The girls dropped off from the col beyond Beinn an Eachan, while I continued over the last top, Creag na Caillich (right) - arguably the best part of the ridge - before returning along the hydro board road to the starting point.


(written 01/01/10)