walking

Clach Bheinn, 643mts

Posted by explorecowal on January 20, 2015

Posted in: Walking. Tagged: bheinn, clach, Cowal, Snow, walk, walking, Winter. 5 Comments

A snowy summit…………..

Well the whole journey was a tad wintery, including a rather ‘fresh’ Easterly wind !!

Planning ahead, I’d taken my bike to speed up the lower section from Benmore Gardens to where the forestry road ended and the hill track started. This would also speed up my return journey,the thought of free wheeling the final stage back to the car made the original climb past the view point seem worth it.

Once on the snow covered hill track,it was straight up hill to the fence line,some great view over Benmore,the Holy Loch and beyond were to be had. Over the first gate,continuing north till i found the old fence line,well the uprights were the only things visible. Once on the summit of A’Cruach (482mts) things got interesting, a snow filled,wind swept landscape awaited. Some drifts could not be avoided,the first one was fun as i waded through the thigh high snow…………after twenty similar scenarios the novelty had worn off !! Next was Creachan Beag (547mts) as i followed the fence line, the surrounding hills lit up by the sun. Ground conditions varied from,grassy tussocks,fields of ice and various depths of snow (mostly 12″ +), i certainly felt the strain on this walk. Onwards to Creachan Mor that towers above Coire nan Cleireach,this is where i left the fence line and headed NW to the summit of Clach Bheinn. Planning this route beforehand I’d picked out a route,however due to the drifts it was a case of dodging what i could and heading for any sign of solid ground. After zig-zagging and contouring round the hill the summit cairn was spotted, a welcome sight indeed. View from the true summit weren’t as good as i hoped,looking north was still obscured by adjacent rocky outcrops. But exploring the high tops in the prestent conditions was a no go.

The thought of returning via the same route had me planning a different descent. A south eastern walk down the shoulder heading for the tree line followed by a steep westerly down by the trees,the snow deep but at least it was all downhill and good progress made. I’d once hiked up a section of this large clearing many years ago so i knew what to expect. Eventually emerging onto the forestry road on west Loch Eck………solid even ground….. at last !

Something was always in the back of my mind……………..my bike !!! It was still hopefully sitting up beyond the Benmore viewpoint,aaaaargh. Perhaps taking it wasnt the best idea 🙂 A trudge back up the hill to fetch it, followed by the free wheeling section i’d been looking forward to before a slow pedal back to the car.

For an interactive map with route, stats and picture locations click HERE

Map

Will upload video once I get some decent tinternet connection!!

NW Loch Eck,Trig :- Bike and Hike.

Posted by explorecowal on December 30, 2014

Posted in: Biking, forestry commission, Trig Point, Walking. Tagged: biking, Eck, loch, Trig, walking, Winter. 2 Comments

Decided to try something different,a bike followed by a hike to get to this trig point.

Parking at Glenbranter at the FCS car park, I headed off on the bike for the forestry road section. I’d found an ATV track by chance when descending from Beinn Bheag a good while back, so relocating this track for access to the hill was the next step. Remarkably I found the track, as if I was there yesterday, just as I remembered. The track too steep to cycle up, I pushed the bike the point of the washed out burn crossing then walked the remainder and onto the open hill. There’s a couple of splits in the track, two lefts and a right gets you onto the hill. The second left hand track was unknown to me as my descent on last trip came from the right, but the choice paid off.
The track took me out at the base of the hill, leaving a short and steep ascent to the trig, far easier than I thought it’d be.

Stunning views were to be had, snow covered hills and mountains all around, along with partial views over Loch Eck.
I remember seeing a mast at the top of this hill many years ago, but it had vanished and I never thought anything about it…….until I reached the summit. The control station still exists along with the dismantled mast, the internals of the station stripped out…..a good wee place to hide in extreme weather! Even if there’s no door.

After a wee wander about the tops I returned on the same route, picking up a frosty bike for the downhill return. I’m no mountain biker, mostly forestry roads but I enjoyed hanging of the back of the bike on the track section!! The forestry road hardly took a turn of the pedals to get back to the car, the quickest descent I’ve ever done!!!

Time saving and energy saving……it’s the future!!!! 😉

FCS Glenbranter office

Unloaded

Forestry road

Turning left on to top road

Hill track

Quad track

Left here

Summit on left

Abandoned bike here

Left here

Follow track on right

Summit hill

Looking back

Grassy way,between rocks

First sight of Trig

Old mast station

Lego man,gettin a picture

Loch Eck,Loch Long and beyond

Frozen bike on return

Interactive map and pictures HERE

Location map below.

Knap Burn,Ardentinny. Closed- Taken Back by Nature

Posted by explorecowal on December 27, 2014

Posted in: forestry commission, Walking. Tagged: Ardentinny, Burn, Cowal, Knap, walk, walking. Leave a comment

Took a wee trip to Ardentinny to have a look about,an area I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never walked or cycled. Main objective was to look for an access route onto Creachan Mor,whilst i was there i decided to check out the ‘Knap Burn’ route, signed by the Forestry Commision.

Found an accesss to the hill via the pylons that cross the lower section of the hill,not ideal but once on the hill it’s easy enough to divert away from them.

Continuing on,I checked the GPS and a 5 mile route on forestry roads looked straight forward. Heading NE on the forestry road prior to heading down to ‘Raven’s Rock’ and down to Knap before returning on the lower road to the woodland walk. The section in the NE between the Upper and Lower road is more of an ATV track……….an overgrown one at that !! Doesn’t seem to have been much or any maintenance carried out in this section for a while,quite hard to spot the track from the top road.

There’s the reamians of a building at Knap,an ideal Bothy project!!! I had also noticed a sign at the FCS car park stating the Carrick trail was closed due to damage to the road……….they weren’t wrong !!!

Map with pictures CLICK HERE

Next time i return,it’ll be for a trip to Carrick and back or to conquer Creachan Mor.

Beinn Ruadh, 644mts. A winters walk.

Posted by explorecowal on December 15, 2014

Posted in: Trig Point, Walking. Tagged: beinn, Cowal, route, ruadh, walking. 2 Comments

Although I’ve walked this hill before , I thought I’d try it from a different approach. Setting off from the FCS car park at Inverchapel,following the red route to the view point then leaving the hardcore track for the open hillside.

I’m not going to lie……….the initial climb over the varied and steep terrain did have me taking a few picture opportunities ( breathers), my legs were paying the price of the constant climb. There is no path, so it’s pretty much do your own thing. I had an idea to follow fence lines but the steep rocky terrain put me off. I’d plotted a rough route,dodging the larger rocky outcrops,so that’s the route I took. Looking on a map and seeing what’s actually on the ground are two different things!! Zig-zagging up the hill I eventually got to the section where I could see the summit,the walk from here is quite straight forward. There are a number of old iron fence posts that guide you to the summit.
On the return, I decided to head out onto some of the outcrops to gain some great views over Loch Eck and the surrounding hills. I also decided to follow the fence line that took me back the the gate,mid hill. Thankfully I never took this route on the way up as the boulder strewn hill was not ideal walking terrain, especially with a dusting of snow. Some voids could take your leg !!

Despite the constant climb,it was a great way to do this hill. A great view was always had,more so with the hills topped with snow.

Below are all my pics (almost 100),I couldn’t bare to miss any out…………….well there is that dodgy ‘selfie’!!! Feel free to print it and it’ll keep the kids away from the fire !!

For interactive map and locations of pictures,click HERE

Sgorach Mor,Cowal. 601 mts.

Posted by explorecowal on November 30, 2014

Posted in: Walking. Tagged: Cowal, loch, mor, sgorach, tarsan, walk, walking. Leave a comment

A walk I’ve not done for a while, Sgorach Mor was on the cards after last weeks trip ti Beinn Mhor. An interesting hill,giving great 360 degree views ( weather permitting ) not forgetting the views over Loch Tarsan.

5.7 (ish) miles :- 3 hrs.

Starting off on forestry roads,then onto a quad track (wet in places) and onwards to the open hill. The open hill is strewn with large boulders to start with along with many rocky outcrops. The summit it’s self is found on top of a rocky mass knows as the ‘volcanic plug’ !! It looks daunting on the approach but as you contour to the left and get to the rear of the hill,an easy final ascent to the summit is found. No trig point on this one,but a well defined Cairn awaits.
I made it up just in time,the clag wasn’t long in closing in on the summit.

A point to worth noting is where you come out of the tree line. Sometimes it can be hard to retrace to find your exit from the hill. I’m pretty sure there’s another way onto this hill from the top track,it looks to come out to the open hill by the burn at top of the climb then follow the fence line to Sgorach Mor, I just stuck to what I found last time up there.

Map of Route.

Interactive map with pictures and stats, click HERE

Cruach nan Cuilean and Cruach Mhor wind farm in Glendaruel.

Posted by explorecowal on October 11, 2014

Posted in: Cowalfest, Walking. Tagged: cruach nan cuilean, walk, walking, wind farm. Leave a comment

Another walk programmed by Cowalfest.

This time setting off from the B836 heading to Cruach nan Cuilean and over to Cruach Mhor wind farm in Glendaruel. I’ve visited both the hill and the wind farm but never tied the two together,so today was an excellent opportunity to do so. Our guide for today was Jim Campbell from Bute,who knows the area very well.

Conditions were not ideal due to the low cloud on the hill reducing any views to zero,but it was calm and dry for the majority of the walk so I’ll settle for that. Terrain,open hillside following deer paths,sheep paths and joining anything in between.

Interactive map with stats and pictures can be found by clicking HERE You can zoom in and see what part of the route the pictures were taken.

Info on wind farm can be found HERE

Previous trip report,different route……same hill. Gives some idea of the views that can be had. Click HERE for details.

Thanks to all who attended and made it a great day on the hill.

Favourite picture of the day…………..

Succothmore,Strachur. B29 Bomber crash site.

Posted by explorecowal on October 4, 2014

Posted in: Cowalfest, Walking. Tagged: B29, bomber, Cowalfest, crash, plane, succoth, walking. 1 Comment

Today was my first ever ‘Cowalfest’ walk, guided by John Ferguson.

John

A walk I’ve been wanting to do for years but never had the time or quite sure of an exact route.

Six keen walkers turned up to be guided to the crash site of the B29 Bomber. The Flying Fortress came down after clipping a nearby summit due to whats is thought to have been icing of the wings. This was back in 1949.
The walk it’s self was great…..forest roads, tracks, burn crossings, waterfalls, open hillside and that all important crash site.
Below are photos taken en route to the crash site,the site it’s self and a few returning via the same route.