Ben Avon and Beinn a' Bhuird - Attempt 1, 25-27th Sept 2020

This has almost been a record breaking year for me in terms of Munros climbed. If we look at the last three months in isolation, it most certainly has been!

Aiming for more, we headed north and met up in the car park at Invercauld Bridge at 1730ish on Friday evening, unpacked our kit, loaded up the bikes and enjoyed a quick refreshment.

Then it was NW, past the rather plush-looking Invercauld house with it's garden art, and then on towards Gleann an t-Slugain. The cycling was good going over rough roads and we climbed 300m without really noticing.

We arrived at the Slugain in fading light and started looking for a decent campsite. The goldilocks campsite was already taken, so we pressed on and found another spot. It was lumpy but dry so we got the tents up and had dinner. It was getting quite dark, so we stood around for a bit, then decided to retire to our tents about 2130, because it was absolutely baltic. The north wind was whistling down the Slugain so I was glad of my sleeping bag and 2 pairs of socks.

The wind meant for a frequently disturbed sleep, but I'm sure I had a few hours anyway. I  wasn't uncomfortable as long as I stayed in the one position, but it wasn't the nicest night I've had in a tent.

We were up at 0700, around about first light and the wind hadn't died down any. There were a few showers as well, so it was up quickly, get some porridge down me, and then load up the bike again and head out of the Slugain at about 0820.

Camping in the Slugain

Rainbow over the Slugain

The route out of the Slugain was lovely and we got our first sight of the hills, which to our surprise, were covered in a thin blanket of white. The light was fantastic.

The trusty Core, laden

Looking over to Beinn a' Bhuird

We dumped the bikes in some heather where we thought we'd be coming back from Beinn a' Bhuird and started the long walk on good paths to The Sneck.

We were hit with showers and more wind, and we were pretty glad to have packed winter kit. We pressed on and hit The Sneck at 1030.

The Sneck

The wind was brutal, it was whipping up through the glen on the north side of The Sneck and hitting us at about 40-50mph we estimated, maybe with gusts higher than that.

We headed towards Ben Avon and it started to get a bit whiter.

Ice and snow

Once we got onto the plateau, we took bearings to head towards Leabaidh an Daimh Bhuidhe, and in the mist, we hit it bang on. The tor was magnificent, but the wind and ice were not, so we agreed that this was going to have to live to fight another day. It was a long way to come, but to risk an accident up here is just foolish. I look forward to a return in summer.

Leabaidh an Daimh Bhuidhe

We headed back to The Sneck at 1150 and with lumps of ice being blown up from the rocks in the corrie, made the decision that the wind was pretty dangerous, and so we headed back down the path towards the bikes. Safety first.

We made it back to the bikes at 1315, and the return journey took us just 31 mins, dropping 300m. That was an absolutely exhilarating descent on the bikes across lots of different terrain. Of course by the time we got to the bottom, the sun had come out, but we stood by our decision.

We brewed up a quick coffee in the car park and headed home about 1415.

No new Munros this time, but we are still alive!

Cycling: 20k ish total

Walking: 15.5km, 1477m ascent, 4hr 45mins