Let's stick with the Gaelic name, there's always something to learn from it, far more than the anglicised version. This was Gaor Bheinn, and it was likely my last single-day-new-Munro-hike from home.
Toezi arrived to pick me up bang on 0700 and we loaded the bikes onto the roof of his big motor and headed off up a reasonably quiet A82 in complete darkness. As we drew past Ben Lomond, a look in the rear-view revealed the sky lightening behind Conic Hill. It was looking to be a fairly nice day.
By the time we got to the Green Welly for second breakfast it was fully bright and the light was flat passing through the Rannoch Moor, but made the Buachaille look ever-so enticing! There was some snow on the tops of these southern Munros but by the time we'd crossed the bridge at Ballachulish, the tops had none. That was just the effect of showers passing through overnight and the cold air, but it was dry by Fort William.
We pulled into the wee layby near the head of Loch Eil and got ourselves ready. There was frost on the ground here so it was on with warm gear and gloves for the cycle in.
We kicked off at 1000 pretty much bang on and headed north up Gleann Fionnlighe stopping for some photos at the sheepfold by Uachan.
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| How? |
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| Gaor Bheinn |
The track was great, but a bit hilly in places, and at one point I barrelled through a puddle and swear it went right up to the hub of my front wheel. Fortunately I had my gaiters on!
We stopped at the edge of the wee wood where the other bikes were and made the transition to walking at 1043.
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| Gaor Bheinn |
From there it was a decent track up the hill, but it was a relentless climb. It's been a while since I've had a heavier rucksack on so it was a bit frustrating after a good summer of lightweight hill running. We pushed on in the shade of the hills and then appeared in sunshine a bit later on.
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Coming out of the shade
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It was a bit warmer but still nippy, however, the views appearing everywhere were just fantastic. We could see over to Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr nan Coireachan that we did in a similar manner on the bikes a couple of years back.
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| Looking over to Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr nan Coireachan |
The view back down the glen wasn't too bad either
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| Toezi admiring the Gleann Fionnlighe |
Eventually, the contours levelled out and we hit the trig point which marks the south top at 1245. Everything above 900m was in black and white compared to the rest of the world around which was in full high-contrast winter sunlit colours.
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Summit Selfie
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| Summit of Gaor Bheinn |
The clag was hanging around the summit so we never got much of a view unfortunately. However, we did get some nice views on the descent.
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| Sun through the clag |
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| Ben Nevis across the glens |
We set off the way we had come and made decent time. In the afternoon sunshine and out of the wind, we were able to drop a layer or two and I was in base layer and t-shirt, enjoying the sunshine and my fitness.
We made it back to the bikes at 1515 and had a quick faff before a rather rapid descent back to the car, where we arrived at 1535.
We stopped for well-deserved fish and chips at the Real Food Cafe at Tyndrum and we were back in Glasgow about 1830, feeling very satisfied and lucky to have had such a nice time on the hill in December.
Here's the relive of the hike:
Bike Distance: 11.6km
Hike Distance: 10.21km
Hike Ascent: 1041m
Hike Time: 4h 24m
Munros Completed: 195
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