I always like to take my birthday off work and I had some plans to crack through some local-ish Corbetts that day. However, the forecast was terrible, with some big showers due to come through and some high winds. Not wanting to let that spoil my fun, I capped my plans to a single Corbett, Stob Coire Creagach in Glen Kinglass.
I left Glasgow in rain at about 0900 and stopped at Starbucks at Milton for a birthday coffee. Then it was up the A82 and A83 through Arrochar. The OMR was in operation because of the rain, so I was sat there for 20 minutes or so, getting some nice messages. I got to the Butterbridge car park and was running at 1050.
I was going to head into the bothy at Abyssinia but the river was well-swollen, and I didn't want to get my feet soaked this early.
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| Abyssinia bothy |
I headed further up the glen, my thinking being that I could lessen the steepness of my ascent by adding more distance. After some Colin the Caterpillar Hearts and Rainbows, I broke off the main path onto the hill proper.
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| Colin |
There's no path, so I just worked my way up the hill but it was hard going through big grass hags and tussocks. I eventually made it onto the ridge proper and was able to run a bit again. The wind was picking up and it was getting pretty wet.
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| View up the ridge |
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| View back down the ridge |
I got to the summit at 1246 and I could barely stand up. I had to duck down below the wind to get a picture of the cairn
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| Summit Cairn |
The next step was straight down the front, which looks easy on the map but was covered in slippy grass. However, I made some good time, and got the best pics of the trip:
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| Rest and Be Thankful, Beinn Luibhean and Loch Restil |
I made it back to the van at 1340 and got changed. I was ready for some food to headed to Tarbet for a bowl of soup and a cheeky birthday dessert for the road.
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| Birthday Dessert |
Run Distance: 11.17km
Run Time: 2h 50m
Ascent: 775m
Corbetts Completed: Still no idea
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