Many years ago when Frank and I had climbed Ben Lui the weather and the views had not been really great (in fact it had been a rather dreich day). So we had skipped the extension to Beinn a’Chleibh, then. This meant that we still had this half-day walk to do that we could slip in when it suited us. The right time came on 18 November 2014 when we needed to catch an afternoon flight out of Edinburgh and had the morning at our disposal.

From Loch Fyne where we had stayed for a long weekend we drove to Loch Awe and then onwards to Glen Lochy where we left our car in the big hikers’ parking where the tramp up Beinn a’Chleibh starts. At 0810h a.m. Frank and I crossed the River Lochy (dry-shod) using stepping stones – the weather had been rather dry the past few days! Then we walked along the left bank of the river, crept under the railway bridge over the Eas Daimh and picked up the obvious path on the right bank of the burn. For the next few hundred metres the path was fine and easy to follow. Then a tributary stream coming from the left needed to be crossed. This was a little tricky but some friendly hiker had installed a rope spanning that stream which gave us something to hold on to during the slippery crossing.

Then the real fun started. The path deteriorated into one of the worst quagmires I have ever experienced in all my years of hiking in Scotland. Bog, water holes and slushy moss. Legs sinking in almost to the knees when you hit a bad spot. All of this while ascending steeply through the forest beside the Eas Daimh. Then finally after many curses and a very tiring 45 minutes we reached the forest edge and the open grassy Fionn Choirein. Heaven! Hoorah!

The crags of Beinn a’Chleibh were obvious from there as was the way ahead towards the steep headwall of the corrie. The wooden monolith welcoming … [Read More]