M62 | 1078 m. | 3537 ft.
Translation: Perhaps sheltering or peaceful hill
Pronuncation: byn heskarneech

In my eyes these two hills were a pair I had been looking forward to since I had first seen the eastern flank of Beinn Heasgarnich while driving on the private hydro road that connects Glen Lyon and Glen Lochay a few days earlier. This day saw Frank and me park our car where a land rover track/hydro track branches off in a westerly direction from the private hydro road about 150 m above Kenknock.

We walked along the track 200m above Glen Lochay passing below the crags of Creagan Fhearchair on the steep southern slopes of Beinn Heasgarnich. Progress was easy of course and views of Sgiath Chuill and Meall Glas on the south side of Glen Lochay were great, even though these hills might not be of the stuff that gets you twitching in anticipation.

After an hour and five kilometres we reached the bridge over the Allt Batavaim where a path climbs the grassy hillside in a north-north-westerly direction into the corrie below Sron nan Eun (837m). Gradually ascending towards that ridge we soon decided to head for the higher and craggier ground further up on the left, weaving our way through bands of crags. Once on the ridge the view into beautiful Coire cheaththaich more than compensated for the effort of the steep ascent before. You can’t miss the path on the ridge leading towards the final 250 rise to the first Munro of the day Creag Mhor, which is a fine pointed summit with considerable crags girting its upper parts — fine and pointed at least by Glen Lyon and Glen Lochay standards. At the summit the obligatory break was held with sandwiches, water, chocolate and beautiful views of Beinn Heasgarnich, Beinn Challum, Beinn Mhanach, and the summit of Beinn Dorain a number of corries and the Auch Glen away.

From Creag Mhor’s summit we headed west then north down a broad grassy ridge interspersed with rocks. From the beallach between the Munro and Meall Tionail we strolled down easy, almost lush grass slopes to Bealach nan Baintighearna (what a word). From this beallach it’s a steep and unrelenting 350m up the spur of Sron Tarbh. Higher up on this spur tracks converge and finally you are delivered onto the flat top of the Sron. From there it is a few hundred metres before another short climb brings you on top of Stob an Fhir Bhogha (1029m). From there the view opens up and a path along the broad ridge runs all the way to the 1078m summit of Beinn Heasgarnich. Shortly before the summit of Munro No. 2 we met the only other hill walkers of this day. Nice and lonely! We did not linger at the summit of Beinn Heasgarnich for too long because the wind was quite cold and a few sleety showers developed.

Frank and I decided to head down Corrie Bhan with the aim of reaching the high point of the hydro road near Lochan Learg nan Lunn. The upper part of the descent was down steep grass, over and around numerous crags and close by small waterfalls so that some to and fro was called for to find the safest option. Nothing dangerous but enough excitement to add another interesting nuance to this walk. Then the steep terrain gave way to lochans, streams and bog. Well, nobody said it would be an easy stroll home :-). Past Lochan Achlarich we headed for the northern end of Creag nam Bodach where we wanted to descend steep grass slopes towards Lochan Learg nan Lunn. However, our instinct misled us and we had to do a very, very steep descent for maybe 100m through broken crags and grass grown over scree and boulders. Luckily there were also a few trees whose trunks gave very welcome supports! Anyway, soon we reached the flat and wet terrain by the Lochan, cut through the wet land by the northern shore of the lochan and climbed the final metres towards the road. Then it was another 30 minutes on tarmac past Creag nam Bodach rising on the other side of the lochan back to our car that waited for us at the starting point of the day’s adventure.

All in all this was a very fine hill walk in astonishingly remote and, yes, diverse terrain (by Glen Lyon and Glen Lochay standards). I would do it again any time!

 


Description These two mountains are on the north side of Glen Lochay near its head, about 17 kilometres west of Killin. Like many of their neighbouring hills, they are mostly grassy with no notable crags or corries. Creag Mhor has two well-defined ridges enclosing Coire-cheathaich at the head of Glen Lochay. Beinn Heasgarnich is a rather expansive hill, with broad ridges and wide grassy corries which hold snow well.The public road up Glen Lochay ends just beyond Kenknock farm. A private road from there goes north over a pass on the east side of Beinn Heasgarnich to Glen Lyon and at present the public are allowed to use it.The two mountains are climbed from Kenknock up the private road in Glen Lochay to Batavaime. Climb the ridge of Sron nan Eun to Creag Mhor, then go down towards Meall Tionail and turn east to the col which holds Lochan na Baintighearna. Climb steeply north-east to the south-west ridge of Beinn Heasgarnich, and follow it to the summit. Descend east down Coire Ban Mor to reach the road between Glen Lochay and Glen Lyon near its highest point, or take a more direct line towards Kenknock.