A night out on Ben Cruachan
Ever since I first read Dan Bailey's inspirational book "Great Mountain Days in Scotland" (published by Cicerone) a few years ago one challenge I've really wanted to have a go at is that of walking the 4 munros of Ben Cruachan, Stob Daimh, Beinn a'Chocuill and Beinn Eunaich in a single day. The route offers a bit of everything - big mountains, high level ridge walking, easy scrambling on good rock and spectacular views.
The main reason I've not got around to doing this sooner is that it is quite a long way to travel from Edinburgh, certainly it's too far for me to drive there and back in a day. Also family life means I can't be out for entire weekends for camping trips that frequently. On a recent trip to the Ben Alder area I took the train to Corrour station as it's not easily accessible any other way. As I was sat on the train in Crianlarich station waiting for it to split in two, with the first part going on to Oban, it dawned on me that Ben Cruachan is an ideal target for letting the train take the strain. I'd go so far as to suggest that with this big route it is actually the perfect solution as it offers the opportunity to save several miles of road walking which would be needed to complete a full loop to return to a parked car. The route can be started at the, rather romantically named, Falls of Cruachan station and finished at Loch Awe.
After some studying of the train timetable I came up with the excellent plan to escape from work early on a Friday afternoon with a return home late on the Saturday evening. Leaving Edinburgh at 15:15 gives an arrival time at Falls of Cruachan of 19:09 so with the long summer days there is plenty of time to walk in and find a spot for a wild camp. With an early start on the hills that means plenty of time to have a really big day out, be back in my comfy bed that evening and spend some time with the family over the weekend.
On arrival at Falls of Cruachan the weather was superb so I made a conscious effort to take my time over the walk to find a camping spot for the night. I knew that it was only going to be a couple of easy miles up the road - it would take me an hour at most - sometimes it's really nice to be able to just relax, enjoy the scenery and soak up the atmosphere in a grand mountain environment without any need to worry about covering a great distance.
The Cruachan dam is a truly monumental construction which dominates the landscape, it's well worth a visit even if you don't walk any further. I'm not sure it's to everyone's taste but I was left with the feeling that in some ways it enhances the scale and grandeur of the place even though it is made of millions of tonnes of concrete.
The walk up from the railway station goes quite steeply up through a pleasant wooded gorge. The first challenge is to get out onto the hill over a deer fence, the only way being what must be the most rickety stile in the world. The picture cannot do justice to how wobbly the whole thing is, it's like a bucking bronco which is only restrained by the long blue rope. I didn't dare move the black sweater on the top in case it had an important role in the overall structural integrity!
Having spent some time scouring the map I had reckoned on there being potential camp sites at the north end of the reservoir, that fits nicely with a plan to get an early start and be immediately onto the hills. As I walked up the reservoir tracks I passed the last few walkers trudging their weary way home, it was clear in a few cases that the heat of the day had really taken it's toll. As I reached the end of the reservoir I had the place entirely to myself and never saw another person until the next morning. This is what I really love about wild camping, the chance to escape from a busy city life and enjoy some downtime in utter solitude. The peace and tranquility away from the many digital distractions is mentally very refreshing.
I eventually found a good spot nestled beside a river and some of the old spoil heaps, now very much reclaimed by nature. The bog cotton suggested that normally this area would be quite wet but the recent dry spell gave me ample room for my one-person tent.
The tent is a recent acquisition and this was it's first proper outing, it's a Wild Country Zephyros 1 which I bought after suffering with too much weight in the heat on my trip to Ben Alder. This is clearly a popular tent, it was recommended by lots of other Mountain Leader people. I got it from Cotswold Outdoors at an excellent discount in a recent online sale. Up to now I've used a reasonably lightweight 2-person tent but it's still a tad too heavy for hauling over multiple munros. I've also found on some recent trips that I was getting cold at night, I suspect this is partly due to my sleeping bag getting a bit old but it also occurred to me that a 2-person tent is a larger space to keep warm and also in order to keep the bigger tent lightweight the inner is made of mesh (basically it keeps the insects out). Overall I am really impressed with the Zepyhros 1, it's light but has enough space for me and my gear. I can sit up in the centre, which I think is essential as it makes it easier to cook, eat and get changed. Having said that, I'm 5 feet 10 inches tall, it's probably not the tent for you if you're over 6 feet. I like the option to close or open ventilation flaps at each end as required, that should help a lot with reducing condensation. At first it's a little tricky to get the pitching right so that the outer is taut and doesn't sag onto the inner which would allow damp to drip through. I'd had a run through pitching it in the garden and after some trials found the best angle for the end poles and guy lines.
To save weight I didn't bother taking a stove, in the summer it's easy to get away with cold food. This also means there's less faffing around outside when it all turns a bit midgey. After an early night and a fairly decent sleep I was packed and ready to be off at 6:15am the next morning for the main event...
This continues at A big day out on Ben Cruachan
(For a complete set of photos from this adventure see my gallery)
The main reason I've not got around to doing this sooner is that it is quite a long way to travel from Edinburgh, certainly it's too far for me to drive there and back in a day. Also family life means I can't be out for entire weekends for camping trips that frequently. On a recent trip to the Ben Alder area I took the train to Corrour station as it's not easily accessible any other way. As I was sat on the train in Crianlarich station waiting for it to split in two, with the first part going on to Oban, it dawned on me that Ben Cruachan is an ideal target for letting the train take the strain. I'd go so far as to suggest that with this big route it is actually the perfect solution as it offers the opportunity to save several miles of road walking which would be needed to complete a full loop to return to a parked car. The route can be started at the, rather romantically named, Falls of Cruachan station and finished at Loch Awe.
After some studying of the train timetable I came up with the excellent plan to escape from work early on a Friday afternoon with a return home late on the Saturday evening. Leaving Edinburgh at 15:15 gives an arrival time at Falls of Cruachan of 19:09 so with the long summer days there is plenty of time to walk in and find a spot for a wild camp. With an early start on the hills that means plenty of time to have a really big day out, be back in my comfy bed that evening and spend some time with the family over the weekend.
On arrival at Falls of Cruachan the weather was superb so I made a conscious effort to take my time over the walk to find a camping spot for the night. I knew that it was only going to be a couple of easy miles up the road - it would take me an hour at most - sometimes it's really nice to be able to just relax, enjoy the scenery and soak up the atmosphere in a grand mountain environment without any need to worry about covering a great distance.The Cruachan dam is a truly monumental construction which dominates the landscape, it's well worth a visit even if you don't walk any further. I'm not sure it's to everyone's taste but I was left with the feeling that in some ways it enhances the scale and grandeur of the place even though it is made of millions of tonnes of concrete.
Having spent some time scouring the map I had reckoned on there being potential camp sites at the north end of the reservoir, that fits nicely with a plan to get an early start and be immediately onto the hills. As I walked up the reservoir tracks I passed the last few walkers trudging their weary way home, it was clear in a few cases that the heat of the day had really taken it's toll. As I reached the end of the reservoir I had the place entirely to myself and never saw another person until the next morning. This is what I really love about wild camping, the chance to escape from a busy city life and enjoy some downtime in utter solitude. The peace and tranquility away from the many digital distractions is mentally very refreshing.
The tent is a recent acquisition and this was it's first proper outing, it's a Wild Country Zephyros 1 which I bought after suffering with too much weight in the heat on my trip to Ben Alder. This is clearly a popular tent, it was recommended by lots of other Mountain Leader people. I got it from Cotswold Outdoors at an excellent discount in a recent online sale. Up to now I've used a reasonably lightweight 2-person tent but it's still a tad too heavy for hauling over multiple munros. I've also found on some recent trips that I was getting cold at night, I suspect this is partly due to my sleeping bag getting a bit old but it also occurred to me that a 2-person tent is a larger space to keep warm and also in order to keep the bigger tent lightweight the inner is made of mesh (basically it keeps the insects out). Overall I am really impressed with the Zepyhros 1, it's light but has enough space for me and my gear. I can sit up in the centre, which I think is essential as it makes it easier to cook, eat and get changed. Having said that, I'm 5 feet 10 inches tall, it's probably not the tent for you if you're over 6 feet. I like the option to close or open ventilation flaps at each end as required, that should help a lot with reducing condensation. At first it's a little tricky to get the pitching right so that the outer is taut and doesn't sag onto the inner which would allow damp to drip through. I'd had a run through pitching it in the garden and after some trials found the best angle for the end poles and guy lines.
This continues at A big day out on Ben Cruachan
(For a complete set of photos from this adventure see my gallery)
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