Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Munro 2007 - Day 5:20th April
Highland Cattle
River Fyne
Waterfall,
Inverchorachan Burn
Inverchorachan Burn
Summit, Beinn Bhuidhe
Rock outcrop,
Beinn Bhuidhe
Beinn Bhuidhe
Friday 20th April
Beinn Bhuidhe 948m (Munro 6)
Mountain name: Beinn Bhuidhe Pronounced: Bine Vooyah Translated:
Yellow Peak
Distance: 22.3 km
Ascent: 1105 m
Time: 6:43 hours
Weather: It was overcast with a brisk NE breeze making it feel rather cold. The cloud
base was about 800m with the main peaks being in cloud. It remained dry until there were
light showers in the evening.
Nature notes: I hadn’t seen any lambs on the hills so far, but today I might have found
out why. The quality pasture in the lower part of Glen Fyne was full of sheep with very
young lambs. Lambing is much later in the harsh climate of the Scottish Highlands than it
is further south. There was also a large herd of Highland Cattle down in the glen attracted
down by the supplemental feeding, but these were on the lower slopes of the mountain
rather than in the improved pasture.
There were many Wheatear, Grey Wagtail and Chaffinch in the Glen as well as a solitary
Stonechat.
Once I was clear of the lower pastures in Glen Fyne there were deer fences as part of a
Native Woodland Natural Regeneration Scheme designed to keep out sheep and deer to
help the natural regeneration of young trees in the glen.
I was surprise to disturb a Dipper in a small burn at about 600m as I climbed up the steep
slopes of Beinn Bhuidhe. There was also a small herd of Red Deer visible on the ridge to
the east at this altitude.
The Route: I started at sea level at the head of Loch Fyne and had a 6 km walk up the
tarmac Ardkinglas estate road an a further 2 km up a farm track to Inverchorachan.
From here a rough path, with one awkward rock-step, headed up the southern bank of the
burn until it reached a grassy corrie above a big waterfall. The path then petered out and I
found my own route to the col to the west of Top 901. Here I picked up the path along the
summit ridge of Beinn Bhuidhe. Beinn Bhuidhe is guarded by crags so I direct route to the
summit would be difficult. I retuned by the same route.
Personal notes: The knees coped well or most of the day but gave pain in the final hour.
Again they seemed to cope better with the steep hills than the log approach walk.
Since this was to be a longer walk I decided to take equipment to make tea. Unfortunately
I soon discovered I had left my water bottle in the van. This wasn’t so much o a problem
as water was readily available on the hill, but at my first break above the waterfall on
“Inverchorachan” Burn, I discovered I had also left the teabags in the van.
The ridge of Beinn Bhuidhe might have been interesting as the mountain was surrounded
by crag, but I couldn’t see very much as I was in cloud above about 800m. At least I got
my first practise of using GPS in mist on untracked hillside and it seemed to make the
navigation easier than it would be using a compass. The man advantage being that the
GPS gives position whereas the compass just gives direction and distance can be a problem.
I was again listening to cricket from the World Cup, a match in which Australia thrashed
a strong New Zealand team.
I saw no-one on the hill once I had left the estate road.
Overnight: I spent the night on the old road at the head of Loch Fyne which has now been
bypassed by the new highway.
Books: “Adrian Mole, From Minor to Major” by Sue Townsend. This brings together the
three bestselling volumes of Adrian Mole’s diaries for the 1980’s starting with “The
Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4"
Beinn Bhuidhe 948m (Munro 6)
Mountain name: Beinn Bhuidhe Pronounced: Bine Vooyah Translated:
Yellow Peak
Distance: 22.3 km
Ascent: 1105 m
Time: 6:43 hours
Weather: It was overcast with a brisk NE breeze making it feel rather cold. The cloud
base was about 800m with the main peaks being in cloud. It remained dry until there were
light showers in the evening.
Nature notes: I hadn’t seen any lambs on the hills so far, but today I might have found
out why. The quality pasture in the lower part of Glen Fyne was full of sheep with very
young lambs. Lambing is much later in the harsh climate of the Scottish Highlands than it
is further south. There was also a large herd of Highland Cattle down in the glen attracted
down by the supplemental feeding, but these were on the lower slopes of the mountain
rather than in the improved pasture.
There were many Wheatear, Grey Wagtail and Chaffinch in the Glen as well as a solitary
Stonechat.
Once I was clear of the lower pastures in Glen Fyne there were deer fences as part of a
Native Woodland Natural Regeneration Scheme designed to keep out sheep and deer to
help the natural regeneration of young trees in the glen.
I was surprise to disturb a Dipper in a small burn at about 600m as I climbed up the steep
slopes of Beinn Bhuidhe. There was also a small herd of Red Deer visible on the ridge to
the east at this altitude.
The Route: I started at sea level at the head of Loch Fyne and had a 6 km walk up the
tarmac Ardkinglas estate road an a further 2 km up a farm track to Inverchorachan.
From here a rough path, with one awkward rock-step, headed up the southern bank of the
burn until it reached a grassy corrie above a big waterfall. The path then petered out and I
found my own route to the col to the west of Top 901. Here I picked up the path along the
summit ridge of Beinn Bhuidhe. Beinn Bhuidhe is guarded by crags so I direct route to the
summit would be difficult. I retuned by the same route.
Personal notes: The knees coped well or most of the day but gave pain in the final hour.
Again they seemed to cope better with the steep hills than the log approach walk.
Since this was to be a longer walk I decided to take equipment to make tea. Unfortunately
I soon discovered I had left my water bottle in the van. This wasn’t so much o a problem
as water was readily available on the hill, but at my first break above the waterfall on
“Inverchorachan” Burn, I discovered I had also left the teabags in the van.
The ridge of Beinn Bhuidhe might have been interesting as the mountain was surrounded
by crag, but I couldn’t see very much as I was in cloud above about 800m. At least I got
my first practise of using GPS in mist on untracked hillside and it seemed to make the
navigation easier than it would be using a compass. The man advantage being that the
GPS gives position whereas the compass just gives direction and distance can be a problem.
I was again listening to cricket from the World Cup, a match in which Australia thrashed
a strong New Zealand team.
I saw no-one on the hill once I had left the estate road.
Overnight: I spent the night on the old road at the head of Loch Fyne which has now been
bypassed by the new highway.
Books: “Adrian Mole, From Minor to Major” by Sue Townsend. This brings together the
three bestselling volumes of Adrian Mole’s diaries for the 1980’s starting with “The
Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4"
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