This was the first day of my winter, part guided weekend in Scotland. Unfortunately Steve had to cancel at the last minute this year, so I was on my own. I'd driven up on the Thursday night and slept at the Abotsford Hotel, just north of Glasgow - as usual.
I left the hotel a little later than planned and was unsure whether to do this slightly more Northerly route on the basis that I didn't know the area at all and I may run out of time - particularly if the initial river crossing took longer than expected. My concerns were made worse by the fact that it was snowing as I drove, which was counter to the clear weather which the forecast had predicted. But I stuck to it and felt a little more confident as I found the car park easily, the snow stopped and could quickly work out which direction to head in.
The river crossing was a bit of a wade, but another couple were slightly in front of me, so at least I knew I was going the right way. Annoyingly one of my poles was refusing to open and would remain in that state all through the weekend. The initial path through the forest was very boggy and included another river crossing - which was this time a bit more scrambly tricky to navigate. It was at this point that I scooted past the couple.
The route continued to be boggy and really not very pleasant as it continued through the forest. The bogs started to be covered in snow and ice. Luckily my boots were holding up. And a stream which ran to my right provided some light relief.
Eventually I broke free of the forest and the remainder of my day opened up before me. As per the recommended route a opted for the left most spine of Ben Lui as my ascent and set off. This route proved to be relentless. The couple (who were now quite far behind me), opted to go straight for the bealach and I wondered if by taking this route they'd catch up with me, The snow varied between and 1 and 3 feet deep as it covered uneven ground. Eventually I entered a complete whiteout and struggled to go more than 5 steps without pausing to get my breath and composure back. Rocks would appear and disappear as the cloud cover gave more and less visibility. Every now and then I'd get clarification of how steep I was climbing, which while not dangerous, made me realise why progress was so slow. I put my crampons on which served to make it harder as my feet slipped through the loose snow and onto the uneven and often loose rock. This was probably another one of those "this is the hardest thing I've ever done" occasions, but in hindsight the day was doing it's job of waking my muscles up so that I wouldn't suffer while I was with the guide.
I'm not sure if I actually stood on the summit, or just walked around it. I was using GPS, but in the whiteout, even it wasn't making much sense and as I headed toward Beinn a'Chleibh I ended up about a quarter of a mile off track and about to descend into the wrong valley. However, the cloud cleared and I got some glorious views as the sunlight caught a stream descending into the valley. It also enabled me to see the bealach that I needed to head for.
I'd been thinking that I would run out of time and energy before being able to complete Beinn a'Chleibh, but as I reached the bealach it looked like a very achievable climb, particularly as the wind had cleared and frozen the snow on this edge and so it was a much easier hike. I left my rucsac at the bealach and set off.
The couple were ascending Ben Lui and judging by their pace, they hadn't yet done Beinn a'Chleibh, so I stopped feeling quite so stupid for taking that route.
The sun stayed with me for most of the remaining climb and provided decent views across the valleys. The terrain was reasonably walkable, snow being reduced to a fairly even foot or so. I was back at the bealach within an hour.
I took my crampons off and slid down as far as I could before continuing with the wade through snow and then snow and bog and then bog and then a chance to rinse the boots off crossing the river again.
I ate at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel and set off for the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel.
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