Beinn na Lap

Having flown from Marseille to Prestwick on Ryanair's new flight on Sunday I had taken the bus to Edinburgh and stayed overnight at Mum's. I left there about 9.30 on Monday morning after breakfast with Mum and Ruth and a look at Ruth's photos of her trip to Torridon the previous week in beautiful sunshine. The forecast for this week, on the other hand, was pretty awful. I got to Buchanan Street Bus Station by about 12, where Howard picked me up and we beetled off up the road to Tyndrum. There we stopped for a hurried lunch at the excellent Real Food Café then on to Bridge of Orchy where we were aiming to catch the northbound train at 15.15. We arrived at 14.55 but when Howard went to check the train time he came hurrying back in a panic - the train was at 15.05! We rushed to get booted up and get our day packs organized and only just got on the train. It took 35 minutes to Corrour where Alasdair was waiting for us, sheltering from a light drizzle, having arrived from Tulloch two and a half hours earlier.

Our target for the day was Beinn na Lap, the solitary whaleback on the north side of Loch Ossian, which was clearish though the top was in cloud. We tramped off down the track to the loch end, soon spotting the Youth Hostel which we hadn't been able to get into because it was, apparently, full all week.

Before reaching the loch we turned off on the path towards Loch Treig, passing some diggers that seemed to be improving the track. We followed the path to its highest point and then started up the long ridge of Beinn na Lap. The drizzle barely let up all afternoon but it never got too heavy either.

Basically it was a longish walk up the ridge, never too steep. I was glad of this as I was getting back into hillwalking after a break of over a year. The slope gradually levelled and we passed a few false summits before coming to one that, in the mist, looked real but had no cairn and had a lochan just beyond. The map showed a cairn just beyond this and sure enough a slightly bigger lump loomed out of the mist as we headed down to the lochan.

We stopped at the summit for a leisurely snack since we had plenty of time. The ascent had only taken us an hour and fifty minutes and the train that Howard was catching to return to Bridge of Orchy for the car wasn't until 8.50. Alasdair and I would need to wait another half hour for the northbound train to Tulloch. We set off down, again making good time, but the mist seemed to have got much lower. Having strayed a little too far to the right (north) we turned and headed due south and soon saw Loch Ossian and the track. To our surprise the diggers were still at work though it was now evening. We stopped in at the Youth Hostel on the off chance that they had had a cancellation, arriving just ahead of a large school party which was the reason why the hostel was full. In addition, they had had no electricity since the generator had been struck by lightning a week before, so we were not too upset to be booked in at Tulloch instead. We asked about good camping spots on the south side of the loch and the warden told us about a "shed" in the woods halfway down the lochside which sounded better than tents.

Back at Corrour Station we still had an hour and a half to wait in the cold. Two others arrived having done the four Munros to the north of Ben Alder, there and back in a day. They produced a stove and brewed up a cup of tea for us all which was very welcome. Howard left on the southbound train, and the rest of us got the train to Tulloch half an hour later. It was just a short but very scenic stretch of the line past Loch Treig. The drizzle was still falling. Tulloch Station Hostel was comfortable, though the warden was not perhaps the most "genial" we had encountered! Howard arrived about ten past eleven and we unpacked the car. It being so late, we decided to aim for the midday train the next day, with a three day expedition in mind to Culra Bothy and back.