Hill: Ben Donich
Category: Corbett,
Height: 847m
It was a damp cloudy start to our walk but the forecast was for a bright afternoon so off we plodded up Ben Donich. We drive past the controversial £9 a day Arrochar car park, only 3 vehicles there, how much money is being lost by the Councils greed?
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| Track all the way Ben Donich in cloud |
We began at the beginning of the usual track but beware further on were timber logging lorries, big beasts, so no parking up there.
Ben Donich can be seen from here, at least partially as you can see from the snap above. The cloud hiding the tops.
There is a straightforward path to follow almost all the way up. The path becomes much boggier and is well eroded in places particularly as it climbs the lower slopes.
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| Loch Restil |
An opportunity to take have a pause and look back where are good views back over the Rest and Be Thankful to Loch Restil, with Beinn an Lochain towering above it.
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| Muddy track summit still in cloud |
Still cloudy ahead as the path takes a winding route up the grassy slopes. Here there are many more rocky slabs which are greasy so care needs to be taken. Walkhighlands warns of rocky fissures - narrow slit-like openings in the ground, some of which are very deep and indeed they are. Although easily avoided in summer they could cause a hazard if hidden by snow or just a loss of concentration.
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| Looking back to the short scramble |
We have now reached the short downwards scramble, again care is taken as the rock is wet and slippy, harder to descend than ascend on the way back.
After this there is a steep section of path which climbs up another grassy slope to reach the beginning of the summit plateau.
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| Sunlight at Loch Long |
No views ahead as the misty conditions only let us see the tops from time to time but no long distance high views but the light on the hills near Loch Long is stunning..
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| Trig appears |
Easier walking and before you know it the trig appears out of the gloom. 1 hour 53 min from the car.
Only a brief stop up here as it is too windy and nae views.
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| The Brack |
We retreat a little to have some food and luckily the clouds come and go giving us glimpses of the neighbouring Corbett’s, The Brack and Cnoc Coinnich. A pair of ravens swirl above but no extras for them. The temperature suddenly drops and fingers become very painful, time for gloves on.
As we descend you can see how close to the edge one of the paths is as it meanders.
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| Beinn Ime behind Luibhean |
Ahead of us we get our first sightings of the summit of Beinn Luibhean in the foreground and behind Beinn Ime which has a dusting of snow and The Cobbler shows itself.
The descent gives us a full view of Beinn an Lochain, we will be there soon, trying to work out a descent route to the Rest and be thankful. Of which the landslip repair work is still ongoing, not sure where the reputed £100m has been spent.
A good short walk for a winter's day.
Wildlife: just the ravens.
Time: 3.58
Ascent: 651m
Distance: 7.9km
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