KYQ4: Uamh Bheag

Tuesday, 31 December 2019

Uamh Bheag

Uamh Bheag summit looking towards Ben Vorlich

Route anti-clockwise

Tuesday 31 December 2019

Ascent: 640 metres

Distance: 11 kilometres

Time: 3hrs 40mins

Am Beannan 574m 1hr 29mins

Uamh Beag 666m 2hrs 16mins

The morning brought a hard frost and a clinically bright day. I had agreed to pick up Gregor from Stirling at 8:30am, his car was to get a minor repair. We had decided the previous evening to drive up to Glen Artney so that I could climb Uamh Bheag, a nearby Graham, and he would attempt to run Stuc a' Chroin and, if possible, Ben Vorlich. We had to be back in Stirling by 2pm to collect his car.

Glen Artney via Braco was sparkling and we were parked at Auchnashelloch and moving by 9:30am. Gregor was running the first 6 kilometres and then climbing Stuc a' Chroin via its southeast ridge beginning at Tom Odhar. I had a 2-kilometre walk to the bridge over the impressive Water of Ruchill from where I began a slow plod through frozen mud, long grass, moss, and stunted trees towards the Allt Ollach, There is a bridge that crosses the deeply incised burn about 400 metres above its confluence with the Water of Ruchill. It was covered in netting, just as well because it was far from level and the timbers were sheathed in ice, it would have slid me in the burn otherwise.

The next obstacle was Am Beannan, a shapely hill with an increasingly steep 300 metres of ascent over grass, moss, heathers and outcrops of pudding stone, all lubricated by a hard frost. Despite the blue skies and pristine air quality, it was north-facing, there was no sun to sustain my movement. My heavy cold of the last few days was further reducing the lungpower for the climb. Against this the views back to Stuc a' Chroin and Ben Vorlich were stupendous. Once I made the summit and topped up some water the walking became much easier, a short saunter to Meall Clachach and then over to Uamh Bheag alongside some fenceposts. The summit is graced by a face on a carved post that sits jauntily on a metal fence post. It provides some glee on this otherwise very ordinary summit. I spent ten minutes having a coffee and taking in the grand sweep of the surroundings, most of which I knew intimately. Uamh Bheag had been one of the very few local hills that I had never got around to climbing.

Instead of completing a round of the other tops like Beinn Odhar, which involve a notoriously tedious slog over more peat hags and mossy tussocks, I decided to make a more direct descent to the east of Am Beannan. It worked well at first until I was confronted with Auchnashelloch Hill and two kilometres of bog and moss with only the splendid views to the hills of the north to relieve the tedium. I was back in good time and spent 10 minutes or so chatting with the man in the next car who had made much the same circuit as me. Gregor then zipped in from his 26-kilometre run. He had managed both hills and discounting his non-moving time at the top of Stuc a' Chroin and Ben Vorlich, it had only taken him 3 hours and 6 minutes. We were both pleased with our end-of-year outings and back to collect his car on time.