KYQ4: Beinn Resipol

Saturday 7 May 2016

Beinn Resipol

Beinn Resipol route up from the west

Beinn Resipol

Thursday, 5 May 2016

Ascent: 947 metres

Distance: 11 kilometres

Time: 3 hours 44 minutes

c Beinn Resipol 845m 2hrs 3mins

The intention had been to drive north and climb Fionn Bheinn on Thursday afternoon and the Fannaichs near Ullapool on Friday. Thursday had gale-force winds predicted in the north with Friday to be a windy but dry day. I checked the Met Office forecasts and Friday looked much better in the far West. I thought that if I climbed Beinn Resipol later on Thursday I would avoid the gales and I could then climb a couple of Corbetts the next day if I stayed in a bunkhouse. I left home at 11am and joined the throngs of motor homes on the A82 through to Glencoe, the annual 6-day motorcycle trials were taking place, which meant lots of vans and trial bikes clogging up the roads. As a result, I missed my planned ferry at Coran but caught the next one and made it to the start of the Beinn Resipol walk from the Resipole campsite just east of Salen by 2:15pm.

The path to Beinn Resipol is signposted from the campsite and follows a meandering and boggy path for 800 metres or so until you cross a stile and join a stony track that curves its way through the birch wood. After climbing a high gate, the track deteriorates and is mainly wet and boggy for the next kilometre until a gate is reached beyond which the path heads westwards alongside the Allt Mhic Chiarain. The path was no more than a line of footprints through a bog until you reach about 400 metres when the path begins to climb alongside the burn but through more rocky terrain. The wind was behind me so progress was relatively speedy and as soon as I reached the upper reaches and rocky sections it became an enjoyable walk. The ascent up the burn takes you to within a 5-minute climb to the summit and by turning right there is an easy grassy ramp ascending 70 metres to reach the untidy circle of stones that marks the summit.

The views were reasonably good, particularly to the north towards Loch Shiel. Despite the strong winds I found some shelter below the summit crags and answered some messages before taking photos and heading down. The wind was still strong and the skies were constantly changing as clouds raced past and grey turned to blue turned to grey repeatedly. Unfortunately, the beautiful Loch Sunart was under grey skies and looked silvery beneath the odd shaft of sunlight. As I reached the lower slopes the evening sun began to take charge and as I walked into the campsite I was faced with a sparkling Loch Sunart in all its springtime glory, shimmering behind a screen of gorse bushes. It reminded me of my weekend visits to Glenborrodale in the early 1970s. The light, the landscapes and the colours were a perfect antidote to the grey austerity of Glasgow which was suffering from the collapse of its industries and massive outmigration during that period.