KYQ4: Beinn Dubh, Glen Luss

Monday 15 October 2018

Beinn Dubh, Glen Luss

Beinn Dubh from Coire na h-Eanachan

Monday, 13 October 2018

Ascent: 730 metres

Distance: 11 kilometres

Time: 3 hours 11 minutes

Beinn Dubh 650m 1hr 12mins

Mid Hill 657m 1hr 40mins

Amidst the grey days of October, there was a rare day of blue skies. By late morning I decided to take advantage and drove to Luss to climb the Graham, Beinn Dubh, that overlooks Loch Lomond and its islands. The drive from Glasgow is just 45 minutes, and much to my surprise, I found a parking spot at the foot of Glen Luss despite a fair number of mothers and young children having parked to explore the Halloween Scary Faerie Trail that had been set up nearby. The high winds of recent days had calmed but after an overnight frost, there was still a nip in the air as I started the walk just before 1pm. There is a broad grassy path that climbs to Rhu Wood and then follows the ridgeline to the summit, it is pretty unrelenting.

The rains of the last few days meant that the path was muddy and boggy in places. There were another five or six parties ahead. By the time I reached the summit, I had counted 10 women and 5 men on the climb. Two of them were national park rangers in green uniforms, not something you ever see in Glasgow. It was warm work with the sun beating down on the cognac coloured bracken. I had to remove my jacket for the climb and there was a constant temptation to admire the view behind. After a few weeks without any hard physical activity, I decided to push myself with the objective of catching all the groups ahead. I managed it just before the summit where I spent 15 minutes. I was joined by an older couple from Helensburgh who were keen walkers. This was their regular local hill but they felt it had seemed harder than usual today. They had walked in most parts of Scotland but were concerned about how the traffic in the far north of Scotland had vastly increased in recent years and made it more difficult to get parking for the hills.

I had decided that I would complete the circuit of Coire na h-Eanachan and Mid Hill so bade them farewell rather than haranguing them with my rant about the North Coast 500. As always the fine ridge walk between the tops was the best part of the walk. The hills to the north were mainly in the cloud but the nearby Grahams were all visible reminding me that I must climb them sometime soon. The descent from Mid Hill to Glen Luss is steep but quick, there is an obvious grassy passage to the road before the final 3 kilometres back to the car. The glen was resplendent in its autumn colours with the native oaks and birches unmolested by conifers. I was back at the car by 4pm where I met an elderly hill runner from Cove, he had run up and down Bein Dubh. We had a friendly chat about keeping fit with the advancement of age.