KYQ4: Creag Mhor, Balquidder

Creag Mhor from Clach Mhor

Wednesday, 4 March 2020

Ascent: 575 metres

Distance: 8 kilomotres

Time: 3 hours 3 minutes

Creag Mhor 687m 1hr 39mins

February served us more wind and rain than ever before so it was with some relief that a second dry day was forecast. I had made four or five excursions up my local hills, Lime Craig and Ben Gullipen, in foul weather but they take only an hour to walk up and run down. I needed to ease myself back into some proper hill walking. The snow at the weekend had left the hills glazed like meringues so it would be hard going but sweet. I headed for Creag Mhor, a Graham, overlooking Loch Voil and Balquidder. The walk starts from Ballimore in Glen Buckie. I had not been here since 1984 when I was training for the Glasgow Marathon with a 20-mile circular training run from Brig O' Turk.

I made a late start and it was 10:30am when I parked half a mile before Ballimore where a broad track climbs to the right and there is a large bellmouth capable of taking half a dozen vehicles. I climbed the track to a high point above Ballimore from where another track arrived and there was an enormous dump of tyres and timber. There is a gap in the high deer fence here and I began the long climb through the sodden grassy ground aiming for the corner of the tree plantation to the north. It was going well until I reached the snow level at 400 metres after which the double jeopardy of steeper slopes and soft snow put a brake on progress. There is another deer fence to breach and I managed to squeeze between the wires. The snow thickened so that each step became an exercise in punching deep holes in the snow. It looked like a pleasant ridge on the map, so I decided to take in all the tops along the ridge but it meant a lot of extra effort up and down through deep banks of snow.

The compensation was the splendid weather, there was only a slight breeze and the visibility was improving all the time. Creag Mhor's summit was tantalisingly close and a lodestone but I had to kick my way through every bank of pristine snow to get there. The sun and snow were a shock for the eyes, who would have thought that sunglasses were necessary in 2020 when any brightness of vision has been absent I arrived at the summit, it was warm enough to sit down for ten minutes, drink my flask of coffee and admire the surrounding hills that were beginning to dispense with their cloud cover. Ben Vorlich and Stuc a' Chroin appeared, as did Cruach Ardrain but Ben More and Stob Binnein remained reclusive.

I continued westwards along the ridge for a while but then decided to head down to the Allt Fathan Glinne and the large cattle shed next to a conifer plantation. I followed some fox tracks until the snow became too soft and I fell waist-deep into the snow on a few occasions. I eventually arrived at the cattle shed and decided to follow the 2 miles long seriously wide track that lies to the north of the river in Gleann Dubh. It provides access to the cattle shed and is the sort of road built by a man with no money, lots of time, a bulldozer and a shed load of red diesel. Who needs engineers, surveyors, accountants and other hangers-on? The man could probably build the HS2 line in a couple of years, there would be no tunnels, or culverts rather than bridges and the government would have some change from £10 million.

The guidebooks tell you not to use this track, which does require two 10-foot high gates and a high deer fence to climb but compared to the extra 2 kilometres to cross two bridges and return via the path from Glen Finglas, it seemed a better option. It had been a good outing and I was back at the car for 1:30pm. I spoke to a woman from Balquidder who was passing with her dog. We both observed the social distancing that is now recommended and observed in most European countries to limit the spread of Coronavirus. Why is the UK so tardy in following suit? This will not end well.