Cruach Ardrain, Beinn Tulaichean - Crianlarich Hills - May 2004
Cruach Ardrain, Beinn Tulaichean Information
Apart from the summits of these two hills to be honest with you it was a pretty boring day out with no extraordinary views or features. Anyway these hills form the last link in the Crianlarich hills before you get onto the almighty Ben More and Stob Binnein. I started on the A82 and went into Glen Falloch but you can also start at Inverlochlarig which I hope is more interesting than the way I came up. Not much else to say about these hills I wasn't too impressed especially since it involved a forest bash and oh boy was it a bad one. I hate forest walks at the best of times but grrr I really hated this one! If I had a few hundred chainsaws the forest would be no more. Cough cough go on have a great day out and climb these stupendous hills !
Cruach Ardrain, Beinn Tulaichean Route
First difficulty of the day was finding out where to start I visited three different lay bys all to no avail ( there are so many lay bys on the A82 this was always going to be a problem ). So here's the one you want. its on your right and there's a white cottage directly across from it. The lay by can hold 4 cars or so, therefore get there fast ! once you've parked go across the field and cross the railway bridge and bear right when the path forks. Ah now we get to the forest. My book told me to walk along the path you took bearing right and then join the large clearing on your left. Find the broken fence and follow the fence posts up to the right with an easy climb. cough cough don't work like that and you are bound to get lost at some point and end up stuck in one of the most densest forests ive seen. Try and remember your exact route you manage to get through the forest you will thank yourself later. After 20 mins or so of being slapped across the face by every branch and every piece of clothing your wearing ripped in several places you will see grey height ahead of you. Its a big grassy mould so ascend that. At the top of Grey Height you will see a fence ahead of you, head for that and go over the very impressive stile. Someone put a lot of though into that! You can see Meall Dhamh ahead of you. It hides Cruach Ardrain and until I got to the top I thought it was Ardrain. There's a path all the way up here by the way and is there for the whole trip. Once your at the top of Meall Dhamh its obvious where you're going next so get to it. Its a stinker of a climb one of those paths that doesn't seem to get you any higher but still knackers you out. The path forks near the summit with one leading to the summit of Ardrain and the other going over to Tulaichean. its pretty obvious which ones which and if your brave you can leave your bag here as you'll be coming back here anyway. Head up to the summit of Ardrain heading over the rocky outcrops. There's one last small descent re assent to take you to the true summit. I liked this summit it was very rocky, I love rocky summits. You get tremendous views of Ben More and Stob Binnein which look surprisingly different when their snow less. To the west Ben Lui as usual the only hill in the area that had snow on it. After you have taken in the views head back along the summit ridge and join the path you split from. This takes you on top Tulaichean. Its pretty obvious where that is, its the pointy git in front of you. Follow this sort of bealach that connects to Tulaichean and make your way to the summit. Another good rocky summit here with good views down Inverlochlarig. Caisteal and Beinn a' Chroin look very tempting to your east but I was knackered so couldn't be bothered, but some people do them all ( crazy people ). To get back there's two ways to go, well first of all head back to where the path originally forked, then you can either go back the way you came or go back over Cruach Ardrain and join Sron Garbh ( there are 7 Garbhs in the Crianlarich area its ridiculous ) connected by a high bealach to Ardrain . Its a very impressive of hill/ridge don't know what you would call it. You then travel along the Sron Garbh ridge and join your forest again at the bottom. Not sure of the exact route as I didn't use this. I wimped out and went back the way I came because I couldn't be bothered climbing Ardrain again ( I was very lazy this day if you haven't worked out yet ) So it was a simple follow the path game back down. My next act of laziness was that I traversed round Meall Dhamh instead of going over the top of it, if you go to the left of it then there is a sort of path and An Caisteal from the this view looks amazing. Once your passed Meall Dhamh join the original path again and head across to Grey Height. Cross the Stile again and head back down to the forest. Ah here's where if you remembered your route through the forest will make things a lot easier, since I cant remember nothing I had to make a completely new route and ended up on the railway line doh. Watch out for that by the way! if you can remember the way you came in you will end up back at the railway bridge and heading over that takes you out to the car.
The weather this day was amazing, there was hardly a cloud in the sky and visibility was brilliant, since the hill is not the most exciting in the world I wouldn't save this one especially for a sunny occasion. ( I even got sun burnt aint that a rarity for Scotland !)
Cruach Ardrain, Beinn Tulaichean Photos / Images / Pictures
Cruach Ardrain's rocky summit, I do love a rocky summit An Caisteal from a little lochan on Meall Dhamh
Ben More and Stob Binnein bealach on full display Sun streaking over Cruach Ardrain
OS Map: pretty annoying here you will need both the Landranger 50 and 56 ( right on the corners )
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