Crianlarich Munro summer wildcamp
My plans changed a little both beforehand and during!
Summary score for those that simply can't stand the suspense:
Munros targeted: 7; Munros achieved: 3.
Ticks removed: 2; ticks fully fed: probably about 7...
In the interest of time and convenience (it still being only 9am!) I got a minicab straight from Glasgow airport to Tarbet, thence the ferry to Inversnaid (the ferry wasn't running to Rowardennan otherwise I might've tried for Ben Lomond first).
At Inversnaid I was a minute or so northbound on the West Highland Way when on the spur of the moment and imbued with Rob Roy spirit I decided to try a higher and wilder route north - firstly heading east for a mile on the Great Trossachs path and then crossing the bridge at Rob Roy's Carpark (I guess he probably drove some kind of 4x4 back in the day...) and heading north up the Inversnaid Nature Reserve.
Little dip in the bird reserve stream
The track gradually peters out to a couple of slightly flattened roughly parallel lines, but it did point me to a gate in the deer fence of the nature reserve depositing me on the south west flanks of the Corbett Beinn a' Choin. Not being a Munro there is no path here and I was relying quite heavily on my GPS app rather than the map and compass. I bypassed top to the west as I was eager to get further north to camp, which I now regret. I progressed over various pastoral lumps and bumps finding it quite heavy-going but did get to the upper reaches of Glen Gyle. With a final push for the day I bounced down and up just east of the satanic Parlan Hill (666!).
With hindsight, I did not select a very good overnight site - too low, too mossy and too close to a sheep puddle - but after the early commute I was very ready to stop where I was by about 6pm. It was too hot to be in a tent so I prepared to lay out my bivvy. The midges didn't seem too bad as I stood in the light breeze but as soon as I laid down the air raid began. "Untenable" was the word that came to mind... Luckily I was able to rig up my mesh tent inner on a pole - a field innovation that thankfully worked very well.
I hadn't taken a stove (due to flying) but couldn't even face the potential mess of tearing open a wet food pouch from inside the bivvy, so my gourmet dinner was "Sélection de Biscuits Túc", with a dessert of "Assiette de Hobnobs Cassés".
I was glad of what breeze there was and remained warm in the bivvy, just pulling on my puffy jacket in the coldest part of the night, taking in a few minutes of the astral lightshow - a shooting star and everything!
Luckily it was cooler and breezy enough in the morning to keep the little blighters away and allow me to pack up and get away in relative peace.
It was hard going up the mostly untrodden southern slopes of Beinn Chabhair and I have to admit to a bit of a "why am I doing this?!" moment.
A fine breakfast of last night's cold vegetable curry solved the problem.
My first solo Munro summit was not a solitary moment as I shared some light conversation with a gentleman who'd come up on the path by Lochan Beinn Chabhair and, cheese consumed, exited stage west along the higher path through the lumpy ridge and past Lochan a Chaisteil, the route I had originally planned to come up on. The cloud had come down and I felt a desire to follow him out down into the valley but I persisted by the cairn for a while and, lo, the cloud cleared in patches giving glimpses of the peaks and valleys around. After the hard-going first day and now having a baseline for the actual scale of a Munro I really couldn't see myself doing 6 more as I had originally hoped...
Steeling my nerves to bag at least a few more Munros I picked my way down the ENE craggy slopes and then up to the bealach between An Caisteal and Beinn a' Chroin.
I was intending to tag Beinn a' Chroin and then come back for An Caisteal and descend the Twistin Hill Ridge into Crianlarich, but reversed that plan leaving me the possibility of an exit the next day down the Coire Garb headwaters of the R Falloch or maybe just possibly Munros 4 and 5 Beinn Tulaichean and Cruach Ardrain if I was up early enough.
So I headed up the well-trodden path to An Caisteal, taking the opportunity of a sunny spell to dry out my socks and some other kit (apologising to a passing group of walkers for my messy "yard sale" approach).
An Caisteal seemed a little further away than I expected in the mist, with one or two false (yet cairned) summits. Yet another advantage of GPS is that you can be sure you haven't missed your summit objective by 50m of mist...
So then the bounce down back into the bealach and up Beinn a' Chroin. A younger couple coming down had warned me that the path was a bit of a scramble so I stowed my poles and began. The path was steep with a couple of tricky sections and one notable sketchy "two points of contact plus a knee" move. And one point where the path appeared to go off round a rock but immediately ended in a sudden drop-off. Not one to fellrun in the mist!
It was still only about 4pm when I was almost at the top but I was out of water so I descended a bit to the south to collect (and filter) the water and as I did so I passed a couple of suitably-sized flat-ish areas with the Goldilocks amount of wind, so my water trip resulted in me calling it an early day at about 4pm and pitching the tent (a Hexpeak v4a as recommended on the TrekLite forum and bought through Backpackinglight.co.uk ).
The sun came out again and I was able to have my early dinner outside in comfort with a lovely view of the cloud shadows commuting over the surrounding slopes.
I read a bit of MacFarlane - for once not feeling envious FOMO.
So it was early to bed...and also late to rise. A first check out of the door showed close cloud and so in that instant I made my peace with this being a 3 Munro trip.
I took my time sorting my kit and packing up logically so that the last thing down was the outer and pole.
It was only a few meters up to Beinn a' Chroin summit and then I followed the slightly-confusing-in-the-mist lumpy summit ridge round east then north (one of those lumps being the previously relegated Munro Top I believe).
The lumpy ridge continued to descend interestingly into Coire Garb. A patch of sun appeared just as the path crossed the main stream where there is a perfectly sized one-person bathtub that I couldn't pass up. I think the resident frog was a little miffed to share his pool as he jumped up to my boot but as cold as it was I didn't impose for long. The tick I found on my waistline however was outstaying his welcome and had to be escorted from the premises post-haste. (My first tick removal! So many firsts on this trip...)
The exit down the valley was fast if a little soggy in places. After I gained the waterboard track I spotted the forestry track on the other side of the river and found a place to cross over large rocks (undoubtedly a different proposition in spate), climb the forestry fence and slog through a few meters of the dry but still very heavy-going forest bog.
A dry and hot yomp for a mile or two along the forest track to appear back into civilization at Crianlarich hostel carpark. Strange to be back to the awkward masked social distancing dance to buy a well deserved ice-cream from the little Londis. Had an ideal chicken salad and perhaps a cheeky pint or two at the Rod and Reel with some bikers of the respectable middle-class variety.
A quick chat at the bus stop with a group of youngsters following the "ultraheavy" camping philosophy and I was on my way back to the airport, one more tick removal for old times sake, and home.
Overall my fitness was fine for the 7-8 hour days I was doing, I could've pushed myself more if required. I now have an understanding of the difference in effort between path and off-path walking, especially when those contour lines get closer (and start to disappear from the OS map). A compeed on each heel and a bit of athletic tape round each big toe on the second morning headed off any blisters.
Somehow losing my suncream in the first hour of the first hot day was the biggest problem - I managed to mostly cover up but missed a couple of random places where I then got sunburnt. In future I might carry two smaller tubes just to avoid this single point of failure again. I'd rather not have to choose between sunburn or having to totally cover up while working hard on a hot day.
I'm very happy with my gear choices. It stayed warm even when wet so I could've saved about a pound in midlayer weight (and about 10 lbs in midriff weight for that matter!). But at no point did I think "oof, my pack is heavy" even at the beginning when I was carrying 3 kg of food (12kg total) - I definitely could've streamlined this as I had to force it into myself somewhat and still had leftovers at the airport.
I didn't miss having a stove.
It's borderline but I think goretex boots probably were the best choice for this trip versus quick drying trail runners, mainly due to the amount of time where the ground was either soggy or dewy. Rainskirt plus waterproof kneelength gaiters were the right choice over boil-in-the-bag raintrousers (urgh).
My Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor pack (secondhand purchase on the TrekLite forum) is very comfortable and I love the ventilation which avoids dreaded sweaty-back syndrome.
Final Thoughts / Top Tips:
1. Be sure to walk the first 6 miles off-path through heavy vegetation to ensure each subsequent deer trod seems like a airport travelator in comparison.
2. The best professional expedition food is 370kcal in 85g, can be eaten with one hand while clinging to a Graham and is the "Happy Shopper chocolate coated flapjack" at £1 for two.
3. If your trip objective is "to enjoy spending time in the wilds" then you can't really fail even if you do have to save some summits for another day.
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