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OS Grid ref: NN 43319 83055
Lat/Long: 56.9122420, -4.5750400
I’d spent the night in the car park at Aberarder by Loch
Laggan surrounded by campervans. As soon as I woke at 5am I set
off to drive to the lay bye near Moy Lodge. I wanted to get away
as doon as possible so set off in the dark at 05:30am. I had
some sandwiches with me which I ate on the go. It was an easy
walk in along the estate road so the dark wasn’t a problem. The
surrounding mountains were mostly clear but with some lingering
high cloud. I’ve already done this walk on 19th July earlier
this year but the weather was bad and there was no visibility on
the mountain. I reached Loch Earba at 06:40am as it was coming
light but no sign or the rising sun. |
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Loch Earba at first light. |
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East view of Binnein Shuas. |
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I continued along the east shore to the far end where I left the
track to cross the river by the walkway over the small dam. I
could now see the east face of Binnein Shuas. When I was last
here it was all obscured by cloud. There are two reasonable
gullies to get up to the summit area and I decided to head for
the one to the left. |
Climbing the gulley. |
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From now on there is no path of any kind so I had to do my best
to avoid as much of the bog as possible. Once on the ridge the
walking becomes more varied with rock outcrops. I carefully
checked out the gully through my binoculars. The terrain
steepened then leveled off across a boggy area to the base of
the gully. It was a bit of a scramble in places but
straightforward. Over the top of the small stream coming down I
reached a hanging valley where I climbed to the left and along
the ridge to the summit area. |
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View from the summit. |
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It was so nice to have good views ahead. A small cairn sits on
the summit rock and with little wind I could enjoy the summit
panorama. The last time I was here I could hardly stand up. I
continued over the top to start my descent to the south. The
ground was very tussocky and I knew from my last visit I would
have to take it steady due to hidden depressions and holes. |
I could see the track far below and seemed to take ages to
get there. It was still only morning and I could see people
walking up. Eventually I reached the track, turned right and
walked down the way I’d come up. Surprisingly I didn’t see
anyone else until almost back at the car. I finished the walk
just on mid-day and then immediately started my drive home. |
Looking down to Loch Laggan. |
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