Beinn a’ Chleibh and Ben Lui GM/SS-003

SUNDAY 24th JULY 2011

Managed to find myself a free Sunday and with the wx looking good i decided to head for the hills again.It was almost 2 months since my last sota activation so the legs were not in the best shape.Armed with plenty of fluids i departed the home qth at 8am.Up the usual route on the A82 Loch Lomondside,turned left at Crianlarich,then left at Tyndrum along the A85 Dalmally road where there is a large car park with plenty of space.Got kitted up and was ready for the off at 09.30am.

The way up !

From the car park there is a short walk to the river Lochay which has to be crossed,fortunately it was not in spate and managed across without too much difficulty by using a trail of stepping stones.Up the embankment and over the rail line where the main path can be picked up again.The route follows the Eas Diamh stream through the forest.I read from reports that the best way to go was branch off at a small cairn,i dismissed the cairn and headed on until i came to an opening where a forestry sign advised caution and no entry.After the struggle with the protruding beam and mast through the pine tree’s i did not fancy retreating so carried on regardless.After a short while i noticed a track leading off the forrest which led up to a new looking access gate and a Ben Lui information board.From here onwards there was a track which could be followed up the hillside where the views began to open out.I then had the choice of a direct route up to the top of Lui but as it looked terribly steep i opted for the gentler approach onto the bealach between Chleibh and Lui.As i was slightly ahead of schedule i thought i would do the easier summit first which took me onto the flat summit after a further 25 minute climb.Only one other walker there on the non sota summit which stands at a height of  916 metres.Lovely views here especially towards Loch Awe with the Cruachan range sitting behind it.After a short break and photo it was time to move on again and retraced my footsteps back down to the bealach.So far so good! The next stretch was a killer for me.The heat of the mid-day sun and the extra fluids in the rucksack made the final aproach onto Lui extremely hard going.There is a path wich is easily followed through scree up to the top.When i eventually summited the views were magnificient in all directions.The last munro i came off looked like a small hump compared to this giant at 1130 metres.Not a cloud to be seen anywhere and the islands of Mull and Jura along with the Nevis and Cairngorm ranges were visible.Even Dumgoyne at the campsies with Glasgow poking its nose out the side were spotted.

Beinn a Cheibh

  Time for lunch and Tomato soup was dish of the day along with a pork roll and some fruit,then time to set up the radio gear and see who was about.First staion in the log was Iain WJZ/P who was activating Stob Dubh (ws-126) and Robin PKT/P was on WS-022 Stob Ghabhar.Best contact of the day was EYO/P Allan who was in the lake district on LD-041 (Binsey).Bobby GAX/P was standing by high above Port Glasgow while his near neighbour Roddy IOB/m was out and about too.A tractor mobile station Alex NFC/M  who i have worked several times before from the hilltops was out in his fields near Ayr.The Ayr radio group called me from Ailsa Craig who were just about to leave the island after spending the weekend there.Thanks go to David RAM at Falkirk for the sota spot.Andy USU who is a regular chaser also called through.Allan XXP was in the log just before he headed of to corse hill.UKZ in Glasgows South side was also logged along with Jack COX.

The station was dismantled at 3.30 pm and made a quick exit down to the car in only 1:45 hours.I returned the way i wanted to approach which was really a mistake as the route was a complete mud bath and i stumbled over a grass tuff and ended up covered from head to toe in the black stuff.I knew the path was well known for mud but after a reasonably dry spell i never anticipated such a obstacle.Got to the car park at 5.15pm and made my way South,everything going fine until i hit the notorious jam on the A82 before Luss.A 9 mile tailback which held me back and arrived home after 7pm.

                                   Distance driven was 121 miles.

73.   2M0GIL..

Looking towards Cononish