Ardgour : June 26th - 28th

There were five on the DHC weekend to the Ardgour peninsula; Ken, Chris, Graham N, Steve and Ruth.

Accommodation was in the Ariundle Centre, which is ideally located for accessing the many hills in the area. The centre also has a bar, restaurant & tea room, but strangely no dedicated drying room. 

Graham climbed Garbh Bheinn on the Friday, the finest and most precipitous mountain in Ardgour.

On Saturday, Ken, Chris and Graham climbed the Corbetts, Fuar Bheinn and Creach Bheinn. The Graham Beinn na Cille was also bagged enroute. A small herd of red deer greeted us as we parked the car and were completely unbothered by  our presence. The two potential ascent routes were steep or very steep! We took the former but this involved climbing through wet, chest high bracken. The hill was heavily vegetated and very wet and boggy underfoot. It was so wet that a young eel was spotted wriggling along the path on the walk out! Fortunately, the two Corbetts were climbed in dry but at times misty and windy conditions. It was only on the descent that the rain started. On Creach Bheinn, the remains of a "camp" (indicated as such on OS maps) lie very near the summit and the high stone walls provided some shelter from the elements. On the final top, Maol Odhar, there was a memorial to a US Air Force pilot who died when a Voodoo Fighter jet crashed here in 1964. Much wreckage remains on the mountain, although most is in the corrie below the summit.

Ruth and Steve bagged a Graham, Beinn Mheadhoin, on the other side of the road from the Corbetts climbed by the rest of the group. Although the cloud was down to 500m, the ascent was along a lovely narrow ridge, and gave some sense of the shape of the hill. And again, only on the descent did the rain start.

We all went to the Strontian Hotel for a meal on the Saturday evening. The food was excellent and there were good views across a misty Loch Sunart.

On Sunday, Ken, Chris and Graham climbed the Corbett Beinn Resipol to the west of the Ariundle Centre. The initial ascent across the moor was again very wet and boggy and involved a slight detour due to cattle and calves on the track. The ascent steepened once the east ridge was reached. The rain and mist were on and off as we climbed, but fortunately it was clear on the summit, where we even had some welcoming sunshine. Numerous fine hills to the north and east were visible. On the descent, a ptarmigan with a single chick was seen at close quarters. Unsurprisingly, frogs were doing well on the mountain!

Ruth and Steve walked from the Arriundle centre to the Graham Sgurr a Chaorainn, the equal highest Graham. It was quite tough going and rather windy on the top but the views were lovely.

In spite of the challenging conditions at times; rain, wind, boggy ground, wet feet, many hill targets were achieved. Chris compleated the Ardgour Corbetts, whilst Ruth compleated the Ardgour Grahams. For Ken and Graham this was their first trip to this area, so future visits will be required.