Short drive, with Roy Tugwell, from Pitlochry to Blair Atholl but then a seemingly longer drive along a very narrow road, not even sure we were on the right route. However, once you reach a notice saying "No parking beyond this point" you know you are at the end of the road. Lovely views of Loch Moraig and Carn Liath confirm you are in the right place. Fairly easy start along a track watching and listening to curlews until after about a mile or so you reach two huts. The first is a wreck but the second, just off the track, is a bothy, fairly spartan inside but I've seen worse. This is where you leave the track, following a path by the bothy and leading up towards the big scar you can see on the hill. A slow walk for me with
Roy keeping ahead, going on a few hundred yards and then having a rest till I caught up. Great for him, not so good for me as I get little chance of rest, him moving on as soon as I reach him. I had thought the scar was path erosion but much of it seems natural, scree and rocks. Down below we could see someone following and expected to be overtaken but he didn't catch us until the summit. Not in any hurry he says, like to take it slow uphill and faster downhill - a bit like me. A nice top and with the weather good there were plenty of views including the whole of Beinn a'Ghlo. The path to Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain was prominent right along a ridge which looked interesting.
Not a lot to say about this hill except that it is harder to pronounce than walk. The walk off the summit of Carn Liath is fairly easy and you are soon on the ridge path. The ridge is much wider than it looked from the previous summit and in fact a wee bit disappointing. The walk up to the summit is easier than it looks and you are soon at the top. Guinness and ham sandwiches. The weather was now glorious and you get some marvellous views from here. Just a bit hazy though. The chap we met on Carn Liath was at this top as well. In fact he seemed to like chatting to us.
The way off the previous summit was obvious and straightforward leading to a col just before the final climb. Apparently this col is the centre of Beinn a'Ghlo but it didn't register on us. The other chap was by now quite clearly keeping pace with us and like me he struggled on the uphills - not as bad as me as he and Roy still went ahead. A simple steady climb and you are at the summit. Juice and another look at the glorious views. A stony descent which Roy did not like and then a gentle climb over the top of Airgiod Bheinn. If we thought we would be leaving the stones behind we were mistaken. The walk down the ridge from Airgiod Bheinn is not terribly pleasant although there is a path all the way. The other lad led the way until the time you leave the ridge and have to go down a horrible, slippery and very steep path. I took the
lead here as Roy was suffering badly and on the scree like sections of the path he went flying on his backside a couple of times. So too did the other lad and they were both just moaning at the fact I wasn't slipping when I did. My feet just went on the small pebbles. This at least cheered them up. What a relief to reach the valley bottom and on to a well made path. Although now on a gently undulating path, with no real bogginess in the dry weather, it seemed to go on for ever. That's the trouble when you have to climb three mountains, each one further away from the start point. We could see a farm, Shinagag I suspect, and knew it was quite a way east of where we wanted to go, but again it seemed to take eons before it moved off to our left. The path effectively contours Carn Liath which is why it is such a drag and it was with delight that we eventually saw the two huts in the distance. About half a mile from the car the other lad waved goodbye and went on. He was just about changed and ready to go when we reached the car.
Although it was a beautiful day and a good, if tiring, walk I think I was a little disappointed in Beinn a'Ghlo. I had thought it would be more technically challenging, cliffs, scrambles etc but it was only a long walk.
