As a first for this trip we selected Beinn a'Chaorainn and Beinn Teallach as likely easy mountains. Both of us knew we were unfit and although we had done the West Highland Way last year it had been about eighteen months since we last climbed the hills. An easy walk to start with, from Roughburn, up a forest path for about half a mile. At a firebreak ( so narrow and overgrown it wouldn't have stopped many fires) we started the uphill slog through some awful mud. Gaiters on and then a fight through mud and branches. Soon out, over a large style/fence and on to open moorland. The idea is to make it up onto an obvious ridge which then goes up to the top. A bit disconcerting that we could see it was misty higher up so views would be limited and compass needed. A slow slog up, well seeing how unfit we were, but we were in no hurry with frequent stops taking in some lovely views until we hit the mist. The route was still obvious and easy, though tiring, up to the south top. Gaps in the swirling mist showed us our route from here, a left turn and it was not long before we were at the summit cairn. No celebration here, however, as it was windy, freezing cold and no shelter, not even behind the cairn.
The way to this hill from Beinn a'Chaorainn is a wide sweep round a semi circle. First you carry on to the north top of Beinn a'Chaorainn following the compass then swing left aiming for a cairn in a col between the two hills. In the mist you have to be careful not to come down the hill too quickly and have to gently descend while contouring the hill. Not a great problem if you go wrong as the terrain is grassy and easy. It just means you have further to walk to the cairn. Once under the mist line the way was clear and we found a nice sheltered spot for Guinness, Heinekin and sandwiches. Uphill was again just a slow slog up onto a ridge, back into the mist and upwards. Past a false top, amazed yet again at how the tops are so magnified in mist. At this top we felt it was not quite right but had not got the altimeter to check. Walked on a bit and on the right we saw another hill which had to be higher. Up this and we were definitely at the top. From here we knew there would be no problem. Even on the way up earlier we had seen, in mist breaks that the slope down this hill was grassy and easy. It was just a question of going south and not going down too quickly on the left into the valley. After a bit, however, Graeme was getting bored or tired or both with the steady descent and suggested we simply go down the steep slopes into the valley where we could now see a path. I agreed but it turned out a bit steeper than we thought, down and around a few crags. At the bottom where Graeme had arrived long before me I pointed out to him the route of our descent. We couldn't believe it. We had left the ridge too early and come down the cliffs at the side of the hill. You would never think of climbing that way up, it looked too steep and looked like sheer cliffs. Yet it had not seemed that bad on the way down. The rest of the walk was fairly easy, the path getting better the further down we got and the descent was easy. Eventually it winds back into the forest to join the path we started on and back to the car tired but not exhausted, neither of us having any blisters.
