This was one of the mountains I have always wanted to climb. It looks so majestic and conical. We parked at Bridge of Orchy station right next to the West Highland Way, a dreary path, and made our way under the railway bridge and onto a very eroded path which leisurely climbed towards the valley between Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh, getting steeper the higher you climbed. Gradually you felt the two mountains rising up beside you as you entered the large corrie - the English description of a corrie as a hanging valley is more appropriate as you really felt in a valley high in the mountains. There was a tremendous feeling of being alone in a marvellous area with giants on either side. The feeling, however, was short lived as soon we saw a number of people coming up the path behind us. The path got really steep and very boggy, then rocky and we found ourselves following a path edging over the top of an
outcrop. At this point we lost our bearings as the path disappeared. My feeling was that we should continue straight up as the books had said go on to reach crossroads at the col and we hadn't done that. Graeme on the other hand felt we should go up the very steep slope to the right. The compass reading seemed to confirm his slope was in the right direction and we spotted two walkers way up almost at the top. We compromised, sat down with blackcurrent juice and waited for the next walkers to arrive to see where they went. They went straight up and when we followed them we found there was a path which we had missed by crossing the rocky outcrop. The col was reached easily and at the crossroads we could see paths going one way to Beinn an Dothaidh, looking rather formidable and one to Beinn Dorain.
A fairly steep but not difficult climb took us up to a crest from which you could see a peak in the distance. This turned out to be a false top and there must have been about 3/4 of these. Every time you thought you had reached the summit you could see another peak ahead of you. It didn't help too that we wandered off the path a couple of times. How we do it I don't know. You are walking along what appears to be a straightforward path when you notice other walkers gradually diverging from you and your path then going off to the side. When you make your way over to the others you find they are on a good path and can't understand why we seem to go off course. Graeme suggested we should look round every so often as the correct path often appears stronger when seen in reverse. We tried this and it appears to work (sometimes!). Eventually reaching the summit we found quite a little crowd there. The view from the top was good, the weather lovely but still hazy. You could, however, see clearly the road I've travelled so often looking up at the mountain. Nice but not quite so spectacular as I thought it might be. The way back to the col was uneventful though the view towards Beinn an Dothaidh was worrying. We were both beginning to be tired and the slopes of the Beinn looked ominously steep.
Not a patch on its sister for looks but a steep climb nonetheless. From the col a clear pathway makes for a steep, muddy climb onto the slopes of the mountain. Then the path disappears and you are on your own. No problem in clear visibility as the way is fairly obvious i.e. straight up. The route was quite boggy and steep but by taking it slowly, with frequent stops, it was not difficult. We were making towards what looked like the peak. but the map and books indicated that that was not probably the main top. Being cautious I veered to the left of the top and was proved right as it became clear the true summit was a few hundred feet to the left. Really just a short stroll to the cairn. Not much of a summit though. Beinn an Dothaidh is more like a long cliff edge than a mountaintop - a bit like reaching Beachy Head. Even the view was disappointing because of the haziness. The mountain overlooks Rannoch Moor and on a clear
day must really be something. On this day you could just get an idea of a broad expanse of flat land and pools of water but it was hazy. Making our way down was fairly easy as it is all grassy slopes and the boggy patches were easily avoided. With a bit of care we reached the pathway at the bottom and soon reached the col. The route back down through the corrie down the path was tiring but not difficult although we were glad to reach the car. We could see the station from some considerable distance away but it seemed to take a long time to come closer.
