We had again hoped to do Slioch but the weather forecast made that difficult so we opted for the easy sounding Fionn Bheinn. Down to Achnasheen early in the hope we could climb the hill before the forecast gales came in. Weather showery so when we parked at Achnasheen station (is there anything else in the place?) we put on full waterproof gear. A bit of a problem finding the way onto the hill. You have to follow the river but to get to it you have to go a couple of hundred yards down the road to find a trackway. The path goes gently up for a few hundred yards to a gate then gradually disappears. All you do then is go up keeping to the right side of the river. The climb is easy on good grass and you can understand the comment in one of the books that you could run down this hill. Into the thick mist and followed a North East bearing with the aim of breasting a nose. Didn't really matter on accuracy because as long as you kept sight of the burn and were going uphill you could hardly go wrong. By now the terrain was a bit rougher with occasional peat bogs but the slope was very gentle. Eventually over some rocky outcrops we reached the nose. The aim had been to reach the ridge from the side but we found ourselves hitting it 'nose' on, with its little cairn. By now the wind and rain were getting up and it was pretty miserable in the mist. The route goes North for a little then you veer North West. Even in the mist it is obvious which way to go. Up. The nearer you get to NW the more likely you will hit the summit direct but if you veer more to the North, going straight up, all that happens is that at the top you have to walk along the ridge to the top. We hit it in the middle arriving after an easy slog at a shallow col overlooking some steep cliffs. At least they looked steep but in the mist we could only see a few yards down. Turning left we followed the edge which becomes a path leading gently up to the trig point at the summit. A very easy hill to climb despite it being cold, wet and windy as well as misty. As it was so bad at the top with not a scrap of shelter we decided to forego lunch until we got down to the bottom.
Very quick off the top reversing the compass bearing once the summit path ended. Fast down the easy terrain amazingly in the thick mist passing the exact spot we had had a drink break on the way up. Eventually found ourselves on the nose after having drifted a bit too far SE. Just down from the nose the mist started lifting and we could see all the way down to Achnasheen. The way down was obvious with two post on the edge of the ridge acting as landmarks. Just over the final ridge overlooking the farm at Achnasheen we came across a grassy track (obviously used by four wheel drive vehicles) which went all the way down to the farm. Looking uphill the track was to the right of the path we took (next gate) but would have been a better way up. Not that the path we did take was any problem. The track led straight onto the original farm track out into Achnasheen and back to the car, me only a few hundred yards behind Graeme. A really easy hill and just right for a wet, miserable day.
