Beinn Dearg (Blair Atholl)
- robsthomson
- Feb 16, 2019
- 3 min read
And a stay at Allt Scheicheachan Bothy
After the crash course in Ice Axes and Crampons on Ben Vane a few weeks before I was looking for a route that was more walk and less climb. Opting for Beinn Dearg in Blair Atholl. On this occasion, Liam had agreed to join me and we set off around 1pm on a bright Spring-like Saturday from Edinburgh.
Despite it's 3307ft summit, Beinn Dearg is a gradual and easy ascent. However, it has a very long walk in and out which makes it a strenuous undertaking.
Parking up at The Old Bridge of Tilt we set off on our 10k walk to the Bothy at Allt Scheicheachan. Setting a reasonable pace on good land rover track we had around 1 hour of daylight, walking the last stretch with torchlight. Nestled as it is in the Atholl Cairngorms the Bothy doesn't come into view until the last 100 meters or so and when it did the lights were on and the faint aroma of chimney smoke permeated the cool crisp night. 2 hours to the minute since we set off, we stepped across the threshold of The Bothy to a warm and friendly welcome from an already installed quintet. A welcome it must be said, made all the more hearty by the fact Liam had carried a reasonable supply of fire logs and kindling the entire 10k. Pulling up a seat by the fire and setting up our camp stoves to prepare supper the conversation and company was easy going and interesting.
It was evident that bed space in the main living area was at a premium. A quick recce into the loft space above was rather like popping your head into a freezer so the tents were quickly erected immediately outside the Bothy. With a full belly, a few drams and in good cheer we called it a night around 10pm. The weather turned through the night with gusting winds and heavy rain but we were well equipped and had a reasonable enough sleep, rising for breakfast around 6am and setting off at 7am.
Nestled in rolling hills, Beinn Dearg is difficult to prospect from below it's summit forming as it does an unassuming plateau of pink granite. The path to it's approach is mapped as being covered in scree but in reality it is a mass of boulders near the summit rather than scree covered slopes. Paths disappear and reappear too - both on the maps and on the hill and with very low lying and thick fog as we ascended it wasn't long before the GPS was deployed - even then it led us to the faintest of tracks which was followed then soon lost again. Several of these mapped routes by-pass the summit, created as they were by Deer Stalkers who have little interest in the summits of Munros. With a bit of to-ing and fro-ing we soon picked up the main path in the thickening mist.
The first stone cairn is often mistaken as the summit cairn sitting at 931 metres but is in fact on Sliabh na Cloiche Moire, a shoulder of the main peak. Passing this, the wind and rain really picked up as we picked up our pace. A quick scramble over a final boulder field and we were at the top and soon huddled in the shelter cairn for a quick bite to eat.
The initial part of the descent was fairly brutal in comparison to the upwards walk with the wind and driving rain now fully in our face rather than behind us with the one small mercy being we knew exactly which of the twisting and faint paths to follow now. Once below the cloud line the rain persisted but the wind eased off a little and views over the remote moorlands to Schiehallion and The Ben Lawers Range were fantastic - it was like seeing old friends as talk tuned to our previous adventures on those hills.
The walk back to the Bothy was fairly straightforward, stopping there on the way back for a quick drink and to pick up the rubbish we left.
On the way in the night previously the enormity of the walk didn't really sink in as it was fairly dark and we hadn't already climbed a Munro but on the way back the track stretched out before us to the horizon and in the continually driving rain it was clear this was going to be an out and out slog.
I had read many excellent reports from walkers and climbers who weren't overly enthusiastic about this route. The long walk in and out would certainly make it a grueling one day excursion (depending on fitness) but for us, this was an excellent route when split over 2 days by using the Bothy.
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