Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh

A fine pair of Peaks dominating the skyline over the Bridge of Orchy

Early ascent with the Bridge of Orchy Hotel in the background

Hooking up once again with The Climbing Clowns (my brother Liam and now mutual friend Mike) I was grateful to be a passenger on this early start. Our Sat Nav pitched us into a layby short of the actual start point and we were suited and booted before we realised. Driving on a kilometre more we pitched up at the Hotel Car Park good to go!

Hopping on and then very soon after, off the West Highland Way and under the Railway Track the initial underfoot conditions were very boggy after recent rains. This soon gave way to rocky path, gentle ascent and rapid progress. Very soon we reached the craggy amphitheatre of Coire an Dothaidh where the path became far steeper and was suffering from severe erosion. We dropped down a few gears and picked our way steadily up a predominantly scree filled path into an upper coire, stopping at a large rocky outcrop to refuel, before reaching the bealach between our 2 summits for the day.

A quick pit stop and selfie

At 3520ft Beinn Dorain is a familiar sight on the drive North from Tyndrum. Famously celebrated in the poem 'Moladh Beinn Dobhrainn' (In Praise of Beinn Dorain) by 18th Century Poet Ban MacIntyre

From this point it's a coin toss as to which summit to tackle first so we opted to head for Beinn Dorain first. After crossing the grassy plateau we missed the fork in the path and ended up on the left hand path which misses the summit. Our navigational error only became apparent when we started to get buffeted by sudden strong winds and, thinking were still on the right path, veered up towards the ridge where we stumbled across the proper path. The wind speed picked up rapidly and considerably which, as it wasn't forecast, took us all by surprise - it was strong enough that we felt the need to walk bunched together. Halting briefly at Carn Sasunnaich (the Englishman's Cairn) we opted to carry on with Mike heading towards his 40th Munro.

The Summit of Beinn Dorain

Despite the wind this was developing into a hugely enjoyable trip. Lurking in the back of my conscious was the knowledge that Autumn days like this offer beauty, colour and conditions that no other season can but that these days are in short supply as Summer fades but true Autumn hasn't quite yet entered the fray. This too was a reasonably short walk at 14km so we knew we had all day to soak up every last bit of it, demonstrated by a longer than usual and rather leisurely lunch stop as we dropped back to a level of comparative shelter.

Toasting the Hills with Soup!

'Hill of the Small Stream', Beinn Dorain peaks at 3530ft whilst Beinn an Dothaidh, 'Hill of the Scorching' sits at 3293ft.

With the exception of an incredibly boggy section where the path was lost (or had disappeared) the descent and renascent to the second of the days summits was very straightforward. Usually in our merry band of three one of us is off the pace or suffering some sort of minor gripe or ailment but today we were all unanimous in our vigour and stride.

The views across Rannoch Moor from Beinn an Dothaidh simply added to the highlights of the day and, with the wind having dropped, we lingered for a good while soaking it up.

I had reached my 50th Munro too