July 12 - The Beinn Bharrain Horseshoe

The annalists in our midst will know that the Ooters have twice done this walk - remarkably, both expeditions occuring within a period of 4 months in 2008.   Some have nothing but fond memories, for others the memories have largely been repressed.

Thus it was that seven Ooters were prepared to rise in the middle of the night whilst others lay a-bed dreaming of Johnnie's scones and ale.

Gus, Davie C, Kenny T, Allan M, Ian, Davie M and Paul gathered at Ardrossan in varying degrees of bright-eyed and bushy-tailedness from 0630 hours onward, ready to board the early morning ferry to Brodick. Thoughts quickly passed to rolls and sausage. Once in Mariners Cafeteria (for there has been a rebrand) thoughts even more quickly passed from rolls and sausage to the full Scottish and the majority was soon tucking into their choice of any 6 from 9 with great relish and pretty good brown sauce.

Having negotiated the new bus terminal at Brodick we were at Thundergay/Thunderguy/Thunderguay by 8.50 and after the putting on of boots and the application of sunscreeen we were on our way at 9.

It was already a scorcher and as we climbed gently towards Coire Fhionn Lochan the views over Kilbrandon Sound and Kintyre became increasing expansive. The lochan was reached by 9.50 and we lingered a while.  For different reasons Davie C and Kenny had not been feeling 100% and at this point they chose not to go on. They would take their time, descend and meet us at Pirnmill for the 3.20 bus.

Now reduced to five, we bade farewell to our colleagues, skirted the lochan and started to climb the shoulder of Beinn Bhreac. Davie was heard to remark that this climb above the lochan had become considerably steeper since the Ooters were first here. By the way, it's amazing how far the sound of a sneeze will carry, and from high up above the corrie, and across the full length of the lochan we could hear Davie C's sternutations.

Although Davie and Paul are ever-presents on this walk there was to be no leading of the youngsters who accompanied them.  They were up ahead climbing the rocky outcrop of Meall Donn for an even better view of the azure waters of the lochan. The young bucks were left to it as the the senior ones plodded on towards Beinn Bhreac.

Historical note 1: It's interesting to note that in Jimmy's account of the first walk, an early LUNCH was taken at Meall Donn!)

Historical note 2; On our second visit we had found the only clouds in the south of Scotland and the tops were shrouded in mist. Rex and Paul were in possession of their new GPS gizmos and looked on in alarm as our leader that day (who shall remain anonymous) and his dog, mistaking Meall Donn for Beinn Bhreac, headed off in the direction of the drop into the corrie. 

We were soon back together again but as we hit the upslope to Beinn Bhreac the youngsters sped ahead.  Allan S's famous invocation was heard for the first time from the rear of the group, but there was to be no divine intervention.

We had a coffee stop on the summit and took in the wonderful views out to Jura, Ben More on Mull, and the stunning Goatfell range. At this point a woman and her dog raced by us in a most impressive fashion. Your scribe's research suggests she is one of the leading Scottish hill runners in her age group with (he added cryptically) herpetological connections to his Ayrshire home town.

Our next objective was in view, the shear grassy wall of Mullach Buidhe, the easternmost part of Beinn Bahreinn. We dropped down off Bhreac, observing the runner on top of Mullach Buidhe and the usual peching order was resumed as we zig-zagged our way up the grassy slope.

On the top thoughts were drifting towards lunch but we chose to press on a bit more to  the rocky outcrops on the western end of Ben Bhareinn. We had almost descended from Mullach Buidhe when Ian became aware that he didn't have his stick - yes, he'd left it on top of the Mullach. Allan, not being aware of Oooters' traditions, offered to wait for him and look after his rucksack whilst the stick was retrieved. The rest of us went on our way determined to bag the best viewpoints for our lunch amongst the rocks.

And what a view it was. I don't think I can improve on Jimmy's description of the view towards Goatfell  "The horizon was formed by Goat Fell and its ridge, Stachach, running on to North Goat Fell. The nearer line consisted of the granite tors of An Casteil, the jagged peak of Cir Mhor, the ridge of A’Chir, the higher Ben Tarsuin and the end-stop of Ben Nuis. With all of this above the defile of Glen Iorsa and Loch Tanna lying beneath us..."  And that was just in one direction. We now had Ailsa Craig and the faint Northern Ireland coastline to the south as well as the aforementioned western view.

The bad news for Rex is that we still couldn't find your bunnet.

We reached our lunch spot at around 12.25 which seemed remarkably good going, but our taskmaster told us our descent would take a good two hours so we were allocated 25 minutes.

The descent to Allt Ghoblach was indeed slow. We had to pick our way through boulders then through hummocky grass and finally, as we approached the burn, bog. But we still found time to pose.

Gus picked up the day's only injury as we descended through the bog. A slip, a fall and a bloody finger. He seemed more concerned about a chipped fingernail, though.There have been big changes at the foot of Beinn Bharrein. A wide bulldozed path now leads from Pirnmill to the crossing point of the burn - enabling access to what might be a very mini hydro plant. There is now no need to cross the burn ... but of course we did.  Davie assured us the road was boring and the path across the burn was far more interesting. No one had thought to tell Allan who was 400 yards down the road, but we called him back and we picked our way across Allt Ghoblach to the far side.Davie was right, of course. The path down to Pirnmill led us past cascades and ravines. We reached shore at 2.40 - a good 40 minutes ahead of the bus. An Ooters record?  Davie C and Kenny rejoined us from their walk, both feeling better and it was a merry band who soaked up the sun in Pirnmill, buying copious soft drinks from the village store. The bus duly arrived and we were entertained watching paragliders landing very close to the bus at Catacol. From Corrie onwards it was standing room only.

The ferry which had been so quiet on the way out was mobbed for the return. After a little deliberation we decided to have a drink or two. It had been a fabulous day ... and it wasn't just Davie who thought so.
Distance:8 miles, 3,200 feet of climbing