#Creach Bheinn WS-150
Tuesday started with a bright blue sky and a warm feeling. It got hotter and hotter, ending up over 25C and that is quite unusual for up here. I had arranged parking at Carnoch Farm and spoke to a man chopping firewood about the track. He told me it could be a bit damp on the North face and took take water as the burns can be very dirty.
My route was along the hydro track to the small (1MW) power station then up the hydro track which climbs the steep North face. Then I was going to follow a track marked on the OSM maps that follows the Allt na Fhaing burn. Easy! Then straight up to the ridge and thence the summit. How hard could it be? Er… well 25C temps had not been factored in for a start.
The track to the power station is easy, in fact I did discuss driving the track up to the end and the only problem was the gates could be padlock and the wood chopper didn’t have a key but he wasn’t concerned about it. My HiLux would have sailed up in low 4WD as well. But… I was really here to walk so I bimbled off. The hardcore track stops at about 225m ASL and there is a horrible wet ATV track that runs to a deer fence. There is a gate which is always good as 90kg of FMF 8ft in the air on a fence is scary.
How wet? Here is the bog pool at the gate in the fence, my pole went 50cms into gloop!
There’s a bit of a hint of a track after that but I aimed for the skyline at the bealach. It’s about 1.3km of rough terrain, uneven ground, long grass and rocky outcrops. Finally I reached the ridge and the ground improved massively. To make up for the horrible ascent so far, the view was not bad.
The fine point peak of Sgurr Dhomhnuill WS-125
To the South there are the 2 neighbour peaks on the classic horseshoe that Creach Bheinn sits on. The near summit is Fuar Bheinn WS-192 and Beinn na Cille WS-249.
Are we there yet dad? Sadly not! 
By the time I had slogged my way up that lot I was cream-crackered. I was doubting my ability to get up this as I ended up taking nearly 1h longer than the computer suggested. Partly the ground but mainly the heat was playing havoc. Now I had plans, depending on legs and WX, to attempt Fuar Bheinn afterwards or to visit Maol Odhar. Fuar Bheinn is worth 4 points and Maol Odhar has the plane wreckage. In May 1964, a F101 Voodoo flying at 25000ft exploded and the wreckage landed on Maol Odhar. There is substantial amounts remaining including the engines, pieces of fuselage showing USAF markings etc. Looking at what would be needed, the crash was less effort than more points. But both were out of my level of ability in the heat. Oh well, there’s always next time.
There was a wonderful strong breeze that kept the apparent temperature down. But I knew it was hot so I applied more sun cream before setting up. I’d planned a 2m S2S with Robin GM7PKT so the handy was on first as I set up the HF gear. Robin appeared and we had our S2S. Best of all it was a 2-way completion, Robin gained Creach Bheinn and I gained Mheall a’Bhuridh. Double smiles all round. After a goo chat about routes and summits for the rest of my stay I moved to HF were conditions were ok to rubbish. I had a QSO with Don G0RQL who wanted to know the trig number which I gave him. But sadly, damaged trigs don’t count.
Don, @G0RQL, this is why the trig isn’t valid! The trig was a primary (original) trig and was made out of local stones rather than a concrete pyramid or pillar. Probably a lightening strike destroyed it but it has been broken for a long, long time. The oldest report on TrigpointingUK from 1996 has it damaged then. The fact it has a metal centre tube shows it was built before 1950 when the OS changed to lightweight cardboard tubes.
After working all the chasers I dropped down to inspect the Colby Camp remains. This was built during the first Triangulation of the UK in the 18th century. Creach Bheinn is such a good viewpoint up and down the west coast, it was chosen for some of the earliest observations. This is the second camp I’ve visited, the other was on Ben Hutig NS-132 up near Tongue.
Maol Odhar, location of the F101 Voodoo wreckage.
The Island of Lismore and the Lyn of Morvern
Looking South, Morvern summits: Fuar Bheinn WS-192, Beinn na Cille WS-249 and Beinn Mheadhoin WS-203
Looking down Loch Sunart, the big hill on the right is Beinn Resipol WS-153
A zoom to Sgurr Dhomhnuill WS-125, it’s a shame it was so misty.
Brian G8ADD’s favourite Gharbh Bheinn WS-125
After spending ages just soaking up the view it was time to go. Packing up was easy and so was the descent. I expected significant complaints from my legs and feet but nothing. The route back was the reverse of the ascent. The burns I passed on the way up were fast flowing and very clean looking so I was confident in using up my remaining 0.5L of water knowing I could top up further down. On the way down I came across a wonderful piece of glacial tomfoolery.
Ladies and gentleman, the amazing balancing boulder!
But it gets better when viewed from the other side. This has probably been like this since the glaciers melted 10000-20000 years ago.
Sgurr Dhomhnuill WS-125, it’s so good you just have to insert another shot of him.
Finally back on the hydro track the heat was amazing. There was no breeze here at all and the reported temps where up around 27C. Resting on a gate I took this zoomed shot over the ancient woodlands looking at the summit of Creach Bheinn. I spent about 20mins here tripping out on my endorphins after all the exertion. A hot sunny day in a most amazingly beautiful part of the world with this to look at.
The lack of Munros on this activation was not a problem!
The Munro baggers ignore the area because the hills are relatively low - their loss!!!
