Beinn an Dothaidh 1004m (3,294ft)
This is a well known walk, starting from the Bridge of Orchy train station just off the A82.
The walk starts off by walking under the West Highland Railway and you're then greeted with a gate brandishing the West Highland Way Thistle symbol. Once through this gate, you'll be struck with the view of a giant telephone mast.
Once you get over the shock of the mast, you skirt round this and aim straight for the centre of the two Munros facing you. Beinn Dorain to the right and Beinn an Dothaidh to the left. Normally, these two Munros are tackled together, but after completing Beinn Dorian on a previous walk I didn't feel the need to repeat it this day.
The initial climb to the Bealach is fairly easy going say maybe for the last 100m where it steepens quite a bit. There are boggy sections but this is to be expected as there's a lot of water flow off this section of the hills. Once the steep section prior to the bealach has been tackled, it's a very short walk to your first Carin. at around 750m the view South and North are spectacular. I took some time here to enjoy them and grab b a bite tot eat.
I headed East to tackle Beinn an Dothaidh. Fortunately I wasn't the first to ascend this day and someone was kind enough to cut steps in the snow for me. A huge energy saver. I kept to the East side of the climb as it was fairly well walked and this was the original way I was planning.
Care needs to be taken when reaching the first crest as there's quite a steep drop off. There was a considerable amount of cornicing the day I climbed but as long as you stick to the preset route way marked in Walk Highlands you should be good.
The summit is a short bike over the Ridgeline and the amazing views over Ranch Moor and North to Glen Coe are incredible. The return route I originally planned took in more of the Plateau to the South of the Summit but as I couldn't see in previous steps cut I decided to stick to the route I ascended. As I could quite easily see my route that I had came up, it made descending a doddle and rapid.
The route back to the start is a reversal from here on and again is straightforward. The only issue you may need to contend with is the steep section just under the bealach. This today was snow covered so it made it easier in my eyes, however if it was say, wet and slippery it would be a different story and great care would need to be take.
I thoroughly enjoyed this hike and the weather gods were on my side this day. Makes it all worthwhile when you get views like this.
OS Explorer 377
Loch Etive & Glen Orchy
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9 мар 2024
