The Munros Vol 1 - Southern, Central and Western Highlands

This first volume of Cicerone’s two-part series to the Munros covers the southern, central and western highlands, Glencoe, Lochaber and Mull, and details routes for these 139 exciting and challenging mountains. Volume 2 covers north of the Great Glen and the Cairngorms.

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52: Creag Mhor (1047 m), Beinn Heasgarnich (1078 m)

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Pronunciation: Krayk Voar; Bine Heskarnich
Translation: Big Cliff; Sheltering Mountain

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Distance: 21km
Ascent: 1290 m
Time: 7 hours 15 minutes
Maps: OS sheet 50 and 51; Explorer map 378; Area Map 4
Parking: at start of private track just beyond Kenknock in Glen Lochay
Start: along private track that heads west into Glen Lochay
Hostel: YHA Killin
B&B/hotel: Killin
Camping: A827 north of Killin
Access: Glen Lochay farm manager, tel: 01567 820553

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These two big hills, tucked away at the far end of Glen Lochay, are well guarded by the surrounding hills. Creag Mhor is perhaps the more straightforward of the two, but Beinn Heasgarnich is set in a wild tract of countryside and hides behind Stob an Fhir Bhogha to the south. To the east it is guarded by some rough peat moorland interspersed with numerous rocky outcrops. The road in Glen Lochay offers the only obvious approach.

Just beyond Kenknock Farm is a crossroads: a forestry road leads south to reach a small plantation across the River Lochay and a narrow road climbs north over the pass to Glen Lyon. There is room here to park several cars. Continue on foot along the private track that wanders alongside the river past Badour to Batavaime. Climb up behind the croft to the northwest onto the nose of Sron nan Eun, the southeast ridge of Creag Mhor. The easiest line through the crags can be clearly seen as you approach: it follows a grassy traverse to the west beneath the first crags, then climbs quite steeply through boulders back to the right and finally heads back to the northwest to gain the easy upper part of the ridge. From here the path along the ridge is fairly clear, climbing steadily along the crest to Creag Mhor’s summit cairn at 39157 36108 (3 hrs 20 mins).

Creag Mhor’s eastern and northeastern faces are steep and craggy. To proceed safely to Beinn Heasgarnich it is necessary to descend some way down the northwest ridge of Creag Mhor until the crags have been cleared. From the summit, first head west-northwest, then northwest for a few hundred metres (to 38740 36380), until it is safe to descend east down easy grassy slopes to reach the peaty col below Stob an Fhir-Bhogha’s west ridge. Climb the ridge quite steeply to the cairned top at 41143 37227, then continue over a hummocky section for 11/2km to reach Beinn Heasgarnich’s summit cairn at 41382 38332 (5 hrs 20 mins).

There are two or three options for descent. Perhaps the quickest is to return to Stob an Fhir-Bhogha then drop south quite steeply at first to regain the private track. There is some very steep ground beneath this top, and to avoid the worst of this it is best to start this descent just to the west of the summit, where the angle is a little easier. Descent can also be made by returning all the way to the col and then following the Allt Batavaim back to the track. A third option is to descend directly to the east from the summit of Beinn Heasgarnich. This is certainly the most interesting way back, although it takes you into some very rough and rather wet terrain, with a number of unexpectedly steep sections and a couple of waterfalls to avoid. The area around (and especially to the south of) the Lochan Achlarich is riven with peat hags, and the easiest line is to pass around the northern end of Creag nam Bodach to reach the tarmac road that links Glen Lyon with Glen Lochay. Return from here along the road.